Customer Reviews

Ventures a Go-Go / Where the Action Is

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THE VENTURES WERE PRETTY PROLIFIC RECORDING ARTISTS, ALTHOUGH THEY RELEASED A LOT OF "EP's" AS OPPOSED TO LPS, WHICH WAS PRETTY UNUSUAL FOR THE DAY. THIS IS A TWO-FER, THEIR 20TH AND 21ST ALBUMS TOGETHER. THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE DOUBLE ALBUM CD'S OUT THERE, AND THIS ONE IS PRETTY GOOD. WHAT WAS UNUSUAL ABOUT THE VENTURES WAS THAT THEY DID "CONCEPT" ALBUMS, AND THESE TWO ALBUMS ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF THAT MODE. MOSTLY COVER SONGS, WITH A FEW ORIGINALS THROWN IN, THE BEST CUT IS BY FAR "WHITTIER BOULEVARD", WHICH HAS BECOME SORT OF A STANDARD FOR "HIP" SURF BANDS NOWADAYS.

This CD features two Ventures albums from late 1965/early 1966.

The Ventures a Go-Go was the Ventures 20th album. It was released to capitalize on the popularity of go-go dancing. It features seven cover versions of recent hits, and five original tunes. The album has a lot of organ on it. I was surprised that the vocal lines in "Satisfaction" were played by an organ, instead of a guitar like they normally do when they cover a song with lyrics. Out of the original tunes, the great "The Swingin' Creeper" is a favorite among Ventures fans, although "A Go-Go Dancer" is pretty terrific, too. The rest of the album is also solid.

Where the Action Is was the Ventures 21st album. It was titled after a TV show that featured rock groups "performing" (really lip synching). The first song on the album is the theme song from that show (played by Paul Revere and the Raiders on the show itself). This album also features seven cover versions of recent hits, and five original tunes. The album has a harder edge to it, with quite a bit of fuzztone guitar. The best of the original songs is "Action Plus", but I also should mention "Nutty", which is based on The Nutcracker Suite (get it?). The best of the covers is "Lies", which is fantastic. The rest of the album is good, too.