The Ventures "Stranger on the Shore"

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Sep 2019 12:24 pm

Today I ran across The Ventures 1964 recording of "Stranger on the Shore" on YouTube. The entire A Section is played on either a steel guitar or a standard guitar with a slide... it also plays on the intro and fills throughout the song. The personnel listing online shows only the four guys in the band. The album is Walk, Don't Run, Vol. 2. Anyone know who the player is? Maybe Nokie with a slide?

Listen to the song here ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBaRldEiEs0

David Knutson · Post by **David Knutson** » 28 Sep 2019 2:30 pm

Nice find, Doug. Sure sounds like steel, not bottleneck, to me. Nice fat tone.

I just did a forum search and came up with this thread from 2012 saying Sneaky Pete did some recording with The Ventures.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... 56f9722e0d

Here's the track . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwM85lswGNE

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 28 Sep 2019 2:43 pm

I remember this album was a prized Christmas gift when it came out. I told Santa what I wanted and incredibly he delivered

And for you surfing Doug Beaumier fans, here's Doug's great version of "Stranger on the Shore" on a Fender Stringmaster quad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo3c70X_WGU

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Sep 2019 2:52 pm

That's interesting, David. That thread says that Sneaky Pete played steel on the Ventures "Blue Star". That song is on the same album as "Stranger on the Shore". So it's very likely Sneaky Pete also played steel on Stranger. I suspected that it was a steel guitarist, and a pretty good one! His intonation is very good and his playing is very tasteful.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Sep 2019 3:04 pm

Thanks for posting that, Jeff!

Barney Roach · Post by **Barney Roach** » 4 Oct 2019 9:47 am

Hi Doug-

Sorry this took so long. A good friend of mine was The Ventures road manager in the USA for 18+ years.

It took a while for him to reply- but he said this is the late RED RHODES playing steel.

RED is also featured on The Ventures album-
"The Ventures In Space".

Hope this helps,

Barney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ventures_in_Space

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 4 Oct 2019 9:51 am

Thanks Barney! I knew it had to be a pro. Sounds really sweet.