The Kingsmen are a 1960s garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks and has become an enduring classic.
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. While their popularity in the United States waned in the 1970s, the group remains especially revered in Japan, where they tour regularly to this day. The classic lineup of the band consisted of Wilson, Bogle, Nokie Edwards, and Mel Taylor (drums).
Nole Floyd "Nokie" Edwards was an American musician and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was primarily a guitarist, best known for his work with The Ventures, and was known in Japan as the 'King of Guitars'. Edwards was also an actor, who appeared briefly on Deadwood, an American Western drama television series.
The Ventures have released over two hundred fifty albums beginning with Walk Don't Run (1960), and over 150 singles. The original US albums and singles are indicated by their catalog numbers and Billboard (BB) and Cashbox (CB) chart peak positions
Walk, Don't Run, Vol. 2 is the 16th studio album by The Ventures, released in 1964. It features "Walk Don't Run '64," an updated recording of the Johnny Smith cover; as a single, it would be the second time the band had a Top 10 hit in the U.S. with that same composition. The album also includes a rendition of blues classic "The House of the Rising Sun," and "Rap City," the Ventures' arrangement of Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5.
"Walk, Don't Run" is an instrumental composition written and originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954.
Bonnie Buckingham, better known as Bonnie Guitar, was an American singer, musician, producer, and businesswoman. She was best known for her 1957 country-pop crossover hit "Dark Moon". She became one of the first female country music singers to have hit songs cross over from the country charts to the pop charts.
Hawaii Five-O is an instrumental album by the Ventures. It is named for the popular 1968 television series, and featured the theme song from the series composed by Morton Stevens as its title track. It was released in 1969 on Liberty Records LST-8061 and reached #11 on the Billboard Top LP chart, staying for 24 weeks. The album was certified gold by RIAA on July 21, 1971. The popularity of the album was propelled by the hit title track, which reached #4 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
The Ventures in Space is an LP album by the guitar-based instrumental group the Ventures, released in 1964. Information on its jacket states that "All of these unusual & other-worldly sounds have been created with musical instruments rather than electronic gimmicks". It was one of the first albums on which the group played the new Mosrite brand guitars instead of their traditional Fender instruments. The album was released in 1964 on the Dolton label, and reissued in the late 1970s by Pickwick Records.
Les Fradkin is an American MIDI guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He is best known for being a member of the original cast of the hit Broadway show Beatlemania. In addition to playing MIDI guitar, he plays 12 string guitar, the Starr Labs Ztar, guitar synthesizer, SynthAxe, Hammond organ, Mellotron, piano, bass guitar, and Moog synthesizer.
Robert Lenard Bogle was a founding member of the instrumental combo The Ventures. He and Don Wilson founded the group in 1958. Bogle was the lead guitarist and later bassist of the group. In 2008, Bogle and other members of The Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Performer category.
The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull is an album by the band the Ventures, released in 1963. It consists entirely of cover versions of popular instrumentals from the late 1950s to early 1960s and became their highest charting album, peaking at #8 on Billboard and earning the band a gold record for over 500,000 copies sold.
Walk Don't Run is the debut album by the Ventures, featuring cover versions of well-known songs and original compositions, released in 1960.
Another Smash!!! is the third studio album by the Ventures, released in 1961 on Dolton Records.
Magic! is a Canadian reggae fusion band based in Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of lead vocalist, guitarist and producer Nasri Atweh (Nasri), guitarist and keyboardist Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer, bassist Ben Spivak, and drummer Alex Tanas. Active since 2012, the band is signed with Latium, Sony, and RCA Records, releasing their debut studio album Don't Kill the Magic in 2014, their second studio album Primary Colours in 2016, and their third studio album Expectations in 2018. They are best known for their hit single "Rude", which charted at No. 1 in several countries worldwide, including the US and UK.
Wild Things! is a 1966 studio album by the Ventures, released on Dolton Records BLP-2047 (mono) and BST-8047. A 4-track reel-to-reel release was subsequently issued by Music Tapes, Inc. The album is noted for its marked turn towards a heavier sound in comparison to earlier Ventures releases, and the standout track Wild Child which was prominently featured as a sample in "Start the Commotion" by The Wiseguys.
RJ Duets is an eighth studio album of the Filipino musician, and entrepreneur Ramon Jacinto. RJ Duets was released on a single CD, and a single Digital Download. It is a 24-track duet album released on June 3, 2012, by MCA Music.
Twist with the Ventures is the fifth studio album by the band The Ventures; released in 1962 on Dolton Records BST 8010 (stereo) and BLP 2010 (monaural). It consists mostly of instrumental versions of popular dance tunes from the late 1950s to early 1960s, with a couple of original compositions. It was on the charts for 29 weeks and it peaked at # 24 on the Billboard 200. It was later retitled Dance! with new album cover. During the recording of this album, original drummer Howie Johnson left the band and was replaced by Mel Taylor, thus forming the classic Ventures lineup. Therefore, the drum credit(s) are shared on this album between both Johnson and Taylor.
Judd Hamilton is an American singer, musician, former band leader, writer, film producer, actor, inventor, company director. As a musician he has recorded for the Dolton, Liberty, American International, United Artists and RCA Victor labels. He has made a contribution to the music of California, as well as the surf genre from his involvement with the T-Bones, and 1960s surf groups, the Avantis and the Ventures. As a film and television producer he was the executive producer for the film Maniac and The Last Horror Film, as well as the film's co-screenwriter, and the executive producer for The 7th Annual Sci-Fi Awards, a 90-minute TV special. His brother was the late Dan Hamilton of Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds fame. He was also married to English actress Caroline Munro for a number of years.
Robert Eugene Spalding is an American musician, composer, arranger, and producer. He is best known for his work with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group the Ventures and he has appeared on over 40 Ventures albums from 1980 through to the present. Spalding continues to tour, record, as well as produce with the Ventures as well as other artists.
