If one looks hard, there are so many CDs out on the Ventures, covering just about every phase of their history, that it's almost impossible to keep track of which numbers appear in what versions on which disc (and that's not even counting some superb Japanese-issued concert videos), but this is still the single best introduction to their work that one can buy. Starting with their second single (and career-establishing hit), "Walk--Don't Run," the 29 tracks on this CD bookend their history from 1960 through 1969, including every chart entry and also significant albums tracks such as the psychedelic era "Underground Fire," all in excellent sound. Producer Ron Furmanek has remixed most of the cuts from the original multi-tracks, but he's done it true to the originals, with results that transcend the best vinyl copies of much of this material. Understandably, much of the material is weighted toward the early '60s, but the group's hits right up through "Hawaii Five-O" are represented, and Furmanek has even included a few short 1960s-vintage radio spots featuring the band as an extra bonus for fans.
To counter balance the news of Ventures guitarist Bob Bogle dying, I would like to remeniss about simpler times and my connection to one of the greatest TV theme songs of all time, Hawaii Five-O. I was 4 years younger than my brother and cousin, who watched the show religously every day in the summer, as it was in syndication. I never watched the show too much, maybe I was too young and just ...
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 "Walk -- Don't Run: The Best of the Ventures")
