The Fabulous Ventures

The Ventures - "The Fabulous Ventures" (1964) - Dolton Records

Hello Friends,

We've got another great Ventures record on the turntable tonight.

Released on the heels of their ground-breaking Ventures in Space LP, The Fabulous Ventures, their 15th(!) release, gets things back down to Earth on an album evenly split between fairly well-known covers ("Needles & Pins", "The Cruel Sea", "Tall Cool One", "Only The Young", "Fugitive" & "The Pink Panther Theme") and lesser-know, but no less great, originals.

The record kicks off with a mid-tempo, surf'd-up take on Jack Nitzsche & Sonny Bono's classic, "Needles & Pins", but things get really fired up on the next track, "Runnin' WIld".



The original, "Eleventh Hour", is slow, swampy and scary.  Like David Lynch-scary. Seemingly innocent on the surface, but once you dig a little deeper, there's hardly any words to describe the evil that lurks beneath.  This song would not sound out of place on some Twin Peaks' jukebox!



Side Two's original compositions "Journey to the Stars" (a surf-rock shredder reminiscent of early Dick Dale) and "Walkin' With Pluto" are probably leftovers from the aforementioned Ventures In Space record.

A short, fun record that clocks in under 30 minutes without a single song lasting longer than 3 minutes.  The notes and tones coming from Nokie Edwards and his twangy Mosrite Mark I guitar continue to impress the listener to this day.  

In some ways, Edwards was just as influential on rock & roll music than fellow Washingtonian, Jimi Hendrix.  Of course, no one would debate how Hendrix had the skills, the stage presence and talent of a true rock & roll deity.  Whereas Hendrix was blowing people away with the things he was doing with (and to) his guitar, just think about the thousands and thousands of kids growing up in the 60's that would pick up a five-and-dime guitar and learn to play a string at a time by following along on a Ventures album like this one.    

The bottom line is you really can't go wrong with The Ventures!

RATING: 4 bands that launched 1000 bands out of 5