BOB BOGLE, DON WILSON & NOKIE EDWARDS
MY EARLY GUITAR TEACHERS
Updated Jan 24 2021
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Howie Johnson, Don Wilson, Nokie Edwards, Bob Bogle
Although the reunion on Long Island of my first band The Islanders, who were together from 1961 - 1962, is still almost 5 months away, I woke up on Tuesday morning June 16, 2009 with the song Walk Don't Run playing in my head. It was one of the staples of The Islanders repertoire and we will certainly be playing it again next October. I didn't think too much more about it as the day wore on until about mid afternoon, when I had this overwhelming urge to pick up my newest-oldest guitar and play that song. So I stopped what I was doing ( I was buried in pre colonial days research of The Mastics & Richard Floyd ) got out my guitar, pulled up Walk Don't Run on my I Tunes and proceeded to play along with the Ventures three times .... Then stopped and went back to what I was doing thinking, no more about it....until about two hours later when mid way through Brian Williams' NBC Newscast, I saw Bob Bogle's photo with the tell all two dates 1934- 2009 suddenly appear behind Brian's shoulder. Mr. Williams didn't have to say a word. Bob who was the Ventures co founder and original lead guitarist had passed away from non -Hodgkin's lymphoma, the same disease that took my friend and music teacher John Hartford in 2001
Although I am no stranger to this kind of para normal stuff (call it what you will) I am still amazed at when it happens to me as it has repeatedly over the last 15 - 20 years. Much of it seems to be related to my lifelong association with music .
It gives me pause to think about songwriter Jimmy Webb's theory that everything ever broadcast is still floating around out there some place and some of us will pick up on it ??? I dunno what the mechanics or physics behind it are, but only know way too much of it has happened to me over the past decades to ignore.
Bob Bogle and Don Wilson, were certainly some of my earliest guitar teachers. I would eagerly anticipate their latest albums while playing along with the others in my collection working on the mysteries of the fretboard and how to coax cool sounds out of the guitar. Along with my friend, bandmate and next door neighbor, guitarist Doug Percoco, we would eagrly work on getting their arrangements down as close as we could, at first entertaining the neighborhood when we threw open the roll up doors of our respective garages before moving onto the world of playing music for $$$.
I probably had the first half dozen Venture albums or so, "Walk Don't Run", "The Ventures", "The Colorful Ventures", "Another Smash Hit " with the last one I recall buying at Patchogue Music Center being "The Ventures In Space" around 1963-64, in which I was more interested in the car on the cover than the music they played on it. An occassional Ventures album at $3.98 though was certainly more affordable than a weekly guitar lesson at $3.00 was for me in the early 60's and I am still very greatful for them.
GIVE A LISTEN TO THEM PLAYING "UPS & DOWNS"
Their First Album Here Is :
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