The Ventures

During their prime, the Ventures ranked as the era's foremost and most impactful instrumental rock ensemble, crafting an approach that prefigured surf music through crisp guitar resonance and a tight-knit rhythm section delivering forceful drive to their lines. The band's signature approach showed remarkable versatility whether handling original material or reworking well-known songs, leading them to issue numerous concept-driven LPs across the 1960s and 1970s—seventeen of which entered the Top 40 on the album charts—alongside charting singles including "Walk Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-O." They sparked a wave of imitators during their height, while countless budding rock guitarists picked up basic skills from the 1965 release Play Guitar with the Ventures. Outside the United States, the group built a strong audience, particularly in Japan, where frequent tours and market-specific recordings helped cement their presence. The 1990 compilation Walk Don't Run: The Best of the Ventures offers an excellent entry point with twenty-five selections from their 1960s output, Live in Japan '65 captures a standout concert performance, and 1963's The Ventures Play Telstar, The Lonely Bull exemplifies their classic-period albums.

The group's story began in Tacoma, Washington, with a late-1950s outfit called the Versatones started by part-time guitarists Bob Bogle and Don Wilson. Employed in masonry work, the pair purchased inexpensive instruments from a pawn shop, developed their playing—Bogle handling lead and Wilson rhythm—and started performing across the Pacific Northwest alongside changing bassists and drummers. Upon realizing the Versatones name was taken, they followed Wilson's mother's suggestion and became the Ventures. Permanent bassist Nokie Edwards joined next, with drummer George Babbitt completing the lineup. Their debut single, "The Real McCoy" backed with "Cookies and Coke," appeared on their self-run Blue Horizon imprint; the B-side followed a conventional rock format with party-themed lyrics, yet the A-side hinted at their direction through its crisp guitar arrangement occasionally interrupted by Wilson's impression of Walter Brennan's Grandpa Amos character from the contemporary sitcom The Real McCoys. Instrumental focus became central after that point, and Skip Moore replaced Babbitt on drums once the latter departed to pursue military service—Babbitt later rose to four-star general in the United States Air Force. For the follow-up single, Bogle selected "Walk Don't Run" from a Chet Atkins LP; after an initial Blue Horizon pressing, Seattle's Dolton Records handled national distribution, sending the track to No. 2 on the national singles charts and establishing the Ventures as emerging stars—by then Moore had exited and relinquished future royalties, with Howie Johnson assuming drumming duties.

Before 1960 closed, the group scored another hit with "Perfidia" reaching number 15 and released their debut album Walk Don't Run, which peaked at 11 on the LP charts. In 1961 a third single, "Ram-Bunk-Shush," climbed to number 29 while three albums—The Ventures, Another Smash!, and The Colorful Ventures (the last filled with color-themed titles)—appeared. Howie Johnson departed in 1962, citing the strain of touring and recording on family life, and Mel Taylor joined after Bogle and Wilson spotted him at Los Angeles's Palomino Club, solidifying the band's classic lineup. That same year Nokie Edwards switched from bass to guitar while Bob Bogle moved to bass. The following year brought The Ventures Play Telstar, The Lonely Bull, their highest-charting LP at number eight and a gold-certified release.

The 1964 arrival of the Beatles and ensuing British Invasion shifted tastes, rendering the Ventures less current, yet they maintained heavy recording and touring schedules while enjoying exceptional popularity in Japan—a documentary on one of their visits there bore the title Beloved Invaders. They ultimately sold 40 million records in that country, prompting the 1980s launch of their dedicated Tridex Records label for Japanese releases. Their output proved so extensive that more than 75 albums had appeared by the close of the 1970s. Another Top Ten single arrived in 1968 with their version of the "Hawaii Five-O" theme song, which reached Number 4; it marked their final major hit, though two later singles charted, the highest stalling at Number 83. Their reputation sustained them as a live act, and the 1980s New Wave movement renewed interest in classic guitar sounds including theirs—Ricky Wilson of the B-52's not only used a Ventures-branded Mosrite guitar but echoed their straightforward attack. In 1981 the Go-Go's issued the surf-styled instrumental "Surfing and Spying" as a tribute, which the Ventures covered that year with backing vocals from Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin. When Pulp Fiction revived surf interest in 1994, the film's soundtrack featured the Lively Ones' rendition of the Ventures' "Surf Rider." The group entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

Nokie Edwards exited in 1968, succeeded on guitar by Gerry McGee; Edwards rejoined in 1972 and remained until 1985, when McGee returned, though Edwards continued occasional guest appearances until 2016, passing on March 12, 2018 at age 82. Gerry McGee died October 12, 2019, at 81. Bob Bogle stepped away in 2005 and died June 14, 2009, aged 75. After Mel Taylor left in 1973, Joe Barile drummed until Taylor's 1979 return; Taylor died August 11, 1996, at 62, with son Leon Taylor taking over percussion. Don Wilson passed January 22, 2022, in Tacoma at age 88. Despite these losses among core members, the Ventures persist today with Bob Spalding on lead guitar, Ian Spalding on rhythm guitar, Luke Griffin on bass, and Leon Taylor on drums.