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- They asked me what I do.

I said, well, I play the guitar.

They said, well, are you in a
group?

- Ladies and Gentlemen,

here are The Ventures.

- I love The Ventures.

- I know you do.
- This is like

one of my favorite groups in
history.

- Certainly for us guitarists,
Jeff Beck, myself and Eric,

we've all played Ventures
material when we were kids.

- The Ventures.

In the sixth grade in grammar
school,

every boy in my class could
play "Wipeout" on his desk.

- "Wipeout".

- Those instrumentals led the
way.

- They have recorded 3,000
songs.

They have written 1,000 songs.

- They took other people's
songs and made them way better.

- All we have to do is hum
"Hawaii Five-O"

or "Walk Don't Run"

and the person's instantly
like, oh yeah, I know that.

- Of course I know that.

- They're the number one
song instrumental group

in the history of the music.

- There was no language barrier.

It was just movement.

- The guitar has arrived

and The Ventures are the
messengers.

- None of the rest of us would
be here

without The Ventures.

- I think like every band in the
world

had Walk Don't Run in their set.

- Everyone wants to get that
sound.

It just speaks to you
directly to the soul.

- It just as magic to me.

- This is surf music

and The Ventures were a
really important part of it.

- This was like everything
I was aspiring to.

- The Ventures always made me
feel like I wanted to dance,

pick up a guitar and
just look really cool.

- When I was younger I wanted to
learn

how to play the trombone.

I thought the trombone had
such a mellow sound, you know.

It was Tommy Dorsey that I
really liked.

I started playing it
in junior high school.

Then when I went into the Army,

I went to Germany.

They said, I see you play the
trombone.

Would you like to go into the
band?

No, i don't think so.

Biggest mistake I ever made in
my life.

Use to wake you up at three
or four o'clock in the morning

for a 20 mile hike.

Then we'd go out on
what they call biv-wack.

You would march and you'd
stay out for about a week.

And I'm talking winter time.

After about three months

I'm thinking I'm going to
try to get in the band.

I'll be darned if I
didn't have my orders cut

to go to the band.

They called me out and said,

I guess you're going to the
band.

We got the orders that
your request came through.

So, then I was in the band.

And it was really good.

I really enjoyed that.

And I did meet a guy that was in
the band.

He played the glockenspiel,

which is bells.

And he played a guitar
and he was kind of jazzy

and I played a few chords on a
guitar

that I learned from my
mom, believe it or not.

He was with some trio that you
might know,

the Page Cavenaugh Trio.

So, he taught me some kind of
jazzy chords

and stuff like that.

I never did pick up a guitar

for awhile until I met Bob
Bogle.

I was working in my dad's car
lot

and I was considered to be the
lot boy.

Bob Bogle came in one time.

I didn't know him at all.

And he wanted to buy a car.

He said, how about that car
over there, he'd point to.

And I said, nah, you don't want
that car.

You know, I was a terrible
salesman.

A good salesman would say
yeah, that's the car for you.

He and I got to talking

and we got along real good.

And so, I asked him.

I said, what do you do.

He said, well, I'm in
the bricklayer trade.

He got me a job.

The first thing I did
was I was a hod carrier.

As a lot of people know,

it rains a lot in Tacoma and
Seattle,

so a lot of times, if
you're working outside

replacing the mortar between
bricks,

a lot of times you can't work.

Bob and I, we thought
what are we going to do.

You told me you play a little
bit of guitar and so do I.

Why don't we buy a couple of
guitars

and when we're not working out
of town

we have nothing to do anyway.

Might as well try to learn
how to play the guitar.

In 1959 we bought two guitars

in a pawn shop in Tacoma,
Washington

and we probably paid $10
or $15 a piece for them.

And the strings were, I don't
know,

half and inch from the neck.

Those guitars were so hard to
play

but we bought chord books and
things

and learned everything we could

and then we thought we'd step
out

and pay a down payment
on some Fender guitars,

which we did.

- I think something that really

set The Ventures sound
apart from other groups

is how they utilized two guitars

to really fill out their sound.

- Normally, you think of
there's the lead guitar

and the rhythm guitar.

And the lead is always in the
front

and the rhythm's in the
background

and thought of as not as
important

but in The Ventures both guitars

were always just as important.

- There was only two of us
to begin with, two guitars.

I tried to make up for not
having a drum

and he tried to make up
for not having a keyboard.

You know, by using the whammy
bar.

Make it wavy.

- The guy playing the lead,

which I believe was Bob Bogle

but I didn't know that then,

but the guitar was really
twanging.

It was going .

- The lead was great

but the rhythm parts were
always just as interesting.

- Don Wilson is a really
interesting rhythm player.

I looked at his amp settings.

He's got the high end cranked
all the way

and he's got the low end
cranked all the way off

and he's playing it

and it's a percussive sound.

- Just the rhythm man.

- It was just straight ahead.

- Mostly downstrokes.

Not

I never did that.

- That kind of rhythm was
unheard of.

And when I was a kid,
nobody played like that.

- I mean, I just really beat
hard.

- He didn't just strum a chord.

He didn't just play Apreggios.

He always made it interesting by
muting,

adding reverb and making it
a little more percussive.

- Me playing real hard rhythm

and him playing that kind of
style,

when we got a bass and drummer,

it just stuck.

We thought we were hey,
versatile,

so we called ourselves The
Versatones.

And we went to register the name

and by god, it was already
taken,

otherwise we'd be The
Versatones.

For about two weeks,

we called ourselves The Impacts.

I remember that.

And then my mom said, you know,

you guys are venturing into
something new.

Why don't you call
yourselves The Ventures?

I said, well, that's pretty
corny.

But anyway that kind of stuck

and we said, well, okay.

We'll call ourselves The
Ventures.

We'd play for anybody
that wanted to hear it.

If somebody's having a party,

can we come and play?

We weren't quite good
enough to play for clubs

and there was only the two of
us.

So, we entered a lot of talent
contests,

which are really a popularity
contest.

In those days you had to do
something more

than just play music.

I mean, a lot of times

a drummer would put on some
gorilla mask or something

and act like a fool,

which that just wasn't our way.

We played some pretty rough
places.

We worked at a place called the
Blue Moon.

We worked there probably for a
month

and then we worked at the Java
Jive for,

I don't know how long,

maybe a month, month and a
half something like that.

At night I'd be at the
Britannia every Saturday.

The Britannia, boy that was a
rough place.

That was where they had a lot
of soldiers from Fort Lewis

and Canadian soldiers that
were training at Fort Lewis.

There must have been five fights
a night,

beer bottles flying.

They had actually a
police car out in front.

When a fight broke out,

they would go get these
people, put them in the car.

They'd just wait until
they got about five of them

and then they'd take them all to
jail.

When we played there,

we played from noon until
midnight.

It did us a lot of good though,

because we had to have quite a
repertoire

and not keep playing the same
things over and over again.

We saved enough to go into the
studio

and we were $25 short.

I asked,

I went to my dad.

I said, can I borrow $25.

I can't remember the exact
phrase he said

but he said, not only am I
not going to give you money,

I don't want you wasting your
time

trying to play that guitar.

But my mom was a big, big
supporter.

- Josie had been a singer
earlier in her life

and appreciated music,

saw a talent.

- I thought well, I think
they probably deserve a chance

to see maybe if they can make a
record.

- And she was a pioneer
in the music business.

She produced and promoted The
Ventures

with the original Blue Horizon
label.

- She said, you know, if
no body wants you guys,

why don't we start our own
record company?

So we did, Blue Horizon.

My mom wrote "Cookies and Coke".

That was our first record.

- There was a woman involved
in the beginning of their band

and she worked really hard for
them

and she was really smart

and she made decisions and
pursued the radio station.

