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Nokie’s family then moved to Washington
State where he played regularly at community fairs and
festivals, including landing the coveted role as a featured
performer at the historical "Ezra Meeker Days"
festival in Puyallup Washington.When Nokie turned seventeen, he
went to Oregon were he played in dance halls. His guitar
virtuosity was unmatched and unprecedented; he was making
$300.00 a week while others were making $75.00 a week. Before
eighteen he was given a raise to $350.00 a week. For the next
few years Nokie was a welcome regular on the regional music
circuit, his star appeal ascended immensely.
1956-1960
From 1956 to 1960 Nokie served his country as a member of the
U.S. Army Reserves, receiving his training in Ft. Orr,
California and in Ft. Bliss, Texas, and then as member of the
National Guard in Washington. When he returned to Tacoma,
Washington in 1957, his magnificence as a guitarist enabled him
to become an integral part of the Tacoma music scene. Buck
Owens, the country music artist and pioneer of the
"Bakersfield Sound," asked Nokie to join his band.
Nokie spent the next year playing with Buck Owens at clubs and
on radio and television. An added highlight would be when the
Grand Ol’ Opry’s road shows came to the Northwest and they
would need a lead guitar player. They would call Buck Owens for
a lead guitarist and Buck would send Nokie to play lead for the
shows. Through Owens, Nokie met a number of other country music
entertainers such as Ferlin Husky, Lefty Frizzell, Justin Tubb,
Dale Woods, Benny Martin, and many more.
From 1959 with
The Ventures
In 1959, while Nokie was playing lead guitar for Buck Owens, he
was approached by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, a couple of
guitarists from Washington. They asked Nokie to join them in
forming a band which later became known as The Ventures (a band
that went on to become the most popular rock instrumental band
in history). The group’s first single was a remake of
guitarist Chet Atkins’ ‘Walk Don’t Run,’ which
was written by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith. The tune was
released in 1960 on Josie Wilson’s Blue Horizon label and
garnered a lot of requests in the Seattle area. The group then
signed with Dolton Records which was owned by Bob Reisdorff.
Dolton later became a subsidiary of Liberty Records, and ‘Walk
Don’t Run’ was released nationally, with the tune
peaking at #2 on the charts. The Ventures followed up the hit
single with an album appropriated entitled "Walk Don’t
Run". While touring with The Ventures, Nokie played lead on
many famous hits that were recorded by Nokie and The Ventures by
such as ‘Hawaii 5-O’ , ‘Fugitive’, ‘2000
Pound Bee’, ‘Yellow Jacket’, ‘Hokkaido
Skies’, ‘Driving Guitars’, ‘Surf Rider’
(also known as ‘Spudnik’,) ’Moon Child’, ‘Pedal
Pusher’, ‘Sleep Walk’, ‘Let’s Go’,’
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue’, ‘Wipe Out’, and ‘Pipeline’,
to name a few.
Nokie left The
Ventures in 1968 and moved back to Washington to pursue his
interest in horse racing, and to further his solo career playing
and writing all styles of music. Nokie returned to play lead for
The Ventures from 1972 to 1984, and also played in other bands
when The Ventures were not touring. Nokie performed with Lefty,
David, and Allan Frizzell on Lefty’s last engagement in Tacoma
before his untimely death in 1975. In 1985, Nokie briefly joined
the band of the country duo Frizzell & West, which featured
David Frizzell and Shelly West, who were known for their many
hits including, ‘You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma’.
Nokie Today
Nokie still tours Japan. One particular tour
in Japan took in 108 concerts in only 78 days, and when Nokie
and The Ventures arrived in 1965, an estimated 10,000 people
showed up at the Tokyo airport to welcome Nokie and The
Ventures: Japan’s Beloved Guitar Invaders! Nokie also tours
the US, UK, Italy, Canada, as well as Japan twice a year with
his own tour. Nokie’s capacity for touring and the drawing
record crowds is something for the history books.
In 2002, Nokie
started a new guitar company: HitchHiker Guitars. Nokie put his
knowledge of 55 years of mastering the guitar into a beautiful
instrument. The guitar has great sustain; there are fifteen
variations of tones by using the tone control in conjunction
with the switches. The word is out that the guitar has an
identifiable sound - its own "signature" sound. Once
you hear a HitchHiker guitar you know the name because you never
forget the distinctive sound. Nokie takes great pride in
quality. He spared no expense in building this high tech, high
quality guitar built by a true master guitar player, Nokie
Edwards. For 2004, Nokie is adding a bass guitar and acoustic
guitar to the HitchHiker Company product line.
