My thoughts and prayers are with Del for a full recovery.  He's one of the fans' most direct lines of communication with Don Wilson and, as we all know, author of the official Ventures biography "Walk Don't Run: The Story of The Ventures."  He's also an active member of the Underground Fire online fan club, of which I'm also a member.

Here's wishing Del all the best.

Arnold

Hi guys,

I'm happy to announce that my "Ventures Essential Albums Discography" book is now available at Lulu.com.  Lulu prints copies on demand, so it usually takes about a week before the book actually ships.

This is the link to the 250-page paperback version.  Lulu set a price of $80, but I was able to apply a 50% discount to bring the price down to $40.

PAPERBACK LINK:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/arnold-e-van-beverhoudt-jr/the-ventures-essential-albums-discography/paperback/product-22051670.html

If you prefer the PDF ebook version at $10, you can find it at the link below.  After you checkout, you'll be given another link to immediately download the PDF file.  I just ask that if you get the PDF version, please honor the effort I put into producing this book and do not share copies with anyone else.

PDF eBOOK LINK:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/arnold-e-van-beverhoudt-jr/the-ventures-essential-albums-discography/ebook/product-22051706.html

FYI, I've been in contact with Fiona on how best to get a copy of the book to each of The Ventures (including Nokie).

One last request -- if you get the book, please add a review at the same two links above.

Thanks!
Arnold

Thanks to Tom for getting a complete set of the 2013 Fan Jam DVDs to me.  I finished viewing them last night and want to commend Tom for putting together a great collection of videos of the event.  It all comes to a total of 7 full hours of Ventures music!

The email Tom sent out announcing that he had mailed the DVDs to those who ordered copies has a good description of the contents of the discs.  But for those who haven't ordered copies or haven't received them as yet, here's what you'll get:

DVD 1 - Opening remarks, The Pickniks

DVD 2 - The Pickniks continued, Tom Speaks & John Stapleton

DVD 3 - Miscellaneous jam performances, Ken Arnold & Bob Leo

DVD 4 - Kanad Ghose & Chris Monk

DVD 5 - Ken Arnold & Bob Leo continued, Bob Spalding acoustic set

DVD 6 - Byron Teitjen, The Pickniks w/ John Magee

DVD 7 - Steve Chestnut, Bob Spalding's auction, Wipe Out grand finale

Although the sound isn't as crisp as professionally done video, because of the acoustics of the hall and the distance from the bands to the camcorder, it's still quite clear and the music sounds good.  The video is nice and crisp, with good lighting and a steady tripod-mounted camera.  I did notice that there were occasional shutters in the video, but most likely that's something caused by the process of converting the video to DVD.  After a while, my mind just ignored it.  It was nice to see some faces that I recognized from the 2008 and 2009 visit to Epcot to see The Ventures.  Those included Tom, John Magee, Byron Tietjen, and maybe a couple others.  Of course, Bob Spalding's presence and active participation in the musical presentations makes it an even more memorable event.

Overall, I highly recommend this set of DVDs, especially if you were part of this year's Fan Jam or any of the previous ones.  I hope that someday soon I'll be able to attend one, but the distance from the islands and the high cost of airfare has made that impractical so far.

Arnold

Walt, thanks for the sticky link to my Ventures page.  Yesterday I updated some of the pages, as follows:

Graphic Chronology - click on the album thumbnails to go to the track list.  Other decades and solo albums are linked at the bottom.
http://www.sandcastlevi.com/ventures/ventlp60.htm

Original Compositions - a list of all of the original songs written by members of The Ventures.
http://www.sandcastlevi.com/ventures/ventcomp.htm

Song Index - an alphabetical list of all songs recorded by The Ventures.
http://www.sandcastlevi.com/ventures/ventsongs.htm

Ventures Album Cover Art - a PDF file showing the album covers of what I consider to be the "essential albums" collection.
http://www.sandcastlevi.com/images/ventures/ventures-cover-art.pdf

I'll post other links as more pages are updated in the future.

Arnold

Tom,

I've tried to keep up with the current music trends and have been getting all of the "NOW That's What I Call Music" CDs.  It's been an eye opener that as the series has progressed, the number of tracks off the CDs that I put on my ipod has steadily gone down over the years.  There are some current artists whose music I like, but much of the more recent stuff I can't even finish listening to.

I guess that makes sense, Tom.  Although I didn't think Epcot was that hot the two years we were there in April.  Maybe Tampa is just hotter than Orlando that time of year.

Have no idea, Walt.

    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:

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:

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:

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: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ventures#section_5


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