She really pursued things for
them

and I think that that's really
special for us as women too.

- Yeah.

- There was no women in
the business at that time,

especially producing.

I'm sure she was unique
and maybe the first one.

- She paved the way for other
bands to do it on their own.

- She started the fan
club and she worked it

while she was doing production
and everything else.

- As a little kid I would write
to Josie

and ask her questions about

when's the next record coming
out

and all this stuff.

And she would write me back.

She would send me a personal
letter.

- Josie was influential,

stood behind The Ventures,

gave them every opportunity.

She was the biggest fan.

- To measure what she
contributed

is immeasurable, really.

- Don's mom was awesome.

- So, then we found a song

that was on a vinyl record of
Chet Atkins

called "Walk Don't Run".

And he played it in a jazzy
finger-style.

We'd only been playing for six
months.

We couldn't do that.

- We weren't professional enough

to play the song the way it was
written.

It was too complicated for us.

- So, we Venturized it.

- Written in 1954 by Johnny
Smith,

recorded in 1957 by Chet Atkins

and regarded by Rolling Stone
magazine

as one of the hundred greatest
guitar songs of all time.

I give you "Walk Don't Run".

- We'd have to always do that
song

three or four, five times a
night

because people just loved
hearing it.

So, we decided to record that.

- I did take them to a studio in
Seattle.

Joe Boles Custom Recorders.

- It was a two track.

The bass and the drum on one
track

and you did the rhythm
and the lead on the other.

I remember his echo chamber

was a microphone hanging on
the shower in his shower room.

He said, I'm going to try
something with you guys.

I'm going to put a microphone
right there

where you're picking

and I want to see if I
can't get the pick sound,

you know picking the strings.

Anyway, he got a great sound out
of us.

- Bob Bogle played lead.

Don Wilson played rhythm.

And Nokie Edwards played bass.

- I was working with a
country artist, Buck Owens.

Don and Bob came in the
club where I was working

and saw me play

and liked the way I played.

And asked me if I wanted
to join up with them.

- He was just outstanding
as a guitar player.

We asked him if he'd play the
bass

and he said that he would and he
did.

- If you're a real geek

then you know that there's
two distinct versions

of The Ventures in the 1960s.

There was the early period

where Bob Bogle played lead
guitar

and that was definitely more
rooted

in sort of a '50s rock and roll
feel

but then at some point, Nokie
Edwards who was playing bass,

switched over to lead guitar.

And Bob went over to play bass.

And then it became a
completely different band.

- Don was a great rhythm guitar
player.

Has his own sound, his
own style, his own touch.

Bob had his own style too as
well.

Very much like a guitar player
on bass.

Nokie was a brilliant lead
guitar player.

- Nokie had been playing the
guitar

since he was five years old.

He was a king around Seattle,
Tacoma area.

- Nokie had his roots in
country.

There was no question about it

but he evolved into more
of a finger-style picker

after he came in with The
Ventures.

- Now, he was a country player

but he was obviously listening

to a lot of current music at the
time

and so he was bending a lot of
notes.

- I asked him one time
why he played this way

and he said he just
wanted to play more notes.

Not to overplay,

just to make his arrangement
a little bit fuller.

- Chet Atkins and Les Paul were
Nokie and Bob Bogle's idols,

especially Nokie.

- He really likes mellow music.

When he sits at home he just
sits

and plays mellow finger picking
music

but everything kind of came
together

at that point in the mid '60s

where he sort of became
this snarling, punk rock,

crazy, violent sounding lead
guitar

and it sort of worked with
everything

that was going on at that
time in the music scene.

- You know a funny thing with
Nokie too,

Les Paul sped up his playing

and Nokie says he never knew
that.

So, he would try to play that
as fast as it was sped up

and I got to tell you,

sometimes he did a
pretty good job.

- Bob Bogle loved the lead
guitar

but he knew that Nokie
was the better player.

And Nokie was on bass
right from the beginning,

so Bob decided to
switch with Nokie

and said, you know, we
need to feature you more.

Bob mentioned though that he
didn't know how to play bass

and Nokie said,

well, it's just the four
strings of the guitar.

Nokie was not pretentious

but he always helped
his fellow players play

and that's what made The
Ventures great.

They supported each other.

- Anytime I saw The Ventures
live,

my favorite part of the show

was when Bob would switch to
guitar for a couple of songs.

But then, at the same time,

Bob was also a wild man on the
bass,

which was kind of strange

because he didn't have
a wild man personality

but man, on the bass he was
amazing.

- The drummer that played "Walk
Don't Run"

was somebody that we had
done these talent shows with

and he was a different type of a
drummer.

He would make some drum rolls

that were quite different
from anybody else.

He would belt on it.

There were rim shots in
between the different things.

He happened to be absolutely
perfect for "Walk Don't Run".

I said, we'll either give you a
percentage

of what it makes or $25.

He said, I'll take the 25.

That's the last we heard of him.

And you know, he never cashed
that check.

Then we got Howie Johnson.

He was with us for,

I guess maybe a year
and a half, two years.

And he got in a terrible car
accident,

so he couldn't really travel
much.

And so, we needed a drummer.

So, we happened to be at the
Palomino club

in North Hollywood.

They said, why don't you get up
and play?

And I said, well, I don't know

they maybe not know "Walk Don't
Run".

Mel, he said, I know your
song very well, yeah.

Sure come on, get up here.

So, we did and he did it well,

so we hired him.

- Mel Taylor was a slamming
drummer.

- The bar is set very high by
Mel

because "Wipeout" is no easy
task.

- To hear that kind of music

with a drummer who hit
the drums that hard,

that excited us, you know.

- When I saw them live,

the dynamics of Mel Taylor,

the drive that he put
behind those guys in front

that just took it to another
level.

- It's definitely sort of like
the epitome of surf drumming.

- The Ventures came

and they played their first
record for me

and I said, you know, I
think you're very good.

But this is not,

this isn't it.

- Everything was no.

It was not a hit.

A guy named Pat O'Day, who was
the,

became one of the,

probably most famous
disc jockey in Seattle.

We got to be friends.

And I said, do you think you
could play "Walk Don't Run"?

And he said, well, you know,

I'd have to ask the program
director.

- If Pat played your record,

all the other stations did too.

It's like he made us into
these little mini superstars

in Seattle and Tacoma.

- So, he said, well, the only
thing I can do is to play it

as what they call a news kicker.

- Every hour they had news

and before they put on the news
program,

they played what they
called a news kicker.

Pretty soon they announced over
the air,

please don't call.

Please don't call anymore.

Our phone lines are jammed.

We will play this record in its
entirety.

- Well, we were working.

There was another guy there

and we had a little portable
radio.

And we started listening to it.

I said, that's our song right
there playing on the radio.

Sure it is.

- I heard on KJR radio in
Seattle

this remarkable instrumental.

And I said, well, they're
bending notes in there

and they're flat, their
sharp deliberately.

- We had been to Bob with the
tape before

and he turned us down.

Well, then bob contacted me
again.

- And I said, this is
going to be a big hit.

Do you know that?

She said, really?

And I said, this is going
to be possibly number one.

- I think the smartest thing I'd
ever done

was to take him on as a partner

because he had the contacts.

He had had a number one
recording the The Fleetwoods

called "Come Softly To Me".

I knew that he would have
the knowledge of what to do

and he already had a contract
with Liberty Records.

- So, he sent it down to Liberty
Records

and the president of Liberty
Records says,

no, i don't think it's a hit.

Although it was climbing
the charts in Seattle

but only Seattle.

Mr. Reisdorff said,
well, I'll guarantee it.

If it doesn't make it, I'll
pay the cost of the promotion

and pressing and whatever
else was involved.

