Artist	Song
The Shadows	Apache, 1960
The Surfaris	Wipe Out, 1963
Sandy Nelson	Let There Be Drums, 1961
Booker T. and the MGs	Green Onions, 1962
Duane Eddy	Rebel Rouser, 1958
Ventures	Walk-Don't Run, 1962
Santo and Johnny	Sleep Walk, 1959
The Champs	Tequilla, 1958
The Virtues	Guitar Boogie Shuffle, 1959
Johnny and the Hurricanes	Red River Rock, 1959
The Shadows	Man of Mystery, 1960
Lonnie Mack	Memphis, 1963
Chet Atkins	Boo Boo Stick Beat, 1959
Link Wray and His Ray Men	Rumble, 1958
Henry Mancini	Peter Gunn, 1959
Jimmy Bryant with Speedy West	The Night Rider, 1957
Santo and Johnny	Tear Drop, 1959
Preston Epps	Bongo Rock, 1959
The Shadows	FBI, 1961
The Mar-Keys	Last Night, 1961
Duane Eddy	Raunchy
Ventures	Lullaby of the Leaves, 1961
The Astronauts	Hot-Doggin', 1963
Larry Collins & Joe Maphis	Hurricane, 1958
Freddy King	Hide Away, 1961
The Shadows	The Stranger, 1960
Dick Dale and the Del-Tones	Misirlou, 1962
Sandy Nelson	Teen Beat, 1959
Duane Eddy and the Rebels	Fourty Miles of Bad Road, 1959
The Chantays	Pipeline, 1963

Comment:

31. Telstar-Tornados, 1961
32. Chinese Checkers-Booker T. and the MGs, 1963
33. One Mint Julip-Ray Charles, 1961

"No year goes by without a couple of instrumental rock hits, each usually built on a simple riff, a catchy melody or some piece of electronic gimmickry. They're novelty records and their role in rock has been minimal, with the important exception of a brief period in the early Sixties when instrumentals were one of the most vital trends in the music."
(From "The Instrumental Groups" by Greg Shaw, published in "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll," 1976)

The above-quoted article goes on to explain that originally rock instrumentals were provided by the rhythm & blues dance combos that flourished in the early Fifties, but by 1957 black music had become almost purely vocal as far as recording was concerned. In the late Fifties white instrumentals began appearing throughout the country. Many of these bands started as back-up bands for rockabilly singers, playing every night at local dances. But as the rockabilly style of singing was becoming dated, the bands continued to play without a singer. By the end of 1958, guitars, the predominant instruments in rockabilly, gradually took over instrumental rock.

During 1961 and 1962 California had developed a large contingent of local instrumental bands playing music for surfers in the style of Dick Dale. After some of these bands had national success, instrumental groups across the country switched over to surf music. But surf music was the last hurrah for instrumental rock as a popular genre; after the British Invasion of 1964, vocals again assumed primacy in white rock.

While instrumental rock was very popular in America from the late Fifties until the early Sixties, it was even more popular in England, where instrumentals -popularized by the Shadows (once Cliff Richard's backing band) and others-virtually dominated the rock scene. This mix contains some of those exciting, memorable hits from both sides of the Atlantic. (Some of the hits on the mix, by artists such as Chet Atkins, and Jimmy Bryant with Speedy West, do not strictly fit into the category of instrumental rock as described above. Their instrumentals are great, though, and fit well, and that's why I included them anyway.)

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