We inch up to 1965 for this version of "Jingle Bells" from "The Venture's Christmas Album" on Dolton Records:
We had listened to the cut "Scrooge" from this album here and I mentioned at the time that most of the songs on the album were arranged in the style of other pop hits.
If you listen to the familiar riff used in "Jingle Bells" you realize it's from "What'd I Say," the brilliant Ray Charles" hit from 1959:
"The Ventures' Christmas Album" offers the guessing game of what other songs are referenced in addition to enjoying the music itself!
The Ventures hit the big time with their 1960 hit "Walk Don't Run":
They used that as the template for their version of "Sleigh Ride" on the Christmas album:
That to me is particularly awesome and a 1960s Christmas essential!
The Ventures were/are hugely popular in Japan, as their instrumentals needed no translation:
The then-current lineup of the Ventures released a second Christmas album in 2002 and it included a different arrangement of "Jingle Bells":
That sounds good, but the original 1965 album can't be beat!
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