The "Ventures" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just heard one of my all time favorite instrumentals on my car's Oldies station.  Played by four guys known as the Ventures.  Ever hear of them?  They came from the same musical era as Duane Eddy and his twanging guitar, another one of my favorite instrumental musicians.  Matter-of-fact, I bought a guitar in the late 50s with the hope of becoming the next Duane Eddy.  Even named my guitar "The Little Twanger" and had that painted on it.  Pretty cool, huh.  Well, the Ventures were formed in 1959 in Tacoma, Washington by friends Don Wilson and Bob Bogle.  They first met when Bob was looking for a used car and wondered into Don's dad's dealership.  The two got to talking and realized they both had an interest in guitars and before long decided they formed a band.  The duo originally called themselves the Versatones and played in small clubs, bars, and private parties.  They practiced at times in Bob's sister's home and she told them that a neighbor's son was a pretty good drummer.  They hooked up with him and George Babbitt became the third member of the group.  Don was 26 and on rhythm guitar, Bob was 25 and lead guitarist, and George, a high school marching band member, was 17 and the drummer.  In 1959, Earl Herbert joined the group as bass guitarist and the Ventures were born.  Just before the band gained fame with their huge hit "Walk Don't Run" Babbitt had to drop out because he wasn't old enough to play the night clubs and bars that the band frequented.  Skip Moore joined the group on drums, but soon opted out of the group to work at his family's gas station.  At the same time, Nokie Edwards replaced Earl on bass guitar and Howie Johnson joined the band as the new drummer and the group stayed intact until 1962.  In late '62, Mel Taylor joined the Ventures  to replace Howie as the drummer.  Over the next 10 years several other changes were made in band members, but Don and Bob continued as the mainstays of the group.  Other songs you may recognize that they wrote and performed were Perfidia, Hawaii Five-O, Sleep Walk, Pipeline, and my favorite Wipe Out.  On March 10, 2008, the Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with original band members Don Wilson and Nokie Edwards in attendance as well as current band members Bob Spalding and Leon Taylor.  They still perform today and I have included a 1998 YouTube video when the four original members played together.  George Babbitt was a 4-Star General in 1998 when he performed Walk Don't Run with the group.  The second video is my favorite Ventures song, Wipe Out.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljLi_hBLy3A


http://youtu.be/fKsWl1fDzbw