WE'LL DO THE GRUNT WORK

Hey, I know some of you are still thawing out. I'm not going to piss you off with how the winter went in Southern California. In short, it was nicer than most of yours. We never really had a winter. That said, summer is just around the corner for this whole damn hemisphere, so it's as good a time as any to dig into some guitar instrumentals, non-surf as some may be.

The Ventures weren't a surf band, and surf music would have happened with or without them. But was there really a more complete template for a guitar instrumental band? It does take some effort to arrange movie themes, vocal hits and other non-guitar songs for a guitar based band. You could just let the Ventures do the dirty work, copy their repertoire and arrangements, throw in reverb and some staccato picking, and be on your way. 

Here's a few single songs. If you're unfamiliar with the Ventures deeper cuts, check the mix, thirty five songs from 1960 through '67. There are a few hits in there, but quite a few lesser known oddballs. This shit won't astound anybody, but as a soundtrack to a weekend barbeque, it works.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Ventures - Out of Limits mp3 at JBHS1967 (?)
The Ventures - Apache mp3 at Mark.D.Hall (?)
The Ventures - Hawaii Five O mp3 at LZ Center
The Ventures - Endless Summer Theme mp3 at Us Hawaiians
The mix:
Long Summer Venture - 35 song Ventures mix at The Basement Rug Go there for the song list.