STRATS BEFORE MOSTRITES

Nokie Edwards died yesterday. He was one of the guys that had to be in the Ventures for the Ventures to be the Ventures. Ask any decent guitarist, particularly the more technically obsessed. They'll know, The conversation will go something like this "Oh man, he was one of those guys, Mostrite guitars, blah, blah, blah, instrumental band, blah, blah, blah, surf music, blah, not really surf music, blah blah, earlier than that, blah, blah, some boring, but a lot that was really good, blah, blah, really clean, sometimes too clean, blah, blah, shouldn't have recorded that Go-Gos song, the black spot on their career, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, Nokie Edwards was the straight shit."

All I really need to know about Nokie Edwards came from guitarists I know, and nearly all of them would spout something like that today. A few years ago, I did a post about my first exposure to the Ventures and if you're not already bored shitless, you can read it here. The music links may be dead, but there's a handful below to hold you over.

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

Listen:
The Ventures - Pipeline mp3 at Drummer World
The Ventures - He Never Came Back mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Ventures - Diamond Head mp3 at Internet Archive
The Ventures - Here Come the Judge mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People The V-men get funky
The Marksmen - Scratch (streaming) at YouTube Pre-Ventures Nokie
The Marksmen - Night Run (streaming) at YouTube Pre-Ventures Nokie
Here's a mix:
Long Summer Venture - 35 song Ventures mix at The Basement Rug