Fender Ventures Guitar

The Ventures are band formed in 1958 in Tacoma Washington In 1958 The band, formed by Don Wilson & Bob Bogle two Masonry workers, has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide, having sold over 100 million records,

To date The Ventures are the best-selling instrumental band of all time. In 2008, 50 years after they were formed the Ventures were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

Their music has been cited by many famed guitarists as an influence; indeed, their virtuosity, experimentation with guitar effects, and unique sound laid the groundwork for innumerable groups, earning them the moniker "The Band that Launched a Thousand Bands".

They have also contributed to the Surf Music genre, though they are not, as popularly perceived, strictly a surf band. Though their popularity in the USA waned in the late 1970s, the group remains HUGE in Japan where they still tour regularly to this day.

^{The Ventures were my first ever favorite band, Even before "House of the Rising Sun" in 1964 I wanted to be a guitar player based on listening to the "Ventures in Space" Album.
Many people assume the Ventures wrote their hits, In reality they were an incredible  cover band that covered The Chantay's "Pipeline," Johnny Smith's  "Walk Don't Run," The Pyramids "Penetration" etc etc.
The Ventures made those songs famous,  "No Trespassing," " Perfidia," "Misirlou," "Slaughter On 10th Avenue" "Space Race" "Outer Limits" "Apache"  "Hawaii Five O" "Telstar" "Harlem Nocturne" The list is endless}

These Guitars Are Available As  Fabulous Fakes

Formation and rise to fame

Wilson and Bogle first met in 1958, when Bogle was looking to buy a car from a used car dealership owned by Wilson's father. Finding a common interest in guitars, the two decided to play together, while Wilson joined Bogle performing masonry work. Initially calling themselves The Versatones, the duo played small clubs, beer bars, and private parties throughout the Northwest While Wilson played Rhythm, Bogle played Lead. In 1959, they recorded and released two vocal tunes, "The Real McCoy" and "Cookies and Coke" but the single was met with indifference.

After watching him play at a nightclub, they recruited Nokie Edwards as Bass player. Bogle owned Chet Atkins Album "Hi Fi in Focus," on which he heard the song "Walk Don't Run". Since they could not play the jazz embellishments Atkins had used, the group decided to develop a simplified, yet energized, arrangement.

Soon enough, the group was in a recording studio playing the new song, with Bogle on lead, Wilson on rhythm, Edwards on bass, and Skip Moore on drums. They pressed a number of singles, which they distributed to several record companies. Having been turned down by all the labels they approached Wilson's mother, Josie, who decided to start her own record company, Blue Horizon, to promote the record.

Famed Seattle DJ Pat O'day had received one of these early copies, and decided to use the song as a lead-in to the hourly news^[. Soon, he was flooded with requests from listeners intrigued by the new song. Bob Reisdorf, who owned Dolton Records , heard the song on the radio, and decided to sign the Ventures to a contract to act as their national distributor. Within months, the single climbed to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 by September 1960, and "Walk Don't Run" had become a nationwide hit.

Needing a permanent drummer for the group, they hired Howie Johnson and, in the midst of a fast-paced touring schedule, they recorded an album to capitalize on the success of the single. The lineup of Bogle, Wilson, Edwards and Johnson remained intact until 1962. The group found early success with a string of singles, but would quickly become leaders in the album market. The Ventures were one of the pioneers of the early Concept Album idea, where, starting with 1961's

The Colorful Ventures, each song on their albums was chosen to fit a specific theme. Some of the Ventures' most popular albums at the time were a series of records of dance music. In the early 1960s "golden age of Hi Fi", and with the novelty of stereo still in its experimental stages, The Ventures found their characteristic style of recording each instrument in either the extreme left , or right channel, with little cross-over (if any), enhancing the stereo effect to its fullest limits.

In 1962, Edwards (a very talented guitarist in his own right) suggested that Bogle's lead guitar abilities were being stretched, and that they were in essence wasting Edwards' talents by keeping him on bass. Bogle agreed, and rapidly learned the bass parts to all their songs, allowing Edwards to take lead guitar. This move would prove vital in modernizing the band's sound, ensuring success in an ever-changing market well into the late 1960s.

Even though The Ventures used Fender guitars sometimes you cannot talk about the Ventures and leave out Mosrite guitars. Their signature sound was and always has been Mosrite. Nothing in the world sounds like a Mosrite.  No Guitar Collection is complete without a Mosrite.

In 1962, Johnson was injured in an auto crash, which caused irreversible spinal damage. On doctor's orders, he quit the band. Bogle and Wilson already knew Mel Taylor, house drummer at The Palomino in North Hollywood (the venue where they would play numerous shows during their resurgence in the 1980s). Taylor had performed as drummer on the "Bobby Boris Picket" Hit "Monster Mash", The "Hollywood Argyles" "Alley Oop"  and "The Lonely Bull" By "Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass."

Taylor was known for a very aggressive, hard-hitting style of drumming. They invited him to some recording sessions, which led to him becoming a permanent member of the Ventures.