On this day, May 9, 1935, "Nokie" Edwards was born.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

One more, and then I'll be moving on.

Nokie Edwards


Edwards in Nashville at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society, 2009

Background information
Birth name: Nole Floyd Edwards
Born: May 9, 1935; Lahoma, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died: March 12, 2018 (aged 82); Yuma, Arizona, U.S.

Associated acts: The Ventures

Nole Floyd "Nokie" Edwards (May 9, 1935 – March 12, 2018) was an American musician and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was primarily a guitarist, best known for his work with The Ventures, and was known in Japan as the 'King of Guitars'. Edwards was also an actor, who appeared briefly on Deadwood, an American Western drama television series.

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Early life

Edwards was born in Lahoma, Oklahoma, the son of Elbert Edwards and Nannie Mae Quinton Edwards, an original enrollee of the Western Cherokee. Edwards came from a family of accomplished musicians, so that by age five he began playing a variety of string instruments, including the steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin, and bass. His family relocated from Oklahoma to Puyallup, Washington.

During Edwards' late teen years he joined the United States Army Reserve. After traveling to Texas and California for training, he returned home and began playing regularly for pay in numerous country bands in the area.

Music career

In January 1958, country songwriter and guitarist Buck Owens relocated from California to Tacoma, Washington, as owner of radio station KAYE. Prior to the formation of The Buckaroos with Don Rich, Edwards played guitar with Owens in the new band he formed in the area, and also played in the house band of television station KTNT, located in the same building as KAYE. In 1960 Edwards recorded a single, "Night Run" b/w "Scratch", on Blue Horizon Records with a band called The Marksmen.

The Ventures

The Ventures, an instrumental musical quartet, were founded in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958. Original members included Don Wilson on rhythm guitar, Bob Bogle on lead guitar (who later became the bass player), and drummer George Babbitt, who went on to become a 4-star general in the U.S. Air Force. When Babbitt left, Howie Johnson took his place, and was later replaced by Mel Taylor. Edwards met Wilson and Bogle when they performed on KTNT. Edwards originally played bass for The Ventures, but he took over the lead guitar position from Bogle. The Ventures released a series of best-selling albums throughout the 1960s, and Edwards left towards the end of this period in 1968. He returned full-time as the Ventures' lead guitarist in 1972, and stayed with the band until 1984. In subsequent years, he would occasionally reunite with the band, and starting in the early 2000s, he once again toured with The Ventures until 2012. During his last stint with the Ventures, Edwards primarily played during the annual winter Japan tour, along with several dates in the United States.

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The Ventures "Walk Don't Run"
6,603,196 views•Nov 30, 2012

NRRArchives
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Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. August 27, 1960. Re-posted by request.

I have no idea what's going on here:

Ventures - Walk, Don't Run 1960
32,932 views•Jun 24, 2018

Moon doggy
11.9K subscribers

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Here's some random stuff about The Ventures

Tue Apr 7, 2015: USAF Four Star General George Babbitt and The Ventures...

George T. Babbitt Jr.

General George T. Babbitt (born June 22, 1942) is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who served as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command (COMAFMC), from 1997 to 2000.

As a teenager in the late 1950s, Babbitt joined the Ventures rock group, replacing the original drummer, Skip Moore. Just before the band gained fame with their huge hit "Walk Don't Run" in 1960, Babbitt had to drop out because he was not old enough to play the nightclubs and bars the band was beginning to work in.

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On March 1, 1998, while on active duty as 4-star general, he played live in uniform on drums with the Ventures.

I've been clearing out old newspapers. I ran across the obituary for this member earlier today.

Bob Bogle

Birth name: Robert Lenard Bogle
Born: January 16, 1934; around Wagoner, Oklahoma
Died: June 14, 2009 (aged 75); Vancouver, Washington, United States

Website: http://www.theventures.com

Robert Lenard Bogle (January 16, 1934 – June 14, 2009) was a founding member of the instrumental combo The Ventures. He and Don Wilson founded the group in 1958. Bogle was the lead guitarist and later bassist of the group. In 2008, Bogle and other members of The Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Performer category.

Biography

Born near Wagoner, Oklahoma, Bogle worked as a bricklayer in California from the age of 15. A self-taught guitar player, Bogle met Don Wilson in Seattle in 1958, where they worked together on various construction sites. They went on to form a band, The Versatones, which evolved into The Ventures. Bogle's lead guitar on the Ventures' 1960 cover of "Walk, Don't Run" helped to influence the next generation of guitarists including John Fogerty, Steve Miller, Joe Walsh and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Bogle's use of the vibrato arm was particularly notable.

The Ventures' song "Wild Child" was sampled by the Wiseguys on "Start the Commotion", giving Bogle his only hit writing credit on the British charts, reaching number 47 and spending 2 weeks on the chart.

Bogle died at age 75 on June 14, 2009 from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Vancouver, Washington.

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