The Ventures - The Versatile Ventures (1967) @ 320

Members:

Don Wilson - Rhythm and lead guitar

Bob Bogle - Bass guitar

Nokie Edwards - Lead guitar

Mel Taylor - Drums

The Versatile Ventures is a compilation album by the American instrumental rock band The Ventures, a club edition for distribution via mail order subscription to the Columbia Record Club (limited edition that was available only to club members), released in 1967 in the USA on Liberty Records (SRC-5 - stereo, MCR-5 - mono).

The story behind this collection is told in Del Holterman's book Walk, Don't Run: The Story of The Ventures:

"We had been touring so much that I was fed up with the music business," recalls Nokie Edwards. "I went back to Washington State and set up a stable with a dozen thoroughbred racehorses. I was doing pretty well with them when The Ventures called and asked me to come to Hollywood to do some recording. I couldn't leave at the time, so I told them to find someone to replace me, which they did."

Here's the same story from Don Wilson: "Liberty wanted to do a special album with us with new material to support our Telstar album. It was for the Columbia Record Club, and they wanted it ASAP. It would be included as a free bonus as "Record of the Month" in the mailing list for new members, and we would get our royalties right away, just like if a few thousand copies had been sold in the stores. Nokie was messing around in Seattle with his racehorses, and I called him. He said he wasn't coming, and I was furious. But when I said to him, "Nokie, you just HAVE to be here!" he said, "No way, you better find somebody else." So we let Nokie go, but by the time we found a replacement, it was too late to start recording new songs for the Columbia Record Club.

Then Liberty got out of the situation by releasing this collection The Versatile Ventures. Columbia Record Club was organized in 1957 by the CBS/Columbia Records company to distribute records by mail subscription. Something similar existed in the Soviet Union. These were mainly collections of songs and compositions by various artists, which arrived by mail like regular newspapers or magazines.

The Versatile Ventures collection can boast even before the numbered albums of The Ventures its cover with a magnificent color photograph, where the quartet is depicted in the foreground with luxurious pearl-white guitars. Since 1961, there was nothing like this on the covers of The Ventures, more often than not just drawn figures or low-quality black and white photographs of the musicians taken in the background. The selection of songs was also excellent. (You can listen to the songs on YouTube by clicking on the links in the song list.)

The album opens with "The 2000 Pound Bee," a seminal 1962 track that is notable for its early use of fuzz. The earliest known fuzz-infused songs were recorded in 1961, with Ann Margaret's "I Just Don't Understand" featuring lead guitar and fuzz, and Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry About Me" featuring bass solo and fuzz.

But The Ventures' "The 2000 Pound Bee" was far more influential. After hearing "The 2000 Pound Bee" in London, a young up-and-coming guitarist named Jimmy Page asked Roger Mayer to create a similar effect for him. Roger Meyer worked as an acoustic engineer at a research institute for some underwater research, and in his spare time he assembled all sorts of gadgets for London musicians. He assembled some kind of home-grown fuzz for Page. It is also known about the composition "The 2000 Pound Bee" that the popular American actor-comedian John Belushi was buried in 1982 to this melody, fulfilling his wish.

The Ventures – The Versatile Ventures (1967)

SIDE 1:

1. The 2000 Pound Bee (Don Wilson)

2. Skip To M'Limbo (Don Wilson)

3. Rap City (Arranged & adapted: Wilson/Bogle/Taylor/Edwards)

4. Gemini (Jack Blanchard/Steve Fenner)

5. Snow Flakes (Wilson/Bogle/Taylor/Edwards)

SIDE 2:

1. The Swingin' Creeper (Wilson/Bogle/Taylor/Edwards)

2. Journey To The Stars (Wilson/Bogle/Taylor/Edwards)

3. La Bamba (Arrangements: Wilson/Bogle/Taylor/Edwards)

4. Ten Seconds To Heaven (Joe Saraceno/Frank Perry)

5. The Chase (Wilson/Bogle/Edwards)

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