Top Ten Instrumentals: Walk, Don’t Run (#9)

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Heated seats in the car are wonderful when it’s cold, or when I’ve hurt my back. Today’s it a case of both, as I think I twisted the wrong way when I picked up my new microwave. I’ll get better in a couple of days, unless I dance too much to this song. I’m sure most people were waiting for this one to show up, and show up it does! #9: Walk, Don’t Run - Ventures Welcome to “how a song becomes a classic.” In 1954 a jazz guitarist named Johnny Smith wrote this song. It had a nice, swinging feel to it. In 1957, Chet Atkins (yes, that one) covered it, making it a little less swingy and a little more pop-sounding. Enter the Ventures, a Tacoma, Washington-based instrumental band. They borrowed from Atkins’ rendition to record their own version in 1960. And BANG, a surf guitar classic was born. This “only” peaked at #2 because Elvis had just returned from the Army, and “It’s Now or Never” was sitting pretty at #1. But its legacy is plain: it’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame, listed as one of the “greatest songs of rock and roll,” and it helped enshrine the Ventures in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. So walk, don’t run, to the dance floor! Walk, Don’t Run Written by Johnny Smith Recorded by the Ventures From Walk, Don’t Run, 1960 And how about that drum break!