Ventures vs Shadows: Apache

[Uncle Fiesta]

My opinion of the Vantures has always been this; that the playing itself is fantastic, but they haven't got the sound. It's usually very dry, with no echo or reverb (I always thought surf music was supposed to be soaked in reverb). Also, those Mosrites would distort as soon as you looked at them.

The Ventures' version of apache is almost a note-for-note rendition of the Jurgen Klinsmann version.

[geoff1711]

Theres nothing wrong with a bit of distortion, there's plenty of it on the Shadows sound, just not on rhythm, lead without any distortion doesn't sing and sounds very weedy, the opning notes of Man of Mystery are full of a singing AC30.

But Andy for me the absolute best version of Walk Don't Run was from The John Barry 7, back in the day that was the cool one this side of the Atlantic, in fact when it was in the charts it was either The Ventures or John Barry, I don't think the Shadows released it as a single, certainly not 60/61.

Whilst I like what John Barry did later his early stuff like Beat Girl and Walk Don't Run were great.

Geoff

[Iain Purdon]

for me the absolute best version of Walk Don't Run was from The John Barry 7

I agree. The splendid Vic Flick plays it, he of the James Bond Theme
Not on this record but with the JB7 for a while on bass was Dave Richmond. He left to work with Manfred Mann, thence to session work and - in the early 70s - The Shadows!

Iain