And it wound up going to
number two in the nation.

- As soon as I heard "Walk Don't
Run" I bought a copy of it.

- I couldn't believe
what I was hearing.

The drums were great

but the sound of the
guitars, the melody,

everything about it.

- I was hearing a song

that was being played,

being sung on the guitar.

- It sounded innovative.

It sounded modern.

It sounded explorative.

We had never heard
anything like that before.

- It has a feeling of adventure

and you want to go on this trip
with them.

- I can't imagine what
it would have been like

to have heard that music
for the first time.

- At that point in time, we were
going,

how are they doing that?

- I mean, there was so much
going on on that record

that I didn't understand.

Had this incredible, now
I know it's called reverb,

but I didn't know what it was
then.

It was just guitar music.

- Who found "Walk Don't Run" for
them?

How'd they find that tune?

I was growing up playing jazz.

I had a million Johnny Smith
records.

I even had that song on one.

- I never got a chance to ask
Don and Bob,

how in the heck did you
pick a bebop song like that

and turn it into what you
made into a classic rock tune?

- Every band in the world had
"Walk Don't Run" in their set.

Not the Johnny Smith or
the Chet Atkins version.

It was The Ventures version.

- I think The Ventures
made music that was,

maybe wasn't accessible
to the average person.

They took like a jazz,

a complicated jazz tune
like "Walk Don't Run"

and made it into a simpler
arrangement for rock,

like a rock and roll
arrangement,

which made a lot of kids
go, I want to learn that.

- The chord progression
to the rhythm guitar part

on "Walk Don't Run"

was the very first thing
I ever learned on guitar.

- When we would listen

and we were trying to play note
for note.

We'd try to pick it out.

Wait.

Do that again.

And they'd lift up the
needle and go .

And you'd do it again.

Lift up that needle one more
time.

I think I might have it this
time.

Nope, that's not it.

Until you got the little parts.

- I would write all of the
chords down

and I would make the sheet music

and I would sell it to the local
bands.

- They were probably the
first guitar teachers

most of us ever had.

- The great thing about it
was everything was hearable

because there were only four
people

and there wasn't singing

and a bunch of other stuff in
the way.

You could hear everything.

- People were saying,
you're going to go in

and record it without
a piano or a saxophone?

- A lot of people said it's too
empty.

You know, you need an orchestra.

- We didn't know any piano
players or saxophone players.

And probably was fortunate that
we didn't

because you know, it was just
four pieces.

Two guitars a bass and a drum.

- The Pacific northwest,
the Seattle, Tacoma area,

in the late '50s,

it was just the beginnings
of rock and roll.

- We were at the
crossroads from an old era.

The big band era moving
into the new era of music.

- This was new, modern,
exciting electric guitar rock.

- It's called electricity.

And when you're messing with
electricity

weird things happens sometimes.

And if you can catch it,
you go, hey, that's cool.

- The Ventures were a rock and
roll band

and they had a lot more
roll than they had rock.

I mean, The Ventures swing.

They really swing.

- But if you go back and
listen that initial album,

it's stands up against anything
today.

It's tight.

It's musically correct.

And it's infectious.

- The early days were, to say
the least,

tough.

Any rock and roller will
tell you the same story,

that their family suffered
because of their work.

I was on the road sometimes
for six months at a time.

You know, that was just,

took over everything.

You know, trying to make a
living,

which I thought, you know,
well, I'll support them

and I'll send them money and all
that

but it's not enough.

Your presence is worth more than
that.

You're dad.

- I remember playing with
Little Bill and the Blue Notes,

The Whalers.

All these guys were like
17 and 18 years old.

We were 25.

Our dressing room was right
through the dance floor

and I remember when I walked by

some guy said to his girlfriend,

he said, boy, these guys are
old.

We were playing not big
halls like Elvis

or somebody of his stature would
play.

We saw a place with
chicken wire on the windows

and I said, wouldn't it be
funny if we were playing there?

And it turned out that we were.

If we made $300 or 400,

we each got 100 bucks.

Then we had to pay our
own expenses besides that.

When people see you,

they see you get up on stage and
play,

oh yeah, boy, they've got it
made.

That's an easy thing.

They don't know about getting to
and from.

We carried our own amplifiers
and guitars

and stuff and drums

and we had to set them up
ourselves.

We had this station wagon

and we pulled a Uhaul trailer

with all of our equipment in.

And we had an old friend of mine

that wanted to be the road
manager.

And we did have a saxophone
player for a while,

on the road.

And so, there's six of us.

Three in front and three in the
back.

And you know, you're like this

everytime I hit a little thing.

Because we really couldn't
afford it

and we wanted to go home with
some money,

we had a motel room.

All five of us stayed in one
room.

- They had agents booking
them across the country.

And they get there and their
next gig would be in Texas.

They're in Chicago.

They have to call ahead to get
some money

to pay for the gas to go to do
the job.

- Promoters had a system.

If they had,

you were out, let's say for ten
shows,

and one was canceled,

they wouldn't call you.

They knew it.

But they wouldn't call
you until the day before

that cancellation.

They'd call the day before and
say,

tomorrow night has been
canceled.

So, you've got 500 miles to
drive.

And then we were naive at the
time

and we'd take a check
and we'd bring it back

and you know, take it to the
bank.

They say, well, that's no good.

We learned after awhile
that you better get cash

or nothing.

Surf music got very popular.

Of course, with "Wipeout" and
"Pipeline"

it was really getting a
foothold.

So, we thought "Walk Don't
Run" in a surfing style

would be maybe something.

And it was still that wonderful
melody of "Walk Don't Run".

To our surprise, it made the top
ten.

I was watching Casey Kasem
on TV

in the top 40 countdown, you
know.

He said, who was the very
first artist recording

that had this same song with
two different arrangements,

both hit the top ten?

And I'm sitting there
saying, I don't know.

I wonder who it was.

And he came back and
said, it was The Ventures

with "Walk Don't Run"
and "Walk Don't Run '64".

- The Ventures are
musicians and scientists

of what it is surf music

before surf music was even
predicted.

- We have been labeled as a surf
group

but that term wasn't coined
yet, you know surf music.

- People that define a genre,

very rarely consider
themselves of that genre.

I'm sure Elvis didn't think
he was a rock-a-billy singer

or rock and roll singer.

I'm sure he thought he was
just like Frank Sinatra.

- Probably the reason that they
got

thrown into that surf hopper

is because they played Fender
guitars

through Fender reverb units,

through Fender amplifiers,

had a very clean sound.

- This was all new
technology in those days.

A Fender Stratocaster was a new
thing.

A Jazzmaster Fender
basses we exciting times

and they incorporated these
sounds

in the records that they made

and they were unique.

- The Ventures, I've heard, love
Fender.

And Fender is that mass produced
guitar

that everyone uses

and they're great work horses.

But the mystique lies in
the Mosrite guitars,

which they had their names on.

And I think a lot of people
think,

everything was done with Mosrite
guitars.

- Nokie introduced The
Ventures to the Mosrite guitar

because he was friends with
Gene Moles and Semie Moseley.

- Semie Moseley approached us

and said, I'll make a
Ventures model guitar

and we'll pay you a royalty.

We picked up the Mosrite

and played it for about
three years, I guess.

- I always wanted a Mosrite

because The Ventures
played them, you know.

- Well, it was that unusual
guitar.

It was like a Stratocaster
upside-down.

- Mosrite guitars are unique

because they're very frail.

They have a very slim neck.

- If you're trying to play blues

or rock and get sustained notes,

you're trying to push
a note up and hold it,

on the Mosrite it would
hit the next string

and it would cancel each other,

it'll craple out your sustain.

Eh-uh.

