Walk, Don't Run is the debut album by the Ventures, featuring cover versions of well-known songs and original compositions, released in 1960. Released on Liberty's Dolton subsidiary in December 1960, Walk, Don't Run became a big seller, peaking at #11 on Billboard and earning The Ventures a gold record (their first of three) for over 500,000 copies sold. (More from Wikipedia)
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.
The Ventures hit again in 1969 with the well-known theme "Hawaii Five-O" for the television show Hawaii Five-O. Allmusic lists an astounding 39 Ventures albums that were released between their albums Walk, Don't Run and Hawaii Five-O.
(December 2014)
