The Ventures                                                       Meet the men responsible for the Guitar Phonics 'play guitar' albums
                                      Wilbur Savidge and Don Blocker worked tirelessly to create an educational LP using the talents of The Ventures, Chet Atkins, and Jimmy Bryant.  They exceeded beyond all expectations.     

                                                    
Founded in 1958, the Ventures achieved world wide acclaim in the 1960s, with a series of instrumental hit LPs.  Co-founders Don Wilson, born June 14, 1933, in Tacoma Washington, and Robert Lenard Bogle (Bob), born January 11, 1934, in Wagnor, Oklahoma, originally recorded their signature hit single 'Walk, Don't Run' in 1960 and released  on their own label, Blue Horizon.  They promoted it on radio stations on the West Coast and it quickly became a 'most listened to record', acheiving wide acclaim.  Signed by Dolton Records, soon to become a division of Liberty Records, the instrumental  received maximum exposure on a global scale, and launched the Ventures' amazing career. 
 
Nokie Edwards, born May 9, 1935, in Lahoma Oklahoma, originally  joined the group as the bass player, but switched to lead guitar.  Mel Taylor, born September 24, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, was the second drummer to play with the band, joining the group in 1962.  He quickly became the indispensably member, establishing the driving rhythm associated with the Ventures sound.

The band followed up the success of 'Walk, Dont Run' with a string of hit LPs that charted in Billboard's Top 100 best selling albums, and the group became the best selling instrumental Rock band in music history.  The band enjoyed great success in Japan, where they still remain very popular.

                                          

The Ventures pioneered the use of special effects on their records to achieve a wide variety of sounds.  Nokie Edwards, an inventive guitarist, employed a fuzz distortion pedal, a flanger, a twelve string guitar, and the band was one of the first to use 'reverse-tracking' technique.

Their participation in the first Guitar Phonics album was a pioneering effort, one that resulted in the creation of the first and only educational record to ever be charted; 'Play Guitar With The Ventures Vol.1', made the Top 100 Billboard album chart, appearing with four other Ventures release at the same time.  Hundreds of thousand young would-be guitar player learned to play lead, bass, and rhythm guitar to their favorite songs, and had the opportunity to 'Play Guitar' with the most successful instrumental rock group in record history; The Ventures...............


                  The Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, March, 10, 2008


                   Mel Taylor passed away August, 11, 1996. 
          
                   Bob Bogle passed away June 14, 2009.



                                                                                 
               Wilbur M. Savidge    Donald W. Blocker    Chet Atkins    Jimmy Bryant


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