Two guitarists from Tacoma, Washington, Bob Bogle and Don Wilson formed a duo in 1958 called the Versatones, later named the Impacts; they began playing dates with a variety of rhythm sections. Since both band names had already been registered, they changed their name to the Ventures. After being rejected by a Liberty Records subsidiary called Dolton Records, the two formed their own label, Blue Horizon Records and released a single, “Cookies and Coke”, with Don Wilson on vocals. Later they added Nokie Edwards (bass guitar) and Skip Moore (drums) and became an instrumental rock band.
The band heard a track called “Walk, Don’t Run” on an album by country guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins called Hi-Fi in Focus and decided that it would make a great single for the group. The Ventures released “Walk, Don’t Run” on their Blue Horizon label in 1960; it rose to #2 on the charts, behind only “It’s Now or Never” by Elvis Presley. With Howie Johnson as the group’s new drummer, the band put together their excellent first album, also called Walk, Don’t Run. When Mel Taylor joined the Ventures on drums in 1962, Nokie Edwards became the lead guitarist, with Bob Bogle moving to bass guitar.
(December 2014)
