Don Wilson

Don Lee Wilson (10 February 1933 - 22 January 2022) was an American guitarist who was a founding member of the instrumental surf-rock group the Ventures. In 2008, Wilson and other members of the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Performer category. Wilson was the last surviving member of the classic line-up of the Ventures following the death of Nokie Edwards in 2018, before Wilson's own death in January 2022. Early life Wilson was born in Tacoma, Washington and was a middle child. The family heritage is mixed, his mother, Josie, was first-generation Swedish, while his father was of Welsh and Irish descent. His mother would show him how to play chords on the tipple when he was around 12 years old. Career In 1958, Wilson and Bob Bogle met Nokie Edwards and invited him as a member of the group. Edwards played guitar and Bogle switched to bass. In 1960, Wilson's mother, with $100, produced and sold a cover of Chet Atkins instrumental song "Walk, Don't Run". Unable to play the original jazz version, they instead played it in a more calmer and smoother way. This is now recognized as surf music. The line-up at the time consisted of Wilson, Bogle, Edwards and Howie Johnson (drums), before Johnson was replaced with Mel Taylor. "Walk, Don't Run" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and has been described as what "started a whole new movement in rock & roll" by John Fogerty. The Ventures' song "Wild Child" was sampled by the Wiseguys on "Start the Commotion", giving Wilson his only hit writing credit on the British charts, reaching number 47 and spending 2 weeks on the chart.