Search - Ventures :: Hawaii Five-O

Ventures Still Strong In 1969

Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 06/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Decades before Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and even well before anyone had heard of Ann and Nancy Wilson, Seattle gave the rock and roll world The Ventures, one of the single most influential rock bands of all time, and perhaps the biggest-selling all-instrumental band ever, with the possible exception of the similar British band The Shadows. With a sound based on tremolo electric guitars and drums, as envisaged on their classic 1960 smash "Walk Don't Run", the Ventures helped pioneer what I call the West Coast Offense of rock, which led inevitably to the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and even the Eagles. And even though they were eclipsed somewhat by the British Invasion in 1964, unlike a lot of early American rock bands, they weren't exactly banished to obscurity, as their albums kept selling at a rapid pace and as more aspiring rock guitarists took from their example.



So here we come to their 1969 album HAWAII FIVE-O, a prime example of what their "formula" is: taking current hits and giving them an instrumental sheen. Given the time this album was released, with psychedelia still the rage and heavy metal beginning to creep into the rock and roll scene, the formula should have been wearing thin, especially since many of the tracks on this album ("Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In"; "Dizzy"; "Galveston") were already big hits for others at exactly the same time. And yet, it is clear that the band, which included Don Wilson, the (now sadly) late Bob Bogle, and Jerry McGee, still had it in spades. The album also included a minor hit in their beach-flavored version of "Theme From A SUMMER PLACE"; and this expanded version includes versions of "Mission Impossible", "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly", and Paul Mauriat's 1968 smash "Love Is Blue."



Of course, the real attraction is the title cut, the theme to the then-burgeoning, soon-to-be-classic CBS crime drama "Hawaii Five-O", composed by Morton Stevens. Done with a somewhat harder sound than their previous hits, and including orchestral brass, "Hawaii Five-O" proved to be an unexpectedly huge hit, cresting at #4 on May 10, 1969 (the only three songs ahead of it on the Billboard Hot 100 that week were "It's Your Thing", by the Isley Brothers; "Hair", by the Cowsills; and the aforementioned "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In", by the Fifth Dimension). Meanwhile, the album itself was a huge seller for the band, reaching #11 on the Billboard Album Chart in June 1969, going Gold by July 1971, and adding to the band's sales totals, not only in America but also (and especially so) in Japan.



This album is one of five dozen albums (and hence, five dozen reasons) that made the case for the Ventures to have been enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More than just a prototypical surf rock band (having formed before the craze took shape, and well outlasting it), this band inspired countless guitarists around the world. This album is a prime example of that."

A very Nice Edition

Omar C. Rosado | Puerto Rico | 09/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own this title on LP, so whe i saw the presentation for this digipack i was pleased Ireceived on very nice condition the store packed real nice no damages at all, The sound is superb excellent remasterization and bonus tracks are awsome they kept the track list on the same order as the record, at the same time is an import."