And it would suddenly stop

because you're hitting the next
string.

- And they have something
called a zero fret.

And in fact there's a zero
fret guitar behind me here.

Not a Mosrite

but the advantage of a zero
fret,

it's usually the trademark
of a very cheap guitar

but it's a trick you can use

to get the stings lying flat
against the fingerboard,

which means they're easy to
play.

And if they're easy to play,

it's easy to play fast and
clean.

- Wilson Brothers Guitar Company
was set up by Tim Wilson,

Don Wilson's son, to honor his
dad.

- They're one of the first
bands, if not the first band,

to have their own signature
guitar line.

And of course, they started with
Mosrite.

When that ended in the '70s

they went with Aria in Japan.

They had some Fender guitars.

And now they have the Wilson
Brothers.

And all those guitars,

what's really the most important
thing

is that they were accessible
to the average fan.

They weren't super pricey.

The average fan was able to buy
one

and feel like there were
part of The Ventures.

- When you hear the word
Ventures,

you hear the word guitar.

And if you say guitar,

you say The Ventures.

- It's like the backbone
of guitar music, you know.

- And even if they weren't the
first guys

who played electric guitar,

they're the ones that
we associate it with.

- There weren't a lot of
people playing guitar.

I mean, now a days, there's
millions of guitar outs

and millions of people that play
guitar.

When I was young,

if you just owned a guitar,
that was a big deal.

- The guitar can be played in
any style

and it's portable.

- When troubadours who were
going with portable instruments,

ancestors of the guitar,

mankind started to be
able to play anywhere.

Walk or take a horse or a car,

go anywhere and play.

It's true.

I cannot do that with a piano.

- Beethoven described
it as a mini orchestra.

It's one of the few polyphonic
instruments

that you can play.

It's relatively easy to learn.

Three chords and you can do
a lot of your favorite songs.

- Or you can take it to
the Andres Segovia style

and become a concert artist.

- I think it's always
been a rebel instrument

because,

just because of the volume
you can achieve quite easily.

And there's nothing like plug it
in,

turn it up to ten and just,

it makes great things sound
amazing.

- The guitars helped.

But it's always the player
that makes the sound great.

- Bob Bogle and Don were very,
very, very precise players.

That's what impressed me the
most.

I wanted to sound like that.

Most guitar players connect the
idea

of the use of the vibrato
arm on an electric guitar

with The Ventures.

- The whammy bar creates a pitch
bend

that gives a sense of like a
shimmering wave, if you will.

And it sound something like
this.

- Don said, okay, you do the
melody with the tremolo arm

and I'm going to do the rhythm.

- Tremolo is similar to vibrato

but it's not the same thing.

And people get this confused all
the time.

Instead of frequency,

this is an amplitude or a volume
change.

The one that's built into the
amp

sounds a lot like something I
can do

with just the volume
control on the guitar.

- Don and I would have a contest

to see who could put the
most reverb on our guitars.

It was just like little kids.

- The sound of The Ventures,

I think it has a lot
to do with the reverb.

It sounds like the sea.

If you bang the reverb chamber,

it sounds like crashing waves.

- In the case of The Ventures,

it was mostly spring reverb.

For all you techno geeks out
there,

the Hammond reverb pan, long
spring.

- So, this is what the reverb
sounded like back then.

This is from the reverb tank.

- This is a reverb mechanism
pulled out of an amplifier.

The guitar sound is fed in
through here.

It goes through a spring.

And it's picked up here and
fed back into the amplifier.

And by the waving of this
spring, the vibration,

it vibrates,

it modifies the sound in a
immediately recognizable way.

- Surf bands claimed that it
sounded like

they were in the pipeline of a
wave.

- It's a sweet sound

and it takes a lot more skill

to play a guitar cleanly.

- They call it the drip.

I'm a rock-a-billy guitar player

but I incorporate some of that
stuff.

But the real purist want to get
the drip

and that's achieved by
putting the reverb tank

before the amplifier.

- Back in the '60s, effects
were generally created

with some pretty big boxes.

So it wasn't such an easy
process to incorporate them.

- I can't understate how many
hours

I stared at the album
cover or the back cover,

looking at their guitars

and wondering how they got
certain sounds.

- The engineer was experimenting
too

with trying to get different
sounds and everything.

They put speakers on the floor

and they cut speakers

and they would turn things
around.

- We did "Walk Don't Run '64"

and you know,

it sounds like it's a
keyboard playing in there

but actually what it is,

and people are surprised at
that,

it's a saxophone played
through a Leslie speaker.

- If you look at "Silver
Bells" off the Christmas album,

there's a vocoder being
used for the first time.

These things were just
remarkably innovative

and experimental for their time.

Nobody else was doing that.

- The beginning of the song
"Telstar",

in order to recreate
what Joe Meek had done

on the original with The
Tornadoes,

Don used a fire extinguisher
to get that sound

of the satellite taking off.

- The Ventures were one of the
first bands

to use the fuzz box,

although other people
had used fuzz before.

I think Paul Burlinson

from Johnny Burnette's Rock 'n
Roll Trio

punched holes in his,

either punched holes in his
speakers

or rattled a tube in the,

he rattled a tube in the back.

But to reproduce that in
a controllable environment

is from a fuzz box.

- It was created for them
by a guy named Red Rhodes.

He was a electronics wizard,

as he was a steel guitarist.

- If you never heard
anything like that before,

like we hadn't,

then you're thinking what
does that sound like?

And we thought, hm, sounds
like a 2,000 pound bee to me.

And so, we did parts one and two

of "The 2,000 Pound Bee".

- VH1 went on to state

that it was the first song ever
recorded

using a fuzz box guitar.

- I mean, that's a really,
really early use of a fuzz tone.

I mean, there's one or two
right around the same time

but The Ventures were
right on that cutting edge

and you're talking about five or
six years

before the psychedelic groups
started using the fuzz tone.

- Part B of "2,000 Pound
Bee" became the first single

to hit the Billboard chart
using this fuzz tone.

- The echo is great.

The reverb is great.

They don't really even use
a vibratos really, you know.

They were just playing.

- When we first started,

after about three years
we had a record producer

that was helping us produce the
records.

We told him that we were,

felt like we were running out of
ideas

and he said, well, one idea

is to find more sounds in that
guitar.

He said, there's sounds in that
guitar

you've never found yet.

He was right.

We kept trying and
finding more techniques.

- A lot of stuff was
just Nokie and his hands.

I mean, Nokie did all kinds
of what you would call tricks

but to the people in the
audience it was like,

whoa, how are you doing that,
you know.

There's a record where he's
doing this with his pick

- In "Diamond Head" that
little sound you hear,

is Nokie rubbing
fingernail on the strings.

- In "Wooly Bully" he would
pick behind the bridge

where you're not suppose to play
over here

and he would

- Probably one of the reasons

why they influenced surf bands
so much

is because they were good at
playing

quarter notes and eighth notes

in very, very, very strict time.

You can't drive a song

unless you have a rhythm
guitar player like Don Wilson,

who can play very, very, very
straight ahead eighth notes.

- And he would do double picking

or really fast picking

but with he reverb sound

he had sort of this percussive
thing

that he loved so much.

- So, they actually created the
sound,

I believe,

that surf bands then reached out
for

and it became their own.

- Growing up in southern
California

in my early teens, I had a surf
board.

And when you're riding the
waves, man,

that was the sound track
that's going through your head.

- The Ventures will be
remembered forever

for creating a culture
in southern California

of surf music

and they started it.

Not consciously.

It was a happy accident.

- You know, I like surf music.

I think it's exciting

and I like to play it.

It's fun to play on stage.

- One of the staples of surf
songs

is the so called rundown.

And it sounds something like
this.

