Remember that group? I do. Listening to CBC 2, I learned today was their late drummer Mel Taylor's birthday, so they played "Walk, Don't Run". "Dah...dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah dum, dum, Dah...dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah dum, dum...dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah dum, dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-duda-duda-duda-dum-dum........That was it, right? Remember "Telstar" and "The Lonely Bull"? Of course you do. Great, great tunes.
Formed in 1958 in Tacoma, The Ventures remain the best-selling instrumental group of all time. More than 110 million records sold. We used to jive to that group's music at high school dances in the gym. God, we were innocents.
Wikipedia tells me that Skip Moore, the original drummer, opted out of the band to work in his family's gas station. Instead of royalties on "Walk Don't Run", he took $25 for the session. He later sued and lost. What an unbelieveable drag for the poor guy. Another "Pete Best" moment. I'd be crying in my beer for the rest of time.
The likes of George Harrison, John Fogerty and Joe Walsh have said that "Walk Don't Run" was the most influentional guitar instrumental they had ever heard because "the audacity of it empowered guitarists everywhere".
Every day I remember or learn something.
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