The Ventures
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The Cramps's sound was heavily influenced by Sun Records rockabilly and proto-rock'n'roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as The Ventures and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like The Standells, The Gants, The Trashmen, Green Fuz and The Sonics, as well as the post-glam/early punk scene from which they emerged. Production-wise they were influenced by Alex Chilton. Their influences and/or the songs they covered were compiled in the Born Bad series."--Sholem Stein |
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The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. The band had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide, having sold over 100 million records, and are to date the best-selling instrumental band of all time. They are known for such singles as "Walk Don't Run" and "Perfidia, both cover versions, and "Wack Wack" (a cover of Young-Holt Unlimited). The Cramps were influenced by this primarily surf music act.
Legacy
The Ventures enjoyed their greatest popularity and success in the US and Japan in the 1960s, but they have continued to perform and record up to the present. With over 110 million albums sold worldwide, the group remains the best selling instrumental rock group of all time. 38 Ventures albums (including a seasonal Christmas album) charted in the US, and six of fourteen chart singles made it into the Top 40, with three making it into the Top 10. Of their 38 chart albums, 34 of them occurred in the 1960s, and The Ventures rank as the 6th best pop album performer for that decade, according to "Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums".
Among their achievements in America, in 1963 The Ventures had five LPs in the Billboard Top 100 at the same time. Additionally, they released a series of instructional LPs entitled Play Guitar with The Ventures and Play Electric Bass with The Ventures. Four LPs were released in this series, the first of which reached the Billboard Top 100 Album Chart—an achievement previously unheard of for an instructional LP. In a novelty achievement, The Ventures were the first act to place two different versions of the same song in the Top 10, those being "Walk Don't Run" (#2) and "Walk Don't Run '64" (#8).
While they predated the advent of the terms surf guitar and surf rock, and they do not consider themselves a surf rock group; they were a major building block of surf music, if not the first to play the style. Guitar Player, in an article titled "20 Essential Rock Albums", cited elements of their 1960 "Walk Don't Run" album which presaged the then-coming surf trend.
The Ventures pioneered the use of special effects on such songs as "2000 Pound Bee", recorded in late 1962, in which lead guitarist Nokie Edwards employed a fuzz distortion pedal. This unique effect predated the 1963 hit "Zipadee-Do-Dah" by Bob B. Soxx, which featured a 'fuzz' guitar instrumental break. Edwards' use of 'fuzz tone' also predated the "King of Fuzz Guitar", Davie Allan (The Arrows), by at least three years. In addition, Edwards was among the first to use the twelve string guitar in rock. The 1964 The Ventures In Space album was a primer in the use of special guitar effects, and made pioneering use of 'reverse-tracking', a technique used very effectively by The Beatles in the later 1960s. The Ventures In Space, because of its ethereal space-like effects, was deemed an influence on the later 1960s San Francisco psychedelic generation, as well as being cited as a favorite by Keith Moon (The Who).
The band's cover of The Tornados' "Telstar" (released in January 1963) featured one of the first instances of flanging on a pop record.
The Ventures were among the first rock acts able to sell albums based on a style and sound without needing hit singles on the albums. They are also credited by The All Music Guide To Rock with the early formulation of the concept album.
The Encyclopedia Britannica on-line states that The Ventures "served as a prototype for guitar-based rock groups".
Over thirty major artists have identified The Ventures as an influence. George Harrison stated in a Guitar Player interview that The Beatles preferred the American guitar sound of The Ventures to British contemporaries. When asked to name the most influential rock guitar solos, Joe Walsh (James Gang and the Eagles) said he would have to include the entire song "Walk Don't Run" because it changed so many guitar players' lives. John Fogerty (Credence Clearwater Revival), during his introduction of The Ventures at their Hall of Fame induction, said of "Walk Don't Run", 'That song started a whole new movement in Rock and Roll. The sound of it became 'surf music' and the audacity of it empowered guitarists everywhere.' Stephen Stills told Ventures guitarist Don Wilson that he learned to play on Ventures records. Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers) and Gene Simmons (Kiss) were early members of the Ventures Fan Club. Others identifying The Ventures as an influence include Terry Kath (Chicago), Carl Wilson (The Beach Boys), Jeff Cook (Alabama), Ricky Wilson (The B-52's), Roger Fisher (Heart), Keith Moon (The Who), Alan White (Yes), and Roger Glover (Deep Purple). Les Fradkin, a guitarist who specializes, as The Ventures do, in guitar based instrumental rock, has recorded with Nokie Edwards and performed with The Ventures live on stage. Allen "Puddler" Harris, a pianist originally from Louisiana, also recorded with The Ventures.
