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#Post#: 1247--------------------------------------------------
My Musical Journey with The Ventures (Part 2)
By: arnoldvb Date: July 5, 2012, 11:19 am
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Around the same time, the members of the Underground Fire
online fan club decided to mount a petition campaign to try and
get The Ventures inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
We all knew that, although The Ventures’ popularity in the
United States had declined to the point where almost no one
(except lifelong fans) knew anything about them, they had played
a very important role in the development of rock and roll music.
We had read articles in countless guitar and other
music-related magazines and seen TV interviews where many of the
current guitar gods commented on how they had been inspired by
The Ventures to take up the guitar and become musicians. Among
these were such notables as The B-52s, Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan &
The Doobie Brothers), Steve Lukather (Toto), Lindsey Buckingham
and Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Jeff Lynn (ELO), Jeff Cook
(Alabama), Jimmy Paige (Led Zeppelin), Rick Derringer (The
McCoys & The Edgar Winter Band), Buster Poindexter, The
Pretenders, Dire Straits, Joey and Marky Ramone (The Ramones),
Elliot Easton (The Cars), Gene Simmons (Kiss), John Fogerty
(Credence Clearwater Revival), Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills &
Nash), Kathy Valentine (The Go-Gos), Peter Frampton, Billie
Idol, Joe Walsh (The James Gang & The Eagles), Max Weinberg
(Bruce Springstein’s E Street Band), Robert Kreiger (The
Doors), and “yes” even George Harrison (The
Beatles). After compiling that “who’s who”
list of rock and roll royalty that had been inspired by The
Ventures, how could The Ventures NOT be in the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame?
The Underground Fire members nominated Canadian member
Richard Wilson and myself to head up the petition campaign.
Richard and I drafted a formal petition and had it approved by
the other Underground Fire members. I set up a Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame petition page on my personal website and invited
fans of The Ventures to send us emails with their comments on
how The Ventures had influenced them or somehow been important
in their lives. We ended up with almost 6,000 emails from fans
in all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, 3 U.S.
territories, and 56 other countries on every continent except
Antarctica! Between September 1997 and November 2006, we
submitted eight packages of petition signatures and fan emails
to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation (which oversees the
induction process). You can see all of the information on our
petition drive, which is archived beginning here:
HTML http://www.sandcastlevi.com/ventures/fhall.htm
I know that similar petition drives were mounted by at least
one radio station in Washington state and that either the
Governor or Lt. Governor of Washington state also personally
petitioned the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Regardless of
who’s efforts were the most productive, fans of The
Ventures around the world were ecstatic when, on March 10, 2008,
The Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
I watched (and recorded to DVD) the entire induction ceremony on
VH-1 Classic. (Clips from the ceremony were later posted on
youtube.com by other fans of The Ventures.) I’m very
happy to have played at least a small part in seeing this dream
of The Ventures themselves to become a reality. You can see
some screen captures from the induction ceremony beginning here:
HTML http://www.sandcastlevi.com/ventures/ventpic7.htm
With that accomplished, there was one more thing on my
musical “bucket list” -- to see The Ventures perform
live and to meet the members of the band. I was able to scratch
that off of my “bucket list” in April 2008 and again
in April 2009, when Helena and I had the pleasure of seeing The
Ventures perform at the American Gardens Theater at Walt Disney
World’s Epcot theme park. For both years, Disney had
arranged for three 30-minute shows each day for three
consecutive days. That meant a total of nine shows each year.
Helena and I joined standing room only crowds, which included
many members of the Underground Fire online fan club. Before,
between, and after the daily performances, we all had the
opportunity to meet in person and exchange stories about The
Ventures. Both years, The Ventures made arrangements for fan
“meet and greets” at their hotel, during which they
were available to meet the fans, sign autographs, pose for
photos, and engage the fans in question and answer sessions.
This was a fan’s lifelong dream come true! You can see a
small selection of my photos from the 2008 and 2009 Epcot
performances and “meet and greets” beginning here:
HTML http://www.sandcastlevi.com/ventures/ventpic8a.htm
Tragically, about 2 months after their 2009 Epcot
appearances, The Ventures lost one of their founding members,
Bob Bogle, to cancer. Bob had retired in 2005 because of his
ailing health but, as they always did, The Ventures continued
on. As I’m writing this, I’m listening to one of
their latest album releases, “Memories of Japan,”
which was issued by EMI Music Japan just a couple weeks ago. It
is a combination of some of The Ventures’ most beloved
Japanese style music plus several brand new compositions in the
same Japanese style. Later this month, The Ventures will be
traveling to Japan for their 64th concert tour of that country
(counting summer and winter appearances). They have already
made over a dozen appearances throughout the United States
earlier this year. With the remaining founding member, Don
Wilson, approaching his 80th birthday, it is only a matter of
time before he retires. Fans around the world are beginning to
wonder what will become of our beloved Ventures when that
happens. Only time will tell, but I know that my musical
journey with The Ventures isn’t over yet. I have my
entire Ventures collection on the hard drive of three computers,
two external backup hard drives, and my iPod. As long as I have
those and my hearing, I’ll still be on my musical journey.
Arnold E. van Beverhoudt, Jr.
July 4, 2012
Dedicated to Mike Kuhn, a longtime super-fan of The Ventures in
New Jersey, who organized and ran The Ventures U.S. Fan Club
during the 1980s. He even appeared in a 30th anniversary video
in which many of the “guitar gods” I mentioned
earlier, not only provided interview comments about how The
Ventures had influenced them, but also performed on stage with
The Ventures. Mike died on July 1, 2012 after a fierce 9-year
battle against a form of cancer called multiple myeloma. I like
to think that Mike is in heaven now, jamming with Bob Bogle, Mel
Taylor, and other members of The Ventures who preceded him in
death. RIP
The Ventures Are:
Don Wilson --------------- Rhythm Guitar (1958 to Now - Founding
Member)
Bob Bogle (+)------------ Bass & Lead Guitar (1958 to 2005 -
Founding Member)
Earl Herbert (+)--------- Bass Guitar (1959)
George Babbitt, Jr. ---- Drums (1959)
Nokie Edwards ---------- Lead & Bass Guitar (1960 to 1968 - 1973
to 1984 - 2005 to 2012)
Skip Moore (+) ---------- Drums (1960 - Walk Don’t Run
only)
Howie Johnson (+)----- Drums (1960 to 1962)
Mel Taylor (+)------------ Drums (1963 to 1972 - 1979 to 1996)
Gerry McGee ------------- Lead & Bass Guitar (1968 to 1973 -
1985 to Now)
John Durrill --------------- Keyboards (1969 to 1972)
Joe Barile ----------------- Drums (1972 to 1979)
Leon Taylor -------------- Drums (1996 to Now)
Bob Spalding ------------ Bass & Lead Guitar (2005 to Now)
_______________
(+) = Deceased
Source:
HTML http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ventures#section_5
[attachment deleted by admin]
#Post#: 1248--------------------------------------------------
Re: My Musical Journey with The Ventures (Part 2)
By: wstagner Date: July 5, 2012, 11:23 am
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Thanx 4 posting. ;D
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