On this year's Revolution Surf we featured some sets of music in tribute to two musicans that passed in 2022. Don Wilson guitarist of The Ventures passed in January at the age of 88 and Toronto musician Dallas Good of The Sadies passed unexpectedly in February at the age of 48. On the show, which features 40 surf and instrumental tracks, we had a set of Ventures tracks in tribute to Don Wilson and The Ventures adventurous style to tackle different genres of music and some music in tribute to the surf side of Dallas Good and The Sadies music.
Don Wilson (1933-2022)
Don Wilson co-founded The Ventures with Bob Bogle in Tacoma, Washington in 1958. His guitar style combined with the music that The Ventures created would be instrumental and highly influential on the future of rock music. Before the first full lineup of the band formed, an early version of The Ventures existed with just Don Wilson on rhythm guitar and Bob Bogle on lead guitar. They played clubs and bars and it has been said that Wilson’s very distinctive rhythmic playing style originated due to the fact that they had no drummer when they started out. Regardless when The Ventures found Nokie Edwards (bass) and Skip Moore the first incarnation of The Ventures was in place. Wilson continued his driving rhythmic guitar style. The band were on their own label initially before being signed to Dolton Records. Their first hit was “Walk Don’t Run” in 1960. It would climb to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts changing their status as a band forever. The song itself was a cover of a cover done by Chet Atkins. Originally a jazz song by Johnny Smith, the way that The Ventures played it was different than both the original and Atkins version. When the band recorded this track in 1960, the drummer Skip Moore wasn’t interested in touring with the band and was not a full-time member of the band, but is featured on the recording. They would re-record a different version of this song called “Walk Don’t Run ‘64” which would also re-chart at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The classic lineup of The Ventures featured Don Wilson on guitar, Bob Bogle on bass (he and Edwards would switch instruments shortly after the recording of "Walk Don't Run"), Nokie Edwards on lead guitar and Mel Taylor on drums.
The Ventures tackled multiple styles throughout their career recording country, 50s rock, 60s pop and psychedelic albums. They would also drift into some disco music in addition to experimenting with recording on albums such as The Ventures In Space. The Ventures also released records at a fast pace, sometimes having as many as four records released in a year. They even released a series of albums for people interested in learning guitar called Play Guitar with The Ventures. The Ventures also recorded songs for TV shows and soundtracks for films. One of the most notable is their recording of the "Hawaii Five-O" theme song. In addition to their US success, they would have a greater success in Japan where they still have devout followings. Their instrumental and surf sounds went on to influence many. They were called “The most influential, best-selling instrumental band in rock and roll history” by the Grammy Museum in 2019. While a new version of the band plays today, Wilson played with The Ventures throughout many lineup changes until 2015. His rhythmic guitar style helped drive the music of The Ventures.
Dallas Good (1973-2022)
Dallas Good’s mark on music is deeply embedded in a lot of Canadian and non-Canadian independent music over the last several decades. Whether with The Sadies or in some other capacity he had an influence and impact on music that wasn’t always directly in the mainstream spotlight. Dallas and Travis Good are the sons of Bruce Good, who played in the Juno award winning bluegrass group The Good Brothers alongside his siblings and Margret Good, their mother was also a singer/musician. Introduced to punk by his brother Travis, Dallas initially played in a series of punk bands, but it wasn’t until Sadies bassist Sean Dean got an upright bass that he switched his musical interests to country music. The Sadies first formed in Toronto in 1994. The band consisted of Dallas Good (on vocals/guitar), Travis Good (vocals/guitar), Sean Dean (bass) and Mike Belitsky (drums). Their first album was 1998’s Precious Moments produced by Steve Albini. The Sadies developed their own take on country and western music, incorporating elements of surf and garage rock with a punk infused energy. The band operated as a collective unit with their shows having been described as transcendent. Forging their own path, The Sadies built a following for approximately the last two decades by collaborating and backing up several other artists in addition to releasing their own material. The Sadies have also collaborated, performed and recorded with other musicians such as Andre Williams, Neko Case, Blue Rodeo, Garth Hudson, John Doe, Neil Young, Buffy Saint-Marie, Mary Margret O’Hara, Gary Louris, Kurt Vile, Justin Townes Earle, Jon Langford and Gord Downie. They have also toured and recorded with Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray’s Heavy Trash.