During the past
decade plus, Nokie has been traveling around the world
entertaining old and new fans alike with regular stops at:
-
Chet
Atkins Association Society (CAAS), Nashville, Tennessee
-
Mesquite
Guitar Festival "Art Greenhaw’s International Guitar
Celebration",
Mesquite, Texas
-
Muriel
Anderson’s "All Star Guitar Night" in Tennessee
and California
-
"Guitar’s
For Life", New York
-
Japan
two and three times annually, occasionally with The Ventures
-
Pierpaolo
Adda’s Annual Concert, Soave, Italy
-
Guitar
Extravaganza, Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Canada
-
North
Carolina Thumb and Finger Style Convention
-
Performing
for the Ohio’s Thumb and Finger Style Association
-
David
Harris (HAS - Concert Productions)
-
Seattle’s
Experience Music Project (EMP) with The Ventures
-
Performing
with David Frizzell
-
Performing
with The Light Crust Doughboys
Nokie has shared
the stage with other notable entertainers like Mickey Jones
(drummer for Kenny Rogers, Bob Dylan, Johnny Rivers), Little
Jimmy Dickins, Jeff (Skunk) Baxter, Thom Bresh (Merle Travis’
son), Peter Frampton, Robbie Krieger, Richard Smith, Tommy
Emmanuel, Laurence Juber (Paul McCartney & Wings), The
Fabulous Wailers, The Stampeders, Peter Tork (The Monkees),
Mitch Rider, Seymour Duncan, Brent Mason, John Jorgenson, Will
Ray, Albert Lee, Art Greenhaw, the Light Crust Doughboys, and
many more.
Nokie Edwards is
the featured instructor for fifteen guitar instructional videos
teaching courses marketed throughout the world, in addition to
the legendary "Play Guitar With The Ventures" series
of instructional albums in the USA, which launched thousands of
guitarists and became the only instrumental guitar LPs in
history to make Billboard's and Cashbox’s best-selling album
charts. Nokie’s guitar clinics in North America, Europe and
Japan attract beginners and professionals alike who watch in awe
as their mentor instructs them in the fine art of guitar
playing.
Nokie Edwards has
earned success in the all-important albums market, unlike many
of his superstar contemporaries who scored hits with singles
only. During the 1960’s alone, Nokie Edwards and The Ventures
had no less than 33 albums to hit the US charts, 5 of these
influential albums went "Gold’. In addition to The
Ventures albums, Nokie has performed as a guest on over three
dozen CD’s and recorded over two dozen solo albums - seven of
which he produced of his own.
Nokie's
performances are a mix of music that puts an audience on the
edge of their seats... Speaking of "the edge of your
seat"... It is a must to see Nokie and Thom Bresh on stage.
You know the old saying, "the show must go on", well,
"The Show Must Never End!" Nokie continues to
diversify his music career by composing new songs and adding new
arrangements to his favorite songs... Bringing back and creating
new precious memories for the listener around the globe. As busy
as he is, Nokie always makes time for an autograph session and
to be with his fans as they line up for memorabilia and get his
latest CD’s. His concerts consist of the famous hit songs of
The Ventures as well as Nokie's favorite country, classical,
light jazz, blue grass and "oldies" hits. Nokie's fans
and peers recognize Nokie Edwards as a guitarist of very
distinctive style. His outstanding finger and flat-picking
styles allow his pure artistic expression to truly flow through
the guitar.
Two Decades of
Awards & Trophies for Nokie Edwards
-
2003
- Presented the "Key to the City Of Mesquite,
Texas" during The Mesquite Guitar Festival by Mayor
Mike Anderson in honor of Nokie's achievements in the field
of music and influence upon Mesquite's Art Greenhaw.
-
2001
- Plaque for his contribution to Soave, Italy for keeping
American music alive in Italy
-
2001
- Award for his contribution to Country Western Music by
C&R Northwest Country Music Review
-
2001
-
Trophy for his New York performance and contribution at
“Guitars For Life”
-
2001
- Awarded membership to Thumb and Finger-Style Association
of Kentucky and North Carolina
-
2001
- Nokie made Honorary Captain by the Louisa, Kentucky Police
Department
-
1997
- Hand prints at Chambers Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee
-
1996
- Hand prints in the Rock Walk Hall of Fame in Hollywood,
California
-
1994
- Award of appreciation and deep admiration from Toyako
Onsen Japan and Mayor Masayoshi Okamura for the charity
concert which encouraged cultural exchange and promoting the
town as expressed in the images of Lake Toya with his song
First Snow Memory
-
1984
- Nokie deputized as “Deputy Sheriff” by the Tennessee
Police Department
-
1982
- Nokie made “Honorary Colonel" of The Arkansas State
Police
Awards from
1960-1984
-
One
Gold Single ('Walk Don’t Run')
-
One
Gold Single ('Hawaii 5-0')
-
Five
Gold Albums
-
One
Gold Album for the Northwest Hall of Fame
-
Received
the First Gold Eight Track from Japan
-
Ginza
Lights (written by Nokie Edwards in 1964) voted the
“All-Time” Number One Song in Japan in 1994
-
Responsible
for 25% of Liberty Records' total record sales
-
Award
for an unprecedented One Million Albums Sold Each Year from
1961 to 1966
-
The
Ventures sold over One Hundred Million Albums
-
Only
foreign group to ever receive the Prestigious Japanese Grand
Prix Award (only three were given in the history of the
record company at that time)
-
Double
Platinum Sales Award presented to Nokie Edwards
commemorating the sales of more than 2,000,000 copies of MCA
records' albums and CD music from Pulp Fiction.
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