Post by Rob Durkee on Jun 16, 2009 21:13:09 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Bob Bogle, the lead guitarist and co-founder of the legendary Rock And Roll Hall of Fame band, the Ventures, died Sunday (June 14, 2009). He was 75. According to writer Ernest A. Jasmin of the Tacoma News Tribune, Bogle had been suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and was too weak to perform with the Ventures in recent years. He became ill Sunday and died later. It's believed he passed away at a Tacoma area hospital.
Bogle was able to attend the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony when the Ventures were inducted in March of last year. The rock hall hailed the Ventures as "the most successful instrumental combo in rock and roll history."
The Ventures burst onto the pop music scene in the summer of 1960 with their biggest hit, "Walk Don't Run," which reached #3. Four years later in 1964, the group made the top 10 again with essentially the same song with "Walk Don't Run '64." The latter reached #9 and put the Ventures into the records books as the first--and probably the only--group to reach the top 10 with two different versions of the same song. This writer can only think of three other acts to pull off that unique chart feat. They're all solo men--Chuck Berry with "School Day/No Particular Place To Go," Neil Sedaka with "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" and Elton John with "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" plus "Candle In The Wind."
The Ventures followed up the original "Walk Don't Run" with the #18 "Perfidia" in late 1960. The group also reached the top 10 in 1969 when the theme song from the TV show "Hawaii Five-O" reached #6. The Ventures were virtually always on the music scene in the 1960's as the group had at least 38 charted albums. Among the elite groups to have had more charted albums than the Ventures are the Temptations, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead.
The Ventures are also frequently heard during the holiday music season, particularly with their rock and roll rendition of "Sleigh Ride."
The Ventures formed in 1958 in Tacoma. Bogle began playing lead and bass guitar while co-founder Don Wilson was the rhythm guitarist. Guitarist Nokie Edwards would soon join the group along with drummer Howie Johnson. Mel Taylor would eventually replace Johnson in the group.
"Our aspirations were to pick up nothing heavier than a guitar," said Wilson to the Associated Press, "but it just mushroomed into something where we became internationally known." The Ventures were particularly popular in Japan, where, in 1962, Wilson and Bogle performed as a duo because their promoter couldn't afford to send the whole band over there. When the entire Ventures band returned to Japan in 1964, it was greeted at the airport by at least 6,000 fans.
Wilson took the news of Bogle's death hard. He told Ernest Jasmin of the Tacoma News Tribune, "Even though you know it's gonna happen, when it does, it's like a bomb dropping on you. Boy, I'll tell you, he's the brother I never had. And he is much more than any brother could be. He and I were partners for, like 52 years. And to tell you the truth, we had never, ever had an argument in all that time. Never."
Bob Bogle, the lead guitarist and co-founder of the legendary Rock And Roll Hall of Fame band, the Ventures, died Sunday (June 14, 2009). He was 75. According to writer Ernest A. Jasmin of the Tacoma News Tribune, Bogle had been suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and was too weak to perform with the Ventures in recent years. He became ill Sunday and died later. It's believed he passed away at a Tacoma area hospital.
Bogle was able to attend the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony when the Ventures were inducted in March of last year. The rock hall hailed the Ventures as "the most successful instrumental combo in rock and roll history."
The Ventures burst onto the pop music scene in the summer of 1960 with their biggest hit, "Walk Don't Run," which reached #3. Four years later in 1964, the group made the top 10 again with essentially the same song with "Walk Don't Run '64." The latter reached #9 and put the Ventures into the records books as the first--and probably the only--group to reach the top 10 with two different versions of the same song. This writer can only think of three other acts to pull off that unique chart feat. They're all solo men--Chuck Berry with "School Day/No Particular Place To Go," Neil Sedaka with "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" and Elton John with "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" plus "Candle In The Wind."
The Ventures followed up the original "Walk Don't Run" with the #18 "Perfidia" in late 1960. The group also reached the top 10 in 1969 when the theme song from the TV show "Hawaii Five-O" reached #6. The Ventures were virtually always on the music scene in the 1960's as the group had at least 38 charted albums. Among the elite groups to have had more charted albums than the Ventures are the Temptations, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead.
The Ventures are also frequently heard during the holiday music season, particularly with their rock and roll rendition of "Sleigh Ride."
The Ventures formed in 1958 in Tacoma. Bogle began playing lead and bass guitar while co-founder Don Wilson was the rhythm guitarist. Guitarist Nokie Edwards would soon join the group along with drummer Howie Johnson. Mel Taylor would eventually replace Johnson in the group.
"Our aspirations were to pick up nothing heavier than a guitar," said Wilson to the Associated Press, "but it just mushroomed into something where we became internationally known." The Ventures were particularly popular in Japan, where, in 1962, Wilson and Bogle performed as a duo because their promoter couldn't afford to send the whole band over there. When the entire Ventures band returned to Japan in 1964, it was greeted at the airport by at least 6,000 fans.
Wilson took the news of Bogle's death hard. He told Ernest Jasmin of the Tacoma News Tribune, "Even though you know it's gonna happen, when it does, it's like a bomb dropping on you. Boy, I'll tell you, he's the brother I never had. And he is much more than any brother could be. He and I were partners for, like 52 years. And to tell you the truth, we had never, ever had an argument in all that time. Never."