- Bob on the bass actually
came up with that rundown.

You know, that was the .

- I don't think anybody had ever
heard

that.

In the solo of "Barracuda" by
Heart

I do that.

- We decided that we're going to
move

to Los Angeles and Hollywood

because we wanted to be
where it was happening.

And we stayed in a motel

right across the street
from Liberty Records.

They had a lot of studios there

and we wanted to record.

And Bob Reisdorff said,

you've got such a good
sound with Joe Boles,

I want you to go back up to
Washington

and record there.

So, we did.

And then he said it again the
second time

and we're thinking, oh,
I want to record here.

But he said, no, go ahead and go
up there

because he's got your sound
down.

You don't want to change
too much of you sound

from what "Walk Don't Run"
sounds like.

So, we did it again.

- Back in the '60s they would
do four or more albums a year.

- We put so many albums out

that we had five albums on
the top 100 at one time.

- They were the sixth best
selling band

behind The Beatles, Elvis, Frank
Sinatra,

Johnny Mathis, Herb Alpert.

- Yeah, Bob Reisdorff said, most
artists,

you're probably good for, at the
most,

maybe three, four albums
and that's about it.

He says, I suggest

that you really put your money
in the bank

and save whatever you get.

And of course, we didn't.

To prove his thinking,

he sold The Ventures after
about maybe six albums

or something like that,

to Liberty Records.

I've never heard anything about
his complaining about that

but we kept on selling
and selling and selling

and it was a bad move on his
part.

We were responsible for 25%

of Liberty's total volume of
record sales.

That's when we kind of knew,

hey, maybe we're going
somewhere.

They had some pretty
good artists, you know.

They had the Chipmunks.

I mean, come on.

- For decades they were
just like this machine

that could not be stopped.

- They recorded so many
records, it's insane.

I don't even know if
anyone's done that before,

have they?

200 records?

- And the thing about The
Ventures is,

they'd have a surf album.

They would have a soundtrack
album

where they're doing movie
soundtracks.

One of my favorites is The
Ventures country and western.

- I think one thing that
resonates with The Ventures

is they're a versatile band.

They can play anything they want
to play.

- Whatever kind of my
that I wanted to play,

you could sort of get the origin
of that

within a Ventures' instrumental.

You know, if you wanted
to play rock-a-billy,

if you wanted to play country,

if you wanted to play blues,

if you wanted to play
psychedelic rock,

there was some Ventures'
instrumental that you could
learn.

- Probably the third
or fourth album we did

was "The Colorful Ventures".

And we had songs that had color.

- Well, they'll be remembered in
our house

with their Christmas record

because we know it's Christmas

when we put that Ventures'
record on for Christmas time.

- We had a classical album.

And we had 35 musicians playing
behind us.

One time we thought, you know,

we're going to do a disco album,

which, I mean as far as I'm
concerned,

Venture fans really scoffed at.

- Oh yeah, they did disco.

So, we won't talk about the
disco era.

- They permeate every aspect of
life.

I mean, there's something

for every emotion that they've
got.

And I think that their songs
will live on for that reason.

- When we just,

like what I said before,

we kind of ran out of ideas.

We thought, let's get a keyboard
in there.

And so, we had a girl playing
keyboard for us to begin with.

We hired Hal Blaine,

which he was with The Wrecking
Crew

and he got triple scale

and we had him play the
tambourine.

Can you believe that?

Carol Kaye also played the bass
one time.

I had a neighbor in the '60s a
couple of houses away from me

and his name was Glen Campbell.

And I got to know him

and I said, would you like
to play some music with us.

And he said, oh, I'd love it.

So, we used him three or four
times.

Tommy Allsup was the guitar
player

for Buddy Holly and The
Crickets.

He played a couple songs too.

- I performed "Secret Agent
Man" with The Ventures

on the anniversary show.

And it was amazing to be part of
that.

I felt like I was in with the
guys.

I was part of the gang,

the surf gang.

If there's such a thing.

- Billy Bob Thornton was a big,
big fan.

- I was about to make an album.

It was before the Boxmasters.

We were doing a solo record of
mine.

I'd had this idea.

I said, why don't I just use The
Ventures

to make the record with?

It was such an honor
getting to know those guys.

Since then, I've kept up with
them a lot.

I still have all of that stuff.

So, one of these days I'm
going to put it together

and maybe put it out, you know,

as me with The Ventures.

- Gerry McGee joined the
band in the late '60s

when Nokie went on his
sabbatical.

- Gerry was a real
well-rounded guitar player.

I mean, really good.

- Gerry played with
greats like Bobby Darin,

Delaney and Bonnie, Kris
Kristofferson, Elvis.

- He did an album with The
Monkees.

Before they played instruments
themselves,

he did a lot of the guitar work.

- His sound was different.

But it was always within the
bounds

of what The Ventures sound was

and it always has worked.

- I'll never forget
sitting in the control room

with Gerry McGee.

He was about to play something

and I said, where's your whammy
bar?

He said, I never used a
whammy bar in my life.

I said, you can make that thing

jiggle that much without one?

He said, oh yeah.

We always did it that way.

So, I learned little things
about them,

about their guitar technique
and all that kind of thing.

- Somebody came to us with an
idea

called Guitar Phonics.

And they said, you know,

there's a lot of people
learning off of your music

and I think you guys should
put out an instruction album

where you play the song

and you explain what you're
doing with it

and the notes that you're
playing.

The first one hit the
charts, the Top 100s.

We decided we'd do a couple more

and those two hit the charts
too.

So, we had three instruction
albums

on the Top 100 of Billboards.

We had some kind of magic.

We wanted it.

And you've got to want it.

There's not that many
instrumentals

that you can take and put on an
album,

so we use to take vocals
and Venturize them.

- The Ventures are known for,

not being a cover band,

but for being interpreters
of a generation.

Every time a musical genre would
change,

they would do their own
version of the songs.

- They were imagineering, you
might say.

So, let's say they were doing

a song that had been a hit on
the radio

that had saxophone.

Rather than imitating the lines
that the saxophone played,

they would figure out some
other interesting thing

to play there,

like arpeggio with chords

or maybe

doing a rhythm thing with the
chords.

- When you're a musician,

to play a cover of someone
else's songs,

you better be damn good.

You better be damn good

because you've got to be
better then the original.

- All the cover songs that they
did,

as well as their own,

really have their own stamp on
it

and I think it's such a unique
sound.

- If it was "Snoopy and the
Red Barron" or a disco track

or a film soundtrack,

anything that was popular,

they'd do their own version.

- So, people kind of thought
that songs

like "Pipeline" and "Wipeout"
were Ventures' songs,

even though they weren't,
originally.

In that regard,

The Ventures kind of road the
crest

of this instrumental music wave

as the best known group in
America

that did instrumental songs

and became almost like a generic
term,

like Kleenex, you know.

- When they covered film
soundtrack stuff,

it becomes almost the iconic
version.

- I have to congratulate them

because they captured the energy
and the vigor of my music.

- We had an engineer

and he came to Mel one time

and he said, I just did some
engineering

to do the music for "Hawaii
Five-O".

And he said that the writer,

who is Mort Stevens,

only has a 30 second version
of it just for the show.

And he does not plan on
doing a longer version

or putting it out.

And so, he said, I think
you guys should put it out.

We did the "Hawaii Five-O" video

and we did it out in the Mojave
Desert

on a dried up lake.

That was kind of our
last hurrah, let's say,

in the U.S.

"Hawaii Five-O" was a single
hit.

But we continued to sell albums,

especially in Japan.

- America seems to go in and out
of trends

and then they come back to them
later.

But The Ventures have
been popular in Japan

since the beginning.

Still are to this day.

- We started going to Japan
in 1962, was the first time.

