This is my arrangement of “Lady of Spain”. It was composed in 1931 by Tolchard Evans. The song is often played on the accordion; it was the theme song of Myron Floren, the accordionist on The Lawrence Welk Show. The song has also been covered vocally by Bing Crosby and as a guitar instrumental by Les Paul.
It never appeared on a Ventures album, but in 1961 their arrangement of the song was used as the “B-side” to their single “Blue Moon”.
This is my cover of “Tall Cool One”, which was first released in 1959 by a group from Tacoma, WA called “The Wailers”. They became popular around the United States Pacific Northwest around the late 1950s and the start of the 1960s, performing saxophone driven and Chuck Berry-style R&B and rock and roll.
The Ventures, coincidentally also from Tacoma, included an arrangement of the song on their 1964 album, “Fabulous Ventures”.
This is my cover of “The Swingin’ Creeper”, which was originally a track on the Ventures 1965 album, “Ventures A Go Go”. Songwriting credit is shared by all four members of the group at that time, Don Wilson, Bob Bogle, Nokie Edwards and Mel Taylor. It was also used as the “B” side for the 1965 single “Pedal Pusher”, which did not chart. The prominent organ part is not atypical for Ventures during this period. Although a “guitar” band, many of their mid-sixties and later tracks utilized keyboards. And from 1969 – 1978, a keyboardist was a permanent part of their lineup.
This is my cover of “Polaris”, which was a 1963 instrumental rock song released by the Boys, a British group. It was released only in the UK and Australia.
It is similar in many ways to the 1962 mega-hit, “Telstar”, and its title referred to what was at the time an advanced nuclear submarine.
In the original, the lead is performed on a 6-string bass. I am using a baritone guitar, and have transposed the song up a whole step.
“We Few” is an original jazz/fusion composition that I wrote back in 2011, during my “Palindrome” period. The guitar part shows has some country influence. I think this is one of my better original tunes.
“Mainstream” is an original “smooth jazz” tune. I recently came across the original lead sheet I made for this, and got a bit of a shock. I wrote this FORTY F***ING YEARS AGO!!!. The genre classification “smooth jazz” hadn’t even emerged yet in 1979, even though George Benson pretty much set the table for it with his “Breezin” LP. It was derisively called “Fuzak” back then.
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