Don Wilson

Don Lee Wilson was born in Tacoma, WA on February 10, 1933. The family heritage is mixed-- his mother, Josie, was first-generation Swedish, while his father was of Welsh and Irish extraction. Don's early interest in music started with the "big-band" sound and country-and-western music. When he was about 12 years old, his mother showed him a few chords on the tipple (a ten-stringed instrument, tuned like a ukulele), which she knew how to play. When compared with a guitar, the tipple would be equivalent to a 12-string. Don always liked listening to Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, but his idol was Tommy Dorsey because he enjoyed his mellow trombone sound. This inspired Don to take trombone lessons. He even played when he went into the army--in the 169th Infantry, he played with the regimental band in Germany, where he was stationed for 19 months. During this time, he had an army buddy who had previously played guitar, from whom Don learned some more guitar chords. On his return home from the army, Don went to work as a car salesman and, after meeting Bob Bogle, to whom he sold a car, they found they had a mutual interest in playing guitar, even though they only knew a few chords between them. After advancing their knowledge of chords and basic guitar playing, they bought two new Fender guitars and began playing club dates at night, while continuing to work during the day. With the help of Don's mother, they made a recording on their own record label, Blue Horizon, which was released in the Seattle/Tacoma area. They had heard a song called "Walk, Don't Run" played by Chet Atkins and, using their own arrangement, they came up with the basis for what was later identified as The Ventures' sound. The tune started to get airplay, and was picked up for nationwide release by Dolton Records. Shortly thereafter, "Walk Don't Run" became the #2 record in the country, selling over two million copies worldwide. The Ventures were on their way to becoming the world's largest-selling instrumental group of all time. Their popularity in Japan was such that, during The Beatles' heyday in the '60s, The Ventures outsold them 2:1.