We were the opening act with
Bobby Vee

and a girl named Joanne
Campbell.

And they were more listening
to their own music,

which was a the time call enka.

- Enka is Japanese Blues.

Something like .

So, it was easy for Japanese
people to understand

and easy to feel the melody.

It almost sounds like Japanese
people are playing the music.

- And when we came about with
guitars and electric guitars

and we started a guitar boom.

- When Don does his rundown,

it's ticky ticky ticky san.

- The second time we
came there was in 1964.

We landed in Haneda Airport.

There were people on
the roof of the terminal

and all, you know.

I thought for a second,

who is on this airplane for
God's sake?

It must be the President
or the Emperor or somebody.

We get closer and they
had all kinds of signs

that said, welcome The Ventures.

They wanted to pull us into a
room

for radio and TV and all
that right away first thing.

Then when we left to go
out to get in the car,

our fans were out there.

They were ripping at our clothes
and everything, you know.

You couldn't leave the hotel
room.

Maybe 100 people out there
waiting.

- The Japanese were just
developing

an interest in American culture

and at that time, English was
not as common as it was today.

- The Ventures music
had no language barrier.

It was so simple for Japanese
people to just listen.

- They were attracted to the
feeling.

- "Walk Don't Run" doesn't say
walk don't run in the lyrics.

So, you just make up your
own interpretation of that.

- Music is a universal language.

- It was Venture mania then.

And a lot of mothers and fathers

tired to keep us out of the
country.

All that did was make the kids
want to see us more.

We turned out selling
about 40 million records

in Japan alone.

Our same record company had The
Beatles

when The Beatles came out.

And so, I know this for a fact.

Not only did we outsell
The Beatles in Japan,

but we outsold them two to one.

- They went to Japan in
1962 for the first time.

This is before The Beatles.

They went to Japan in 1966.

Then all the bands
started going into Japan,

Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so
on.

- The success in Japan was
incredible.

- We did 108 shows in 78 days

without a day off.

- It's been 60 years ever
since The Ventures came out.

And The Ventures did more
than 22,000 shows in Japan.

- We started writing
songs strictly for Japan.

Really listening to what they
did in buying their records

and listening to them

and seeing what kind of sounds
they had

and what appealed to them.

- The Ventures did
collaborations
with the Japanese singers

and also, they came up
with the Japanese titles,

such as "Ginza Lights",

"Hokkaido Skies" and "The Kyoto
Dolls".

- You know, they toured Japan

and you see people who were fans
of theirs

when they were kids

but you also see people who,

young people there who know
the legend of The Ventures.

- They'll never die in Japan.

- Japanese people love The
Ventures.

- Playing in front of a Japanese
audience

I got to feel what The Ventures
felt.

They were super enthusiastic.

- I love The Ventures.

- Teke teke wah.

- I love The Ventures.

- The Ventures performed
at Kohaku back in 1991.

Kohaku is a major music event.

It happens in the end of the
year.

In order to to perform for
Kohaku

you have to have a hit song

or you have to be very popular.

The Ventures were not just
popular

but it is part of our
Japanese culture now.

- There were no guitar groups in
Japan.

And now, when we go over to
Japan,

and have been for the last 20
years,

there's The Hiroshima
Ventures, The Tokyo Ventures,

The Osaka Ventures, The Sapporo
Ventures.

Every city in Japan has a
Ventures.

- Not just the big cities
like Tokyo or Osaka.

You just go to any cities in
Japan

and you're going to always
find Ventures tribute bands.

- When I see them I get a kick
out of it.

They watch us so closely,

even on stage,

that they're doing whatever we
do.

- So, the Japanese took The
Ventures into their hearts

and no matter what was going
on in the rest of the world,

The Ventures always were welcome
in Japan.

Welcome is an understatement.

- When they become your fan,

it's your fan for life.

So, I look at it like,

if they're my,

they're loyal to me.

Now I'm their fan too.

- John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd

created the unforgettable
killer bee characters

on Saturday Night Live in the
'70s.

The story goes that one day
they were walking along a beach

and talking about their debts.

And at the same time they were
listening

to a tape by The Ventures,

"The 2,000 Pound Bee".

- So, they made a pact,
whoever dies first,

the other one will play

"The 2,000 Pound Bee" at the
funeral.

John Belushi passed away.

Dan Aykroyd held up a portable
radio

and the sounds of The Ventures
filled St. John's The Divine.

We've had a lot of things
in movies, our songs,

and on TV, commercials and
things.

- Tarantino decided to put
a song in "Pulp Fiction".

- And that song was called "Surf
Rider".

- It was something that

when he was a kid learning to
play guitar,

he learned that song.

Well, it stuck with him all
those years.

- There's me as a 20 year old

as a gun toting surfing bad
girl.

- Our fans were use to seeing
pretty models on our covers.

We had quite a few.

And I like those too.

- The vinyls appealed to me

because they had really groovy
looking

hot chicks on the cover,

colorful, happy.

- The females on the album
covers for The Ventures

were rad.

They were so sexy and
self-contained and confident

and they were absolutely
a part of the music.

- Half the time I'd pick out
the records by the covers.

And The Ventures had the coolest
covers.

Once I started seeing covers
like this,

and then when you opened it up
like this,

I mean, this was like
everything I was aspiring to.

- Back then in the early '60s

there was no social media.

The way that you discovered who
they were

and how they created that music

were the album jackets.

- I think it was a really neat
and fun way

to market themselves.

And it's super fun to
collect all of their albums

because of this.

- Yeah, I think pretty
unique for the time too.

- Grab the eye, you know,

and once they played what they
played

it grabbed the ear,

so that was good.

- In the 70s, rock n' roll
itself

kind of died a little bit.

It had gone from being something
really cool and really fun

to these '70s rock stars
with their excessive habits.

- In the '80s a lot of people

started to reinvestigate their
early tones

because some of those
clean guitar tones were,

there's a purity to it, an
honesty

that got lost with all
the effects and distortion

and some of the over technical
playing.

- Rodney Bingenheimer
started basically, KROQ,

as Rodney on the ROQ
playing new bands in 1976.

The radio station would say,

you can't play music
from the '60s anymore.

- The Ventures had never stopped

because of their popularity in
Japan,

so they were still around.

- Some kids, like punk rockers,

started calling into the
radio station to say,

who's that new wave group
called The Ventures?

And these are kids that
had never heard of us

or didn't know at all.

But they thought we were
something new.

- They would send these letters
saying,

we're like The Ventures
meets this meets this

but we're also like punk rock.

- Punk rock kind of
brought rock and roll back,

the original spirit of rock and
roll.

- The punk bands loved The
Ventures for the simplicity,

the do it yourself mentality.

- Oh yeah, Ventures signed my
guitar.

- I think that's how a lot
of people learned to play.

So, that's why they loved them.

And it was very simple to play.

It's very hard to get right

but it's simple to play.

- The rapid fire rhythm of punk

was very reminiscent of Don
Wilson's

punk rhythm playing on 1960.

No one was playing bar chord
like that.

Other people were jazz
guitarists

playing finger-pick style
and bar chords and all that.

Don Wilson was doing a
punk style rhythm guitar.

- A bar chord, for people
that don't play guitar,

as oppose to the cowboy chords,

which are what you learn
when you play classical,

it's a chord that can be played

with one finger, two fingers
underneath

and it can be moved up and
down the neck of the guitar.

So, if you want to play G, A and
B,

you don't have to learn all
this complicated Segovia stuff.

You play the same thing but you
move it.

The Sex Pistols, The Ramones,

all of the kind of iconic 101
punk stuff

is based around bar chords.

Johnny Ramone used a Mosrite
guitar

but that that was by design or
not,

I have no idea.