In 2004, The Sadies along with Rick White (of Eric’s Trip) and Greg Keelor (of Blue Rodeo) formed The Unintended, releasing a self-titled album the same year. One more release followed in 2006, featuring Gordon Lightfoot covers that was split EP with the band Constantines called Constantines Play Young/The Unintended Play Lightfoot. Dallas also produced and played with other groups in addition to The Sadies. He played with Phono-Comb, an instrumental surf band featuring Don Pyle and Reid Diamond of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, played with Toronto hardcore band Career Suicide, Half Japanese and played live shows on bass with Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet starting in 2012 when they reformed. He also performed in several punk bands prior to being in The Sadies such as The Satanatras, Guilt Parade and The Rat Crushers. The Sadies also provided the surf inspired soundtrack to 2006’s Tales of the Rat Fink and appear in the Carmine Street Guitars documentary. 2007’s New Seasons and 2010’s Darker Circles were both nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. A forthcoming full-length album is set to be released in 2022. It was produced by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry.
Revolution Surf 2022 Playlist (Originally Aired On February 26th, 2022):
1. The Surfrajettes - Couch Surfing (Roller Fink - Hi-Tide Recordings - 2022)
2. The Surf Hermits - Out Beyond the Dune Sea (Hang Zen - Sharawaji Records - 2022)
3. The Green Reflectors - Rip Rap (Tune Up - 2018)
4. Teke::Teke - Ai No Kizuna (Jikaku - Ray-On - 2018)
5. The Ventures - Fuzzy and Wild (Wild Things! - Dolton Records - 1966)
6. The Ventures - San Antonio Rose (Play The Country Classics - Dolton Records - 1963)
7. The Ventures - Psyched-Out (Super Psychedelics - Dolton Records - 1967)
8. The Ventures - Sealed With A Kiss ($1,000,000.00 Weekend - Dolton Records - 1967)
9. The Ventures - Ten Over (Surfing - Dolton Records - 1963)
10. The Ventures - Walk Don't Run '64 (Walk Don't Run Vol. 2 - Dolton Records - 1964)
11. The Sadies - Rat Creek (Live) (In Concert Vol. 1 - Yep Roc Records/Outside Music - 2006)
12. The Sadies - Snow Squad (Live) (In Concert Vol. 1 - Yep Roc Records/Outside Music - 2006)
13. The Sadies - Same Song (Precious Moments - Bloodshot Records - 1998)
14. Phono-Comb - Enchanted (Fresh Gasoline - Quarterstick Records - 1996)
15. Jad Fair & Phono-Comb - TV Guide (Monsters, Lullabies… And The Occasional Flying Saucer - Shake The Record Label - 1996)
16. Phono-Comb - Phonebone (Fresh Gasoline - Quarterstick Records - 1996)
17. Phono-Comb - Cliffhanger (Fresh Gasoline - Quarterstick Records - 1996)
18. The Sadies - Rubber Bat (Precious Moments - Bloodshot Records - 1998)
19. The Sadies - Venison Creek (Pure Diamond Gold -
20. The Sadies - The Pyramid (Tales Of The Rat Fink - Original Soundtrack - Yep Roc Records/Outside Music - 2006)
21. The Sadies - Wolf Tones (New Seasons - Yep Roc Records/Outside Music - 2007)
22. The Sadies - The Very Ending (Internal Sounds - Yep Roc Records/Outside Music - 2013)
23. Les Krakmen - Krakmen Twist (Pebbles Vol 4 - BFD Records - 1979)
24. Os Kriptons - Manga Mandura (Paula EP - Lello & C - 1965)
25. Os Kriptons - Billy Boom (Paula EP - Lello & C - 1965)
26. Os Rebeldes - Murder By Contact (Tiro Liro - Orfeu - 1966)
27. The Pyramids - Pyramid Stomp (Play The Original Penetration - Best Records - 1964)
28. The Pyramids - Sticks and Skins (Play The Original Penetration - Best Records - 1964)
29. Bo Diddley - Surf, Sink or Swim (Surfin' With Bo Diddley - Checker - 1963)
30. La Luz - Yuba Rot (La Luz - Hardly Art - 2021)
31. Blue Stingrays - Zuma Sunset (Surf-N-Burn - Epitone Records - 1997)
32. Blue Stingrays - Echo Park (Surf-N-Burn - Epitone Records - 1997)
33. Stereo Donkey - Shuvit (Shuvit Single - 2022)
34. The Cosmic Sand Dollars - Dunked (Let's Go Insertion! - Old Comet - 2022)
35. The Garrys - Heavy Flow (Get Thee To A Nunnery - Grey Records - 2021)
36. The Treblemakers - The Grudge (Time Machine: The History of Canadian 60's Garage Punk and Surf (1985-95) - Stomp Records - 1996)
37. HJ & The Constellations - Dawn of a New Day (Tubular Spectacular - 2021)
38. Atomic 7 - Your Ironic T-Shirt (Gowns By Edith Head - Mint Records - 2002)
39. Los Astros - Atomica (Latin American Surf Sampler Pt.2 - North Sea Surf Radio - 2015)
40. The Chewbacca's - Echo Lake (The Return From Echo Lake - Sharawaji Records - 2019)
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