All Categories — All Formats  

The Ventures were furiously productive in the early 60s – delivering gem after gem – and this is among the best! Telstar is somewhere near the ninth record by the group, offering a dizzying mix of covers of some of the most popular songs of the day. The guitar still leads as the main sound on these tracks but they do expand the instrumentation to include organ, trumpet, mandolins and harpsichord as well. They sing a little on some of the tracks but they mainly stay in the instrumental realm. Greatness! Tracks include "Telstar", "The Lonely Bull", "Mexico", "Calcutta", "Apache", "Never On A Sunday", "Tequila", "Green Onions", "Let There Be Drums", and "Red River Rock".

Well, ELO there, Jeff Lynne – you're looking good here, star-spangled and sleeveless on the cover of Record Collector! On top of the exclusive cover feature and interview with the Electric Light Orchestra and Travelling Wilburys auteur, this issue has pieces on The Rolling Stones, Clyde McPhatter, one-time free records that are worth a fortune today, the legacy of the Tornados' "Telstar" and much, much more – including the always essential regular columns and items – and at least page after page of rare records for sale!