As one of the foremost instrumental surf rock bands of their day, the Ventures produced what seemed like endless collections of standard tunes in their unique beachy style. Originally released in 1963, The Ventures Play Telstar, The Lonely Bull is one of the band's more recognizable titles. Covering a vast array of early-'60s hit paraders, the album is kicked off by a rival surf band's huge hit. "Telstar" was a hit earlier that same year in a much wobblier Joe Meek-produced version by interstellar outliers the Tornados. Taking on a few Latin-tinged easy listening numbers made famous by Herb Alpert as well as Booker T. & the MG's' soul groover "Green Onions," the record hits these numbers with a varied degree of inspiration. Despite a somewhat wooden performance on many of the tracks, the hard-panned stereo production makes for a very big sound…
As one of the foremost instrumental surf rock bands of their day, the Ventures produced what seemed like endless collections of standard tunes in their unique beachy style. Originally released in 1963, The Ventures Play Telstar, The Lonely Bull is one of the band's more recognizable titles. Covering a vast array of early-'60s hit paraders, the album is kicked off by a rival surf band's huge hit. "Telstar" was a hit earlier that same year in a much wobblier Joe Meek-produced version by interstellar outliers the Tornados. Taking on a few Latin-tinged easy listening numbers made famous by Herb Alpert as well as Booker T. & the MG's' soul groover "Green Onions," the record hits these numbers with a varied degree of inspiration. Despite a somewhat wooden performance on many of the tracks, the hard-panned stereo production makes for a very big sound…
As one of the foremost instrumental surf rock bands of their day, the Ventures produced what seemed like endless collections of standard tunes in their unique beachy style. Originally released in 1963, The Ventures Play Telstar, The Lonely Bull is one of the band's more recognizable titles. Covering a vast array of early-'60s hit paraders, the album is kicked off by a rival surf band's huge hit. "Telstar" was a hit earlier that same year in a much wobblier Joe Meek-produced version by interstellar outliers the Tornados. Taking on a few Latin-tinged easy listening numbers made famous by Herb Alpert as well as Booker T. & the MG's' soul groover "Green Onions," the record hits these numbers with a varied degree of inspiration. Despite a somewhat wooden performance on many of the tracks, the hard-panned stereo production makes for a very big sound…