One for the summer, just for fun… Remember “Pipeline”?

It’s one of the most popular instrumentals ever recorded on 45s, the only hit by the band that first recorded it… and the signature song of the band that made it a star. Remember “Pipeline,” a good summer radio play?

If you read the latest FAQs from Press Pros readers, someone wrote and asked: “Why are you publishing music stories on a sports website? Not my thing.”

Well, we do it because we can. We do it because it’s fun. And we do it because a lot of people tell us they enjoy their nostalgic music from the past…more than you might think. They’re out there, sending us song requests and complaining because we don’t do it more often.

Someone who grew up in the 60’s wrote and asked about the story behind his favorite childhood song. pipelinewhich they falsely attributed to guitarist Duane Eddy. Eddy had actually recorded the song in 1992, but that was thirty years after pipeline became the only hit for a group of boys from California who called themselves the Chantays. The unknown songwriter Robert Burns had written the song for them and they recorded it in 1962 on an even more unknown record label called Downy Records.

People loved it as an AM radio instrumental, one of many surf songs coming out of California at the time, by bands like the Beach Boys (Surfing in the USA)And Jan and Dean (Surf City).

But pipeline was different because it was a cleverly assembled guitar ensemble with bass guitar, accompanied by rhythm and lead guitar. People who understood what they were hearing called it an “upside down” mix of instruments. And it was different enough to get traction on local radio stations across the country, and was eventually picked up by Dot Records for nationwide distribution. Its defining feature was a descending chord beginning, called an Arberti bass arpeggio. And nobody knew what that was, they just liked the sound repeated between choruses throughout the tune.

While the Chantays recorded countless surf songs, pipeline was their only hit and was often covered by other guitarists and bands. None, however, did it better than a group called The Ventures, who presented their own version on their 1963 album “Surfing.” Featuring drummer Mel Taylor and guitarists Bob Bogle, Nokie Edwards and Gerry McGee… if you don’t know The Ventures, you might remember their litany of instrumental hits, including Walk, don’t run, Extinguishand the theme of the television show, Hawaii Five-O, which was released in 1969 and became another instrumental megahit.

61 years later, pipeline is still considered the most popular surf song of all time and the Ventures are the best-selling instrumental band of all time, with over 100 million records sold, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

If you are at least 70 years old, you will remember what was once considered one of the top ten instrumental pieces of the 20th century and the fun it was growing up in the 1960s.

If you were born in the 21st century, you will recognize the tune by its quality, the instrumentation, and the fact that it has been recorded and played a billion times.

It is something for the summer and once everyone’s “thing”.

Just because we can…Pipeline!

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