Nokie Edwards R.I.P

A shame this thread isn't 100 pages longer.
R.I.P. Nokie.
Talk about the soundtrack of your youth.

 

RIP to one of the greats....and I'm not a huge fan or follower.

I met members of a Ventures incarnation a few years back, and particularly spent time talking with a guitar player, though I don't know if it was Nokie, but he was attempting to pedal me a guitar he helped design, I think a signature model. It was a nice guitar, I think a Mosrite, I don't remember for sure. The guitar on the Wiki page Nokie is playing looks about right, but it might of been one of the other guys...I remember the guitar was pretty decked out with premium gold hardware. The band also had brand new looking original Black faced fender amps. I remember asking about the amps, and they were all recovered and re grilled.. The meeting happened at an hourly rehearsal rental place for bands, that I used to practice at....The Ventures came in to rehearse...

 

Definitely. Nokie's playing influenced multiple genres and he was a pioneer in the world of rock and roll. Being of Cherokee origin, Nokie was also one of the first Native American rock stars. Early in his career, Nokie played for Buck Owens before guitarist Don Rich joined his band.


Nokie teaching a kid to play guitar on the cover art for the "Play Guitar With The Ventures Vol. 3" LP

 

RIP.

 

One of the GREATEST guitarists ever - and how many rock fans don't even know his name ??

maybe not a "showman" as such , but a top musician who let his talent speak for him as all of his band always did

here's Nokie and the guys in action in Japan back in 1966



R.I.P. Nokie - and Thanks !

 

Killer cover, both live here and studio on the Walk Don't Run Vol. 2 album:

 

You gotta wonder how many guitar sales were directly influenced by Nokie and the Ventures. Those were the days when they dominated the instrumental scene. May he rest in peace.

 

It could have been a Wilson Brothers guitar. Rhythm guitarist Don Wilson and his son, Tim, designed and sold a line of guitars that looked very similar to Mosrites.

 

We had this lp at home. A great one! Wore it out. Was glad to find a copy at a used record store years later. Wasn't aware the Mel Taylor wasn't the original drummer. Saw a story about the original drummer becoming an Army general! Also didn't know until years later that Larry Taylor was Mel's brother.

 

Yes that rings a bell, looking like Mosrites but it's own brand. It was almost certainly Don Wilson that I met. It was a very nice guitar he was showing me, I probably played it a little, don't remember.
I've had a few more guitars than I need for many years, so I just wasn't interested.

 

Ponce: The Drummer history of The Ventures is a pretty interesting one. The Drummer you mention, George Babbit, was a Very young guy when he played with The Ventures, and he played on the 1959 Demo recording of "Walk Dont Run" which is floating around . He soon joined the Army, and I believe became a 4 star General (I think, not 100% sure).
Some 45 years later, George Babbit came up on stage and performed "Walk Dont Run" with The Ventures once again!! There is a video of that floating around You Tube.
For the 1960 recording of "Walk Dont Run" and "Home" Seattle session drummer Skip More was recruited, and a Fine job he did. after this, drummer Howie Johnson became The Ventures regular drummer, recording the rest of the "Walk Dont Run" and most of the next album "The Ventures" and touring with the group. But Howie was involved in a car accident where he injured his neck, and his doctor forbade him from the constant traveling and jarring car rides of a touring musician (the cars then were not like the cars of today). So Howie left, and around this time Nokie Left, so When Don and Bob played clubs, they would use local musicians to back them up, mostly just playing their first few chart records, Walk Dont Run, Perfidia, Lullaby of The Leaves and Ram-Bunk-Shush.
For recording during this time, several studio drummers were employed, including one Jerry Allison on a couple of tracks on the "Twist" album, and Sandy Nelson as well. In 1962, in the middle of the recording the "Twist Vol 2" Lp, Mel Taylor joined the band and he finished the rest of the album. Mel stayed until 1974, when he left for 3 to 4 years to become a record producer and front his own band "Mel Taylor and The Magics" who primarily were a Japanese attraction but did record an album on Warner Bros Records. While Mel was gone, drummer Joe Barille was The Ventures Drummer. Then around 1977, Mel rejoined The Ventures, where he stayed until his sad passing in 1996.

 

Wow.
I came across this Ventures concert from around 10 years ago and it's all great but please check out Nokie playing "I Got A Woman" at around 7:50 . Amazing.



In a Ventures news tidbit, I checked their website and there is nobody in the band playing live anymore from their golden era. Don Wilson has retired from touring a year or two ago and he was the last one.
.

 

That Anniversary DVD is excellent from start to finish and Bob Bogle was still with us as at that time as well. With regards to guitarist Gerry McGee, he is now 80 and from what I last heard, had some health setbacks which required him to exit a tour with The Ventures in 2017.

Here is a photo of the current band touring as "The Ventures."

 

Just caught an obit in the Daily Tory-graph. Five weeks late but better late than never!

Seems to me that Nokie Edwards & The Ventures deserve more kudos than they generally get - this side of the pond, at least.

From a personal point of view, I had no idea how much of their music I knew or quite how brilliant they were, until this thread led me to explore their catalogue.

Very successful too. According to the obit, they've sold a whopping 110 million records.