The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band, formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar in the United States and across the world during the 1960s. Their first wide-release single, "Walk, Don't Run", brought international fame to the group, and is often cited as one of the top songs ever recorded for guitar. In the 1960s and early 1970s, 38 of the band's albums charted in the US, ranking them as the 6th best album chart performer during the 1960s, and the band had 14 singles in the Billboard Hot 100. With over 100 million records sold, the Ventures are the best-selling instrumental band of all time.
American rock ‘n’ roll icon The Ventures return with the first all-new studio album in 24 years! With the fresh New Space LP they seek to echo and pay homage to 1964’s (The) Ventures In Space, one of their biggest-selling and most popular albums of all time. Although with a different line-up than sixty years ago, Bob Spalding (lead guitar), Ian Spalding (rhythm guitar), Luke Griffin (bass) and Leon Taylor (drums) succeed well in similarly merging instrumental surf pop and space rock into twelve fascinating cinematic pieces. Melodic originals and fitting covers – Fly Me to the Moon (written by Bart Howard, popularized by Frank Sinatra) and Vibrations and Eleventh Hour (by the founders of The Ventures) – make this a welcome return.
The Fabulous Ventures (1964). Originally issued on Dolton in 1964, The Fabulous Ventures combined six original compositions including the single "Journey to the Stars" and "Walking with Pluto," which sound like outtakes from The Ventures in Space LP released a few months earlier. Also included are six cover versions of popular songs from the era including "Needles and Pins," "The Cruel Sea," "Tall Cool One," "Only the Young," "Fugitive," and "The Pink Panther Theme." In general the Ventures' albums have stood the test of time and hold together well, especially the ones that follow a particular theme. While the playing time on this disc is only 28 minutes in length, in the case of many Ventures' albums, less is more…
The Fabulous Ventures (1964). Originally issued on Dolton in 1964, The Fabulous Ventures combined six original compositions including the single "Journey to the Stars" and "Walking with Pluto," which sound like outtakes from The Ventures in Space LP released a few months earlier. Also included are six cover versions of popular songs from the era including "Needles and Pins," "The Cruel Sea," "Tall Cool One," "Only the Young," "Fugitive," and "The Pink Panther Theme." In general the Ventures' albums have stood the test of time and hold together well, especially the ones that follow a particular theme. While the playing time on this disc is only 28 minutes in length, in the case of many Ventures' albums, less is more…
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…