VA - Instrumental Gold - Five Classic Instrumental Albums Plus (Go Champs Go! / Johnny And The Hurricanes / $1,000,000 Dollars Worth Of Twang / Strictly Instrumental / Drums Are My Beat!) (2020)

Born out of a recording session for the million selling smash hit “Tequila”, The Champs were so hot they got to make their own album of all instrumental numbers, this time without the vocals…and voila a hit album. Oh and by the way we just have to tell you that they were named after record label boss and famous screen cowboy Gene Autry’s horse Champion! We bet you didn’t know that. Born out of popularising famous or classic old songs in an instrumental format featuring primarily sax and organ, Johnny and the Hurricanes had a worldwide million selling top ten smash in the US and across the Atlantic in the UK in1961 with “Red River Rock”. Perhaps their main claim to fame for a slightly younger audience was that The Beatles opened for them when they played Hamburg in 1962. Born out of Mr. Eddy’s use of his lead guitars bass strings to achieve the famous “Twanging” sound, Duane Eddy was the real deal who went on to sell 12 million records by 1963 alone! Legendary session musicians who played with his band include Steve Douglas, Jim Horn and Larry Knechtel who themselves would go on to play with Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound, as well as with Bob Dylan. The Stones and Bread to name just a few. He was arguably even more popular in the UK where he won World Musical Personality of the Year in 1960 knocking the mighty Elvis from his perch. Duane Eddy is still out there today playing, recording and touring at age 81….the Twang really is the Thang! Born out of an instrumental “Joey’s Song” bought back from a tour of Argentina, The Comets went on to produce an entirely instrumental album…… and here it is! The big question we want answered is, what did the kiss curled crooning Casanova do while all this was going on? Born out of his passion for famed fireball drummer Gene Krupa and requesting a drum kit from Santa one Christmas, and getting one, Sandy Nelson went on to become one of the best-known drummers in the world. You would have to include his name alongside the likes of Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts and hmmm, Dave Clark in the pantheon of classic popular drummers. A High School chum of Jan & Dean and Kim Fowley he also played with The Teddy Bears and Gene Vincent amongst a host of other session work. With over thirty albums to his name, Sandy Nelson, like Duane Eddy, at 81, is still out there playing, recording and touring. Must be all that thrashing about on the skins!