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The Ventures

THE VENTURES

YEAR

2008

INDUCTED BY

John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

CATEGORY

Performers

The quintessential instrumental rock and roll band.

Few bands are as prolific as the Ventures—they released thirty-seven albums in twelve years, many of them thematic. They rocked America in the sixties and went on to lasting international fame and influence.

Bob Bogle

Bob Bogle

Don Wilson

Don Wilson

Gerry McGee

Gerry McGee

Mel Taylor

Mel Taylor

Nokie Edwards

Nokie Edwards

HALL OF FAME
ESSAY

By John Teagle

Fifty years ago, a pair of Tacoma, Washington, construction workers — Bob Bogle and Don Wilson — began picking guitars together in their spare time. The band they formed – the Ventures—would establish itself as the premier guitar-based combo in America.

Beginning with 1960’s “Walk Don’t Run,” the Ventures created a body of work that remains untouchable by any other instrumental group in the history of rock & roll. The band’s influence has extended from nascent surf music to the British Invasion, garage rock, psychedelia, heavy metal, new wave, and beyond.

Read More
Class of 2008
The sound of it became surf music, and the audacity of it empowered guitar players everywhere.
John Fogerty
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