Singles
- (1959) Cookies and Coke / The Real McCoy -- Blue Horizon 100
- (1959) The Twomp / Heart On My Sleeve -- Blue Horizon 6054
- The above four tracks are rare vocals
- (1960) Walk Don't Run / Home -- Blue Horizon 101
- Original copy, extremely rare and valuable
- (1960) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me / No Next Time -- Blue Horizon 102
- (1960) Walk Don't Run (BB #2, CB #3) / The McCoy -- Dolton 25X
- Later pressings replace the B-side with "Home"
- (1960) Perfidia (BB #15, CB #18) / No Tresspassing -- Dolton 28
- (1961) Ram-Bunk-Shush (BB #29, CB #50) / Lonely Heart -- Dolton 32
- (1961) Lullaby of the Leaves (BB #69, CB #81) / Ginchy -- Dolton 41
- (1961) (Theme From) Silver City (CB #76) / Bluer Than Blue -- Dolton 44
- (1961) Blue Moon (CB #90) / Lady Of Spain -- Dolton 47
- (1962) Yellow Jacket / Genesis -- Dolton 50
- (1962) Instant Mashed (BB #104) / My Bonnie -- Dolton 55
- (1962) Lolita Ya-Ya (BB #61, CB #100) / Lucille -- Dolton 60
- (1962) The 2,000 Pound Bee (Part 1) / The 2,000 Pount Bee (Part 2) (BB #91, CB #94) -- Dolton 67
- (1963) El Cumbanchero / Skip To M'Limbo (BB #114) -- Dolton 68
- (1963) The Ninth Wave (BB #122) / Damaged Goods -- Dolton 78
- (1963) The Savage / The Chase -- Dolton 85
- (1963) Journey to the Stars / Walkin' With Pluto -- Dolton 91
- (1964) Fugitive (BB #126) / Scratchin' -- Dolton 94
- (1964) Walk Don't Run '64 (BB #8, CB #9) / The Cruel Sea -- Dolton 96
- (1964) Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (BB #35, CB #48) / Rap City (BB #135) -- Dolton 300
- (1965) Diamond Head (BB #70, CB #96) / Lonely Girl -- Dolton 303
- (1965) Pedal Pusher / The Swingin' Creeper -- Dolton 306
- (1965) Bird Rockers / Ten Seconds To Heaven -- Dolton 308
- (1965) La Bomba / Gemini -- Dolton 311
- (1965) Sleigh Ride / Snowflakes (Greensleeves) -- Dolton 312
- (1966) Secret Agent Man (BB #54, CB #74) / 00-711 -- Dolton 316
- (1966) Blue Star (BB #120, CB #81) / Comin' Home Baby -- Dolton 320
- (1966) Arabesque / Ginza Lights -- Dolton 321
- (1966) Green Hornet Theme (BB #116) / Fuzzy and Wild -- Dolton 323
- (1966) Penetration / Wild Thing -- Dolton 325
- (1967) Theme From "The Wild Angels" (BB #110) / Kickstand -- Dolton 327
- (1967) Strawberry Fields Forever / Endless Dream -- Liberty 55967
- (1967) Theme From "Endless Summer" (BB #106) / Strawberry Fields Forever -- Liberty 55977
- (1967) On The Road / Mirrors and Shadows -- Liberty 56007
- (1968) Flights of Fantasy / Vibrations -- Liberty 56019
- (1968) Walk Don't Run-Land Of 1,000 Dances / Too Young To Know My Mind -- Liberty 56044
- (1968) Hawaii Five-0 (BB #4, CB #6) / Soul Breeze -- Liberty 56068
- (1969) Theme From "A Summer Place" (BB #83, CB #63) / A Summer Love -- Liberty 56115
- (1970) Expo '70 / Swan Lake -- Liberty 56153
- (1970) The Wanderer / The Mercenary -- Liberty 56169
- (1970) Storefront Lawyers / Kern County Line -- Liberty 56189
- (1970) Changing Times
- (1971) Indian Sun / Squaw Man -- United Artists 50800
- (1971) Theme From "Shaft" / Tight Fit -- United Artists 50851
- (1971) Joy (BB #109) / Cherries Jubilee -- United Artists 50872
- (1972) Beethoven's Sonata in G Minor / Peter and The Wolf -- United Artists 50903
- (1972) Honky Tonk (Part 1) / Honky Tonk (Part 2) -- United Artists 50925
- (1972) Last Night / Ram-Bunk-Shush -- United Artists 50989
- (1973) Last Tango In Paris / Prima Vera -- United Artists 207
- (1973) Skylab / The Little People -- United Artists 277
- (1973) Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) / The Cisco Kid -- United Artists 333
- (1973) Main Theme From "The Young And The Restless" / Fur Eloise -- United Artists 369
- Reissued in 1974 on United Artists 392
- (1974) Theme From "Airport 1975" / The Man With The Golden Gun -- United Artists 578
- (1975) Superstar Revue (Part 1) / Superstar Revue (Part 2) -- United Artists 687
- (1976) Moonlight Serenade (Part 1) / Moonlight Serenade (Part 2) -- United Artists 784
- Shown as by "The New Ventures"
- (1977) Theme From "Charlie's Angels" / Theme From "Starsky and Hutch" -- United Artists 942
- (1977) Walk Don't Run '77 / Amanda's Theme -- United Artists 1100
- (1978) Wipe Out / Nadia's Theme -- United Artists 1161
- (1981) Surfin' and Spyin' / Rumble At Newport -- Tridex 501
- A-side features Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's
- (1982) Ventures Medley / Blue Dawn -- Tridex 502
- (1991) Wipe Out
- (1994) Jingle Bell Rock / Jingle Bells -- EMI 18212
- (1994) Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer / Depression -- EMI 19949
- B-side by Johnny & The Dwellers
- (1997) Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer / Frosty The Snow Man -- EMI 19770
- B-side by Jan & Dean
- (1997) Surf on Guitar Medley
Reissue singles
- Walk Don't Run / Ram-Bunk-Shush -- Liberty All-Time Hits 54518
- Perfidia / Blue Moon -- Liberty All-Time Hits 54519
- Telstar / Out Of Limits -- Liberty All-Time Hits 54542
- Secret Agent Man / Wipe Out -- Liberty All-Time Hits 54557
- The Lonely Bull / Tequila -- Liberty All-Time Hits 54563
- Hawaii Five-O / Classical Gas -- Liberty All-Time Hits 54571
- Walk Don't Run / Ram-Bunk-Shush -- United Artists Silver Spotlight 050
- Perfidia / Telstar -- United Artists Silver Spotlight 051
- Walk Don't Run '64 / Hawaii Five-O -- United Artists Silver Spotlight 052
