The Ventures Play Kayama Yuzo was released on a CD by EMI in Japan in June 2009.
There are 14 tracks on this album, and the total running time is about 44 minutes.
The CD comes with a booklet with information about all tracks.
Unfortunately, almost everything is written in Japanese (because the album is produced for the Japanese market), so it will not be helpful to most customers outside Japan.
The first page is in English, though, and here we have the line-up of the band when the album was recorded:
** Don Wilson (1933-2022) – rhythm guitar
** Bob Spalding (born 1947) – lead guitar, bass guitar, Hawaii steel guitar
** Leon Taylor (born 1955) - drums
** Bob Bogle (1934-2009) – arrangement advisor and guitar ideas
The following musicians also appear:
** Nokie Edwards (1935-2018) – lead guitar
** Ian Spalding – orchestral and keyboard arrangements, keyboards, ukulele
** John Durrill (born 1941) – acoustic piano, background vocals
** Joe Barile (born 1947) – timbales, congas, wood block
Mel Taylor (born 1933) played drums for the Ventures 1962-1972 and from 1979 until his death in 1996. In that year he was replaced by his son Leon Taylor (born 1955).
Joe Barile played drums for the Ventures 1972-1979, while Mel Taylor was busy with other projects.
John Durrill played keyboards for the Ventures 1969-1972.
Ian Spalding, son of Bob Spalding, also appears on the album Memories of Japan which was released in 2012.
For more information about the members of the band, I refer to Dan Halterman’s biography:
Walk, Don’t Run: The Story of the Ventures
(First edition 2008)
(Second edition 2009)
Why does an American band record a whole album with music composed by a Japanese artist?
Here is the answer:
The Ventures were formed in 1958; recorded their first record in 1959; and had their first hit in 1960. The co-founders were Bob Bogle and Don Wilson. Other musicians were added later on, sometimes on a temporary basis, sometimes on a more permanent basis.
The first Ventures concert tour of Japan, which took place in May 1962, was part of an Asian tour of several US Army bases, which included the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan.
The band appeared as a duo (the founders). Sometimes they would be assisted by local musicians. In Japan they played in Tachikawa and Tokyo.
They made a huge impression on the young generation there, although they did not realise it until they came back three years later.
They also made a huge impression on a 15-year-old boy, Bob Spalding, whose father was in the US Army and was stationed in Japan.
Bob attended a show in Tachikawa, and he loved the music. Little did he know what would happen to him many years later: he was asked to join the Ventures; first on a temporary basis, and later as a full member of the band.
For details about the first tour, see Halterman, pp. 81-83.
The second Ventures concert tour of Japan took place in January 1965. This time the band had two additional members: Nokie Edwards and Mel Taylor.
They played in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka: 14 concerts in 10 days! The reception was overwhelming.
For details about the second tour, see Halterman, pp. 118-123.
The third Ventures concert tour of Japan took place in May 1965. They did 60 shows (concerts and television shows) in 40 days (again, a very hectic schedule).
For details about the third tour, see Halterman, pp. 129-132.
During the two concert tours in 1965, two live albums were recorded and later released on vinyl. In 1999, both albums were released on a CD:
** The Ventures in Japan
** The Ventures in Japan, vol. 2
During the early visits to Japan, the Ventures met several local musicians, who would later become some of the most famous musicians in Japan - including Kayama Yuzo - and formed a life-long connection with them.
Kayama Yuzo (born 1937) liked the Ventures.
He played some of their music, and when he wrote his own music, he was heavily inspired by them. The Ventures returned the favour and recorded some of his music.
When the band was in Japan, they would sometimes perform together with Kayama Yuzo (and his band) on Japanese television.
With this album, where all tracks are written by Kayama Yuzo, the Ventures pay tribute to a good friend and a dear colleague in the music business. Here are the titles:
# 1: Tabibito Yo
# 2: Blue Sunset
# 3: Futari Dake Noumi
# 4: Three Blue Stars
# 5: Kimi to Itsu Mademo
# 6: Yozora No Hoshi
# 7: Boomerang Baby
# 8: Koi Ita Akai Bara
# 9: Oyome Ni Oide
# 10: Yozora O Aoide
# 11: Black Sand Beach
# 12: Mada Minu Koibito
# 13: Kirisame No Hodo
# 14: Violet Sky
Bob Spalding plays lead guitar on tracks # 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, and 14
Nokie Edwards plays lead guitar on tracks # 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11
Some tracks are slow and rather soft, for instance tracks # 1, 2, 3, and 5, while others are faster and have a harder beat, for instance tracks # 4, 6, 9, and 13. The combination of slow and fast songs makes a good variation.
Track # 11 “Black Sand Beach” has been recorded and released by the Ventures before, but for this album they recorded a new and powerful version, which includes extra percussion!
If you like instrumental music, I am sure you will enjoy this album where the music is composed by Kayama Yuzo and played by the Ventures.
*****
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