All By Myself

This is my instrumental cover of “All By Myself” which was first released by Eric Carmen in 1975. It was his first hit after leaving the Raspberries, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The other well-known version was be Celine Dion, released in 1996 and reaching #4 on the Hot 100. The song borrows heavily from the 2nd movement of Serge Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. My arrangement borrows even more.

Ventures Country

“Ventures Country” is an original instrumental intended to sound like a country/rockabilly number the Ventures might have recorded in the early 1960s.

Yellow Bird

This is my instrumental cover of “Yellow Bird”. Originally known as “Choucoune”, it is is a 19th-century Haitian song composed by Michel Mauléart Monton with lyrics from a poem by Oswald Durand. It was rewritten with English lyrics in the 20th century as “Yellow Bird”. Exotica musician Arthur Lyman made the song a hit in 1961. The Ventures included a cover on their 1961 album “Colorful Ventures”.

Pitt Bull

“Pitt Bull” is an original 12-bar instrumental that pays tribute to George Tomsco’s and the Fireballs “Bulldog” as well as my alma mater and former employer.

The Lonesome Tide

“The Lonesome Tide” is an original instrumental intended to sound similar to some of the “surf” material the Ventures recorded in the early 1960s.

If This is a Good Time

“If This is a Good Time” is an original instrumental with a shuffle feel that also shows some Shadows influence.

Elysian Fields

“Elysian Fields” is an original instrumental intended to sound like something the Shadows might have recorded in the early 1960s. In particular I was trying to get the feel of something that was penned by Jerry Lordan, composer of “Apache”, “Wonderful Land” and “Atlantis”.

Moonlight Shadow

This is my instrumental cover of “Moonlight Shadow”, a song originally written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, and released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records. It was Oldfield’s most successful single, reaching number one on a number of charts around Europe. The Shadows featured it as the title track on a 1986 album. This inspired my version.

Reconnaissance

“Reconnaissance” is an original instrumental intended to sound similar to one of my favorite guitar-rock sub-genres, “Space-Rock”. This style is exemplified by the Ventures 1964 album “Ventures in Space”, and often features unusual chord changes and spacy musical effects.

Look For a Star

This is my instrumental arrangement of “Look For a Star”, originally performed by Garry Mills for the 1960 UK horror movie “Circus of Horrors.”

Composed by Tony Hatch, who later would write many hits including “Downtown” and “Call Me”, it reached #7 on the UK charts. When the movie was released in the U.S. there were several versions of the song quickly recorded, the main one being by Buzz Cason under the pseudonym “Garry Miles” (in order to capitalize on the success of Gary Mills’ UK original). Snuff Garrett produced the song and came up with the pseudonym. The strategy worked and the Garry Miles version reached #16 on the U.S. pop chart in 1960.

Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra released an instrumental version of the song in 1960 which reached #13 on the Cashbox chart and #19 on the U.S. pop chart.

It was never recorded by the Shadows, although it would seem to suit their style very well.

Facing West

This is my arrangement of “Facing West”, an instrumental composed by Pat Metheny, and originally released as the second track on his 1992 album “Secret Story”.

Boggled

“Boggled” is an original instrumental intended to sound like something the Ventures might have done in the early 1960s.