Ventures' Bob Bogle Obit
tr...@iwvisp.com
instrumental
hits such as "Walk -- Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-O" influenced
countless bands, died Sunday in Vancouver, Washington.
He was 75.
The cause was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to Don Wilson, who
co-
founded the Ventures with Bogle in the 1950s.
"He had a special sound that nobody could ever re-create. He was
totally unique as a guitar player," Wilson told CNNRadio.
Wilson and Bogle learned how to play guitar while working as
construction workers in the 1950s in their native Tacoma, Washington.
The pair formed the Ventures in 1958.
"We had a lot of time on our hands after work, so we'd get together
and play," Wilson recalled. "A year and a half later, we had a number
two hit called 'Walk -- Don't Run.' " The group first heard the song
on a Chet Atkins record.
Several other hits followed, including "Perfidia," "Walk Don't Run
'64" and "Diamond Head." The group took the theme of the TV show
"Hawaii Five-O" into the Top Ten in 1969 and later supplied
background
music for the series.
But the band, which played almost solely instrumentals, was perhaps
more influential for its albums. Thirty-eight of the band's long-
players hit Billboard's Top 200 chart, including albums that covered
country songs, dance tunes and Christmas melodies. One of the band's
albums was titled "Play Guitar with the Ventures," and countless did.
"I can't think of a better contribution for instrumental music on his
style than 'Walk -- Don't Run,' " Wilson said. "A lot of good would-
be
guitar players and garage bands would go out and buy guitars just to
learn that song."
The Ventures were voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
At the induction ceremony, Creedence Clearwater Revival's John
Fogerty
praised the group: "It's enough to say, the Ventures are the most
popular instrumental band of all time," he said.
Bogle fought his illness with dignity, Wilson said.
"His doctors gave him 10 years to live, and he lived 12. The last two
years were really tough. At least he lived to know the Ventures had
been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
Ray Arthur
Inyo
news:184212f9-9ac3-45ca...@k38g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
> Ventures lead guitarist Bob Bogle, whose fretwork on such
> instrumental
> hits such as "Walk -- Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-O" influenced
> countless bands, died Sunday in Vancouver, Washington.
>
> He was 75.
My understanding is that Bogle played lead guitar for The Ventures for only
four year until 1962, when the great Nokie Edwards took over (Edwards had
been the bass player). Bogle then assumed primary bass duties for the group
for the remainder of his tenure. Of course, that means that Bogle did indeed
play the lead on the group's early 60s US Billboard Top 40 Hits: 1960's
"Walk Don't Run" (#2) "Perfidia" (#15, late 1960--next to Nokie's searing
guitar on the group's covers of "Hang On Sloopy" and that Knickerbockers
classic, "Lies," "Perfidia" remains my favorite Ventures recording; I play
the song quite often, Ventures style, as a solo, acoustic, instrumental) and
"Ram Bunk Shush" (#29, 1961), three of The Ventures' well-known and highly
successful efforts. Edward's, though, certainly played lead on such US
Billboard Top 40 45rpm releases as 1964's "Walk Don't Run '64" (#8) and
"Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" (#35 1965).
It's less certain just who actually played the lead lines on "Hawaii Five-O"
(#4 1969). That could have been either Edwards or perhaps even Gerry McGee,
who replaced Edwards on lead in 1968. Edwards had temporarily left The
Ventures in 1968 before returning some five years later for an unbroken
11-year stint as lead guitarist; he still appears in concert with The
Ventures on occasion.
http://inyo.110mb.com/music/apache.html
My solo, acoustic, 6-string guitar version of one of Pop/Rock's most famous
instrumentals, "Apache."