Customer Reviews

The Ventures - Walk Don't Run: All Time Greatest Hits

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great copy of the best of the Ventures. Good sound quality of the oldies but goodies.

Everytime he picks up his guitar, my boyfriend has to make "Walk, don't run" and he enjoy doing it (that smile on his face!). So the other day I asked him who was the band and he had no clue (his answer was 1960 music with guys dressed with ties).

How can I find who's playing with so less informations. I just took a similar song that I knew "Sleep walk" by Farina and I found the Ventures within 10 minutes (they also performed that song).

I knew 80% of the songs on their album!! No wonder the songs are so cute but very short songs. Hard to decide which one is my favorite as they have all some character.

Okay, I will also buy the album they did on TV themes

This is a great compilation of the Ventures greatest hits, although they could've put more songs on here, the Ventures had alot more hits than 12 songs. Although I gave it five stars because all the tracks are wonderful. Here is a list of the songs and how I rate each one.

1. Walk Don't Run-Excellent track, the Ventures' greatest hit.
2. Prefidia-Great song but it sounds like a slower version of Walk Don't Run.
3.Hawaii Five-0-One of my favorites from the album AWESOME SONG
4.Summer Place-Also one of my favs.
5.Secret Agent Man-Got that James Bond feel to it.EXCELLENT
6.Lolita Ya-Ya-Alright song, not as good as the others.
7.Wipe Out-Also another good song, fast and talented drumming.
8.Slaughter on Tenth Avenue-Ventures second best track.
9.Diamond Head-GREAT
10.Ram-Bunk-Shush-GREAT
11.Blue Moon-Great
12.Lullaby of the Leaves-GREAT

Also a great album for younger audiences too. Hey I'm thirteen, and I like them alot. GREAT BAND.

Of all the many Ventures compilations, the best one is probably the greatest hits package in the "Legendary Masters" series on EMI. Sadly, the road to popularity is much rougher for instrumental bands. Anthologies abound with one and two hit wonders. In that respect, the Ventures are to be commended for their longevity, though their international popularity in places like Japan, Australia, and the UK is even greater. When I was in college, way back in the 1960's, I thought the Ventures were the absolute best. However, I was unaware of what was going on in the UK, that British rock did not begin with the Beatles. Yes, I knew that the Tornados' "Telstar" was a mega smash, but I didn't realize they were British. Even worse, when I heard "Apache" by the Danish guitarist, Jorgan Ingemann, I assumed it was the original version. Little did I know at the time that the song was written by Jerry Lordan, and that it had been recorded By Burt Weedon, a pre-rock and roll British guitarist. Now, Weedon was disinterested in the song, so EMI gave it took a young band, originally known as the Drifters, who had been backing up Cliff Richard. They had to change their name, because there happened to be quite a great US vocal group with that same name. So, they became the Shadows, and "Apache" became the first of about 30 chart hits. Like Cliff, they did not meet with success in the American market; again, I say that the opportunity to score with instrumental hits is quite narrow. The one hit wonder from Denmark had preempted the Shads. This situation is tragic, especially when even the Ventures remain very popular in Britain. They are quite good, indeed the best American group of this kind. But the Shadows were more popular in Britain than the Ventures were in America. Anyway, younger people should explore and appreciate guitar-based rock and roll from the 1960's; it still sounds great today, and the Ventures are certainly a good place to get started.

4 Stars only because the hit mix of "Walk Don't Run" - clean as it is - is not really STEREO. It COULD have been because EMI has the catalog of all these old Liberty and Dolton Records releases. In fact, EMI did put the stereo original of "Walk Don't Run" on its "24 Greatest Hits of All Time" CD released back in 1991.

That said, the STEREO and recordings are GREAT on ALL these other Ventures original tracks that made the national charts. Worth the purchase, and the purchase price, if you can forgive the otherwise just-short-of-perfect version of "Walk Don't Run."