I never asked him.

But that's definitely a
Ventures' style guitar

and there were Ventures'
style guitar chords

all the way through all The
Ramones stuff.

- We were big fans of The
Ventures.

We loved the instrumentals they
did.

They were the best at what they
do.

- The Ventures sounded
dangerous.

They sounded "hoodlum-y".

Their music just sounded like,

like it would befit the kind of
people

that would show up in hotrods to
the beach

in leather jackets

and then just hang out there,

not right on the sand

but on the beac. like,
"hoodlum-y" smoking a cigarette

and watching the girls
in their bikinis go by.

- The Ventures live in Japan,

it has the most aggressive,
amazing sound, I think ever.

I mean, I think that the Sex
Pistols

were getting a run for their
money there.

- I actually got my job

because a guy who had
been the road manager

was about six two, six three

and he got his nose broken at
Disneyland

at a gig at Disneyland.

I asked him,

I said, how come you're
willing to give this gig up?

He said, too crazy for me.

And at that time The Ventures
were all in their mid 40s

and this was too crazy.

The mods and rockers were
showing up

having a war with each other.

- Oh yeah, because we had slam
dancers,

if you ever remember that.

I mean, they were just
rough on each other.

Do we appeal to them?

Wow.

- We played CBGBs in New York.

We played The Mudd Room in New
York.

The 9:30 Club in Washington, DC,

Peppermint Lounge in New York
City.

I had kids doing swan dives off
the stage.

They'd get past me and run out

and just to a swan dive into the
audience.

I mean, there was some,

they were seriously crazy times.

- Even though we all had
our roots in punk rock,

we were really, really super
informed

by that whole early '60s
mod beach party aesthetic.

That led to Go-Go's to
write "Surfin' & Spyin'",

which was actually
influenced by The Ventures.

She wrote this next song.

The Ventures recorded it,

so you'll be hearing it soon.

It's an instrumental.

It's called "Surfin' & Spyin'"

and it's also a dance song.

- And they came down to our
studio

where we were recording
and they recorded with us.

We recorded their song

and they played along.

- There's a pretty straight
line that you can draw

between The Ventures and
all this guitar music

that came later on.

Whether you're talking about
punk rock with The Ramones

or new wave with the B-52's

or you know, even heavy metal

was some of the crazy
sort of violent leads

that Nokie would play.

- Somebody sent me a CD of
Anthrax

and they said, so many
people just don't know

what a contribution Don
Wilson and Nokie Edwards

did for thrash metal.

- Both surf music and heavy
metal

are the province of the electric
guitar.

To hard rock of the 1970s,
classic metal of the '80s

and into today's massive guitar
tones

that form the backbone
of modern extreme metal,

on behalf of all of us
metal guitar players,

thank you Ventures.

Horns up.

- The Ventures have always been
known

as the band that launched 10,000
bands.

- Rodney Bingenheimer, he
believes that pretty much

almost every band was
inspired by The Ventures.

Whether they know it or not.

- In the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame

I was backstage and
Billy Joel was back there

and he came to me and
he said, you know,

one of the very first songs
that I ever learned on the piano

was "Walk Don't Run".

There's a lot of people
that give us credit

for a lot of things that they
play,

which would not be our style.

A disc jockey we're
very good friends with,

his name is Mark Christopher,

and he does a lot of
work in the Seattle area

with KBSG Radio.

- Do you think they've
earned a nomination yet

for the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame?

- We got a petition together

and had people sign it

that wanted us to be in the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

- It was an incredible moment
this morning

in the state capital.

First time I know of, ever

when a rock and roll band was
invited

to appear before the state
legislature

to receive what was called

the proclamation of a
resolution of support

for something that all the
Senators

voted unanimous and believing in

and that the The Ventures

to somehow get a nomination

to the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.

- We got the legislature,
the Senate and the House

and everybody together
in Washington state.

- Great job.

We were rocking in Olympia
today.

You know, I kind of set down
a little protocol that I have

that requires that everything be
handled

with dignity and decorum.

And we put on The Ventures

and we rocked on the floor of
the Senate.

They recorded over 3,000 songs,

released over 250 albums.

They are ambassadors to the
world.

- The Rock Hall has very strict
criteria on who they accept.

First of all, you have to
have 25 years of playing time,

you need a body of work

and your significance in the
contribution

and perpetuation of rock and
roll

is also a key criteria point.

- We were eligible for 22 years.

- They were preeminently
qualified

but they needed a push to get
them in.

- There are many artists

that are nominated for the Hall
of Fame

but they don't get in.

And I think there are some

that have been nominated three
times

and they still didn't get in.

So, when we were nominated,

we got in the very first time.

- It all started about 50 years
ago

when Don Wilson and Bob Bogle
got together

and talked about maybe
getting some guitars

and starting a band.

With the help of Don's mom,

they formed their own record
company

and they cut an instrumental

that they'd heard on a Chet
Atkins record.

It gets picked up nationally

and makes it all the way to
number two.

That record kicked open a
whole movement in rock and roll

and empowered guitar players
everywhere.

The Ventures have gone on
to record over 250 albums.

Now days, some of us would
be happy to sell 250 albums.

The Ventures are the most
popular

instrumental rock and
roll band of all time.

It is my honor to induct The
Ventures

into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.

- I've had the opportunity
to work with this great band

and I got the honor tonight
to play "Walk Don't Run"

for a friend and a mentor, Mr.
Bob Bogle,

the co-founder of The Ventures

and a truly innovator of
guitar and bass guitar.

Bob wanted to express his
profound thanks

for his induction and
The Ventures induction

into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.

- I want to thank our
fans all over the world.

May God bless you and
keep you safe and healthy.

- It was a whirlwind five
day period in New York City

surrounding the event.

- This is our display in the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It happens to be right next to
Madonna.

- It's really great

that they're in the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame.

They absolutely are so
worthy of that honor.

- To see The Ventures honored in
a forum

that's very eclectic,

did my heart really good.

- I want to compliment The
Ventures

on their 50th anniversary.

They certainly,

they're certainly in the
blueprint of rock.

- The induction ceremony,
the after glow party

and all the events the day of

were pretty special, obviously.

But there was a surprising
thing that we did the day after

and that was the ringing of the
bell

at the New York Stock Exchange.

- So, The Ventures in April of
1996

were honored with
putting their hand prints

at the Rock Walk Hall of Fame,

which is in Hollywood
at the Guitar Center.

And it's since kind of
become a must see stop

for music tourists.

We knew the manager of the House
of Blues

and he got us on the bill.

They played that night.

When we got to the House of
Blues

they were very generous.

Their back stage door was open

and they answered my dopey
questions.

And you could tell they really
enjoyed what they were doing.

- I've had just amazing
experiences and memories

with all these guys.

- You know, they were rock stars

without being rock stars.

You could just walk right up
to Nokie or Don or Bob or Mel

and they would talk to you.

- They were just good people,
you know.

You could,

you felt good knowing them.

They weren't out doing
crazy things or anything.

- They're all such regular guys

that they put you at ease right
away.

- What was interesting about
that

is later on when you'd get
attitude from rock stars,

I always remember how
accessible these guys were

and how nice they were to their
fans.

And I think that's been a
big part of their success.

- I have some letters here from
Japan.

Our Japanese fans are really
true.

I mean, they start with
you, they end with you.

Anyway, this one says,

thanks a lot for your
nice band all the time.

I'm so happy to listening your
music.

Hello, my name is Susumu.

I ride in a wheelchair.

I have a lot from different
countries.

Some from England, Germany, you
name it.

There was somebody that sent me
a letter

that was totally deaf.

And what he use to do is play
the

our record and put his hand on
the speaker

and the vibration,

he could understand that.

