Thursday Open Thread ~ Ventures In Space


Since the feds are once again distracting us with what they call "truths" about "thems" and "out theres" , it's a good time to listen again to one of the more entertaining LPs from my collection.

The Ventures in Space is an LP album by the guitar-based instrumental group the Ventures, released in 1964. Information on its jacket states that "All of these unusual & other-worldly sounds have been created with musical instruments rather than electronic gimmicks". It was one of the first albums on which the group played the new Mosrite brand guitars instead of their traditional Fender instruments. The album was released in 1964 on the Dolton label, and reissued in the late 1970s by Pickwick Records (with a new cover depicting an astronaut performing a spacewalk).

In his review for Allmusic, critic Richie Unterberger wrote of the album "Few listeners need to dig deeper than a greatest-hits collection for the Ventures, but this early effort is an arguable exception... The British instrumental group the Tornados (of "Telstar" fame) did this kind of stuff better, but Ventures in Space is a fun diversion from their usual sound that holds up well."

Listen to the album on SOUND CLOUD

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of the hot rod on the album cover
overlooking LA?

Thanks philly!

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enhydra lutris's picture

cover (and ergo the album) but I don't think it was at all popular down in the SoCal beach scene of that era, though perhaps in LA moreso than further south. The sound on out of limits is fuller and more resonant than the Markettes' version, at least to me, but that is also comparing an album to a 45 rpm single and albums were usually better quality and better produced.

That's a side issue, that was an era of transition from 45s to LPs, and really good LPs would be a compilation or aggregation of hit or at least really good singles and b-sides, while others would be one or two really good singles and a lot of filler, or else they might be novelty albums. This almost seems to be more of a novelty album. As far as I recall, nothing on that album was a hit for the ventures, though there were at least 2 hits or highly popular songs, out of limits and penetration, prominently headlined on the album cover, but not for the Ventures, while Moon Child, the Ventures' own creation seems almost derivative from their prior work and the work of others. But that's all hindsight and also looking back about 60 years or so.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

thanatokephaloides's picture

...... also brings us to the time of the LP which likely inspired the Ventures to make theirs:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEXI0Nc2mqA]

Wink

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janis b's picture

@thanatokephaloides

How beautiful and life-affirming.

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