William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: The Fabulous Ventures ; Year: 1964; Genre: Surf Rock It's another day in which I had no song or artist in mind for today's song choice, but for some reason I eventually got the classic surf rock group The Ventures on my mind and went from there. This is one that has a nice, hard edge to it in that classic instrumental surf sound.   Hear Journey to the Stars on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Missing Link - Sorcery   My song pick 2 years ago today: Boston - Party   My song pick 3 years ago today: Azteca - Non Pacem My song pick 4 years ago today: The Zombies - Beechwood Park My song pick 5 years ago today: Three Dog Night - The Loner My song pick 6 years ago today: Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Babies My song pick 7 years ago today: Live - Lightning Crashes My song pick 8 years ago today: Duran Duran - The Reflex My song pick 9 years ago today: Savatage - The Storm My song pick 10 years ago today: John Dowland - In Darkness We Dw...

From: The Ventures in Space ; Year: 1964; Genre: Space Rock/Surf Rock After going over some bands that I had not chosen a song from in a while The Ventures came to mind. This track is, of course, their cover of the theme song from the classic television show the Twilight Zone.    Hear Twilight Zone on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Victor Wooten - Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior   My song pick 2 years ago today: Molly Hatchet - Satisfied Man My song pick 3 years ago today: Johnny Cash - Four Strong Winds My song pick 4 years ago today: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss My song pick 5 years ago today: Rush - In the Mood My song pick 6 years ago today: Ugly Kid Joe - No One Survives My song pick 7 years ago today: Carmen - Siren of the Sea My song pick 8 years ago today: Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf My song pick 9 years ago today: Argent - Music from the Spheres My song pick 10 years ago today: Heart - Who Will You Ru...

From: Hawai'i 5-0 ; Year: 1969; Genre: Surf Rock My Dad was listening to a bunch of instrumental music the other day and this was one that's been stuck in my head since. While it's so connected with the television show it was written for, it's a pretty good song in it's own right. Hear Hawaií 5-0 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Third Stone From the Sun My song pick two years ago today: Black Sabbath - Fairies Wear Boots My song pick three years ago today: Tesla - Forever More My song pick four years ago today: Led Zeppelin - Moby Dick My song pick five years ago today: Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds My song pick six years ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Bad Moon Rising

From: The Ventures' Christmas Album ; Year: 1965; Genre: Surf Rock I had this festive surf rock take on the holiday classic from The Ventures running through my mind and since it is the season I thought I would pick it. I love they mixed aspects of the monster hit Walk, Don't Run in this one. Hear Sleigh Ride on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Miracles featuring Bill "Smokey" Robinson - Shop Around My song pick two years ago today: Louis Armstrong - Christmas in New Orleans My song pick three years ago today: Boston - A Man I'll Never Be My song pick four years ago today: Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) - Blue Collar My song pick five years ago today: John Denver - Season Suite - Winter My song pick six years ago today: Band of Horses - The Funeral

From: Joy: The Ventures Play the Classics ; Year: 1972; Genre: Progressive Rock I had the music from this rather remarkable album running through my mind this morning, so I thought I would go ahead and pick one off of it. This song is, of course, a rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach's famous movement from his cantata BWV 147 : Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben ; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring . However, this rendition is more inspired by the one done by Jigsaw a couple years prior. While quite similar to that version. all in all they do give it enough of the Ventures' surf rock feel to make it at least a bit unique compared to the other versions since. Hear The Ventures' rendition of Joy on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Gackt - Cube My song pick two years ago today: Fairport Convention - Meet on the Ledge My song pick three years ago today: Rush - Losing It My song pick four years ago today: The Beatles - Yesterday My song pick five year...

1621 The Ventures - Beethoven's Sonata in C#-Minor From: Joy: The Ventures Play the Classics , Year: 1972 Genre: Progressive Rock/Surf Rock You probably notice that my blog looks a lot different. It has been a while, about 10 months since the last time I redesigned it and have been meaning to update its look again for a couple of months now. I still haven't settled on a design yet and might change it again; we'll have to see if it still works for me in the coming weeks. Anyway, on to my song pick: I really have been meaning to choose a track from this album for a very long time. Like some other bands from around that time were doing, this was The Ventures foray into making rocked out arrangements of classical music. This track is their Rock adaptation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (Op. 27, No.2). I love how they used the horns and bass guitar for the big sounding punctual stabs that accompany the arpeggiated triplets played on the keyboards and other lead instruments...

Yesterday I found out that The Ventures' guitarist and bassist Bob Bogle had died at the age of 75; an obituary can be found here . As with most times when a member of a band I like passes away I usually like choosing one of their songs; today is no different. This is one of my favourite songs from The Ventures, there are many good memories for me tied to this song. Here is the original studio version on YouTube. Here is the version from '64 on YouTube. +