Yeah, that's really amazing.

- I was a kid.

I was 11 years old.

I wrote a letter to
The Ventures' fan club.

I wrote a letter to Bob Bogle

and he sent me back a letter.

I said, what kind of guitar
should I buy?

And he said, thank you for your
letter

and you should go buy a Fender
Jazzmaster.

So, I went and bought a Fender
Jazzmaster.

- In Seattle one time,
it was just after a show

and a young man came up in a
wheelchair.

He was pushed up by his brother.

And he wanted an autograph or
something signed by the guys.

So, I went down and I told Bob
what was up

and he says, well,

why don't I just come
out there and meet him?

So, he did.

And the look on this guys face
was just,

it was priceless.

And Bob was so gracious,

signed some things,

gave him some picks

and spent time with him.

And I just thought that this
was a truly great man here.

- He was a very pensive man,

very introspective.

Before he would answer a
question,

he would stop for a
minute and think about it

and really give it some thought

before he gave you an answer,

which means number one, he
cared about what he said

and he cared about what
he was saying to you

because it was important to him.

- Nokie would talk, talk and
talk and talk

until you put a microphone
in front of him.

Then he couldn't say anything.

- I liked to call him the
Nokester

because he's such a funny guy.

He's always telling jokes.

He taps me on the back, I turn
around

and he's got two symbol felts in
his eyes

and they're kind of like raccoon
eyes.

And he's just got this look on
his face.

It was priceless.

Don was always fun to be with.

He just was always joking about
things

and always good spirited.

- Don's a lot of fun.

He's always got great stories.

- Fans come up and talk
about the same thing.

He's probably heard it so many
times

but he is genuinely thankful and
gracious.

And that says a lot.

- Don and I became really good
friends

just because we're both a little
nuts

and when we were on stage,

it was just like a couple of
kids.

- Don, in addition to his set
list,

had this thing called his
pattern.

And his pattern were really
bullet points

for all the jokes he wanted to
tell.

- A good looking girl sit
next to me, of course,

and I says to her, do you
think you could get interested

in an older man?

She looks at me and says,

why, you got a son?

I learned some impressions,

impersonations of different
actors.

I had a hat rack

and I put on a different hat
for different impersonations.

I did James Cagney and Ed
Sullivan.

Use to be rock and roll to me
then.

But at my age now, it's rock and
Rolaids.

- Thank you very much.

We're going to feature our
singer

- What?

- at this point.

- Wait a minute.

What'd you say?

- We're going to feature
our vocalist over here.

- I thought we
were an instrumental group.

- Yeah, we're basically
an instrumental group.

We don't often sing

and you're going to find out
why.

- I went down to a University
of Washington seminar

where Don spoke

and it was so interesting

hearing him talk about some
of the stories from the road

and he kind of demonstrated
how a group could be successful

and have incredible longevity

while maintaining integrity.

They maintained a touring
schedule over all these years.

It's just a very inspiring
thing.

- I had worked now for 56 years
in a row.

That's a lot.

I mean, most people do
20, 25 years, they retire.

I didn't want to.

My last show was in Japan
in 2015, believe it or not.

Now, with me retiring,

the group still goes on.

When Mel passed away his
son took over, Leon Taylor.

And he had learned the drums

when he was a little kid, from
his dad.

- Bob Spalding and Lucas Griffin

head up the new version of the
group.

Bob's been there 30 years or
more.

And Lucas is the new bass
player.

And I got to jam with them at
Venturefest,

which occurs every year in
October in Pennsylvania.

- They, like I said, go to
Japan.

They play locally.

They've had offers to go to
Europe.

I'm very happy about that.

I would hate to see The
Ventures die on the line.

So, they will keep The
Ventures name alive and going.

- Here they are still playing

all these years later.

I mean, they just keep on going

and keep their fans happy.

- They were the ones.

They put out so many great
albums.

- It speaks for the integrity
of music in general too

that you can tour the world

and speak to all these different
languages

in the single language of music.

- There's never been an
instrumental band

that's been as popular.

- The Ventures will always
be known as, I don't know,

the Godfathers of guitar
instrumentals.

- They're like the Cadillac
of instrumental bands.

- I think The Ventures ability

to make melodies stick in your
head

and keep those songs going
for as long as possible

is what every songwriter's
goal and aim is.

- There were a lot of
instrumental
records out in those days

but they all kind of
bordered on novelty records.

The Ventures had a
degree of sophistication.

They were playing more
advanced chord forms,

advanced melodies.

This was well considered,
well thought out music

that didn't insult your
intelligence.

And it wasn't like the
were playing down to kids.

- They made the idea of playing
a melody

a really cool thing.

- It wasn't just licks.

It was something that
was totally accessible

to my ear and to my spirit.

- The sound just didn't effect
one

in a sense of just a note on a
guitar.

It literally effected you,

and effected me in my heart

and in my inner being.

- I would be inspired by
the feelings I would get

and that inspired me as a
songwriter.

- It changed people's lives, you
know.

It's music that has totally
inspired us

and we're not the only ones.

There's millions of people.

- We're always just consciously,

pretty much asking ourselves,
what would The Ventures do?

And then that's what we do.

- There's going to be bands
copying them for ever more.

There's going to be tribute
bands

when we're all dead in the
ground.

Even if it's only Guitar Hero
type thing

on a video game,

everyone wants to get that
sound.

- They changed the sound of
psychedelic.

They changed the sound of mod,
punk,

new wave, even heavy metal.

- It all started with The
Ventures.

- There's no tellin how many
people The Ventures influenced

to go out and get a guitar

or bug the hell out of your
parents til they got you one.

- To become a better player,

you don't just listen to your
influences,

you listen influences influences

and you just dig as deep as you
can.

- In my travels for Fender
musical instruments,

I go many corners of the Earth.

When you're talking guitars
with other musicians,

undoubtedly everyone
points to The Ventures

as far as their stepping stone.

- You will hear musicians
say, give me a Ventures lick.

Right in the middle of a
session the producer might say,

can you give me a little of
that "Walk Don't Run" fill

or something of that nature

and they know immediately
what they're talking about.

- A lot of music becomes very
dated

and as the decades go along,

it doesn't age well, you know.

To me, if I put on a
Ventures record from 1965,

to me it just sounds like
something

that could have been cut
yesterday.

- They still sound fresh.

They still sound great.

- It doesn't really sound
like it's trapped in time.

It sounds like something that is
timeless.

- Timeless.

- Timeless.

- Timeless.

- Timeless.

- Timeless, completely timeless.

- It's not something where I
remember when

but it's not popular now.

It's forever popular.

- It's like meatballs and
spaghetti.

You know, it's just there,

always going to be there.

- Maybe when we're on Mars

people are going to be
listening to The Ventures

and twisting in antigravity.

The Ventures in space
takes on a new meaning.

- There's a new generation of
kids

that are discovering them as
well.

And there probably will
be until the end of time.

- I ask young kids do they
know about The Ventures.

And a lot of them go, yeah,
yeah, Ventures "Walk Don't Run".

- In fact, I just met a young
girl today,

18 years old who's into surfing.

She knows all about The
Ventures and she's 18.

- All the kids would be
learning Ventures songs

right now in Japan.

It carries on throughout the
generations.

- So, the good news is

they're immortal.

- If younger generations

get to know the music of The
Ventures,

then in the future we'll
have bolder and better music.

- I think it's all fate.

Whatever happens is going
to happen and that's it.

And timing and whatever just
has to all come together.

- Well, you know, in 1960

when we first recorded our
first hit "Walk Don't Run",

we were hoping that it would
come to this.

Thank God we made it.

- Many thank yous to you people.

You people have kept us going

and what a reward that is for
us.