Surf Guitar God Bob Bogle Dies

Surf guitar legend Bob Bogle of The Ventures passed away in Vancouver, Washington after a long battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Bogle revolutionized the surf guitar sound on a string of instrumental hits in the 60s including Telstar and the theme for the classic Hawaii hipster cop television show Hawaii Five-O. The Ventures released an astonishing 40+ instrumental albums in their storied career with sales of more than 100 million.

Inducted with The Ventures into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year Bogle influenced many guitarists over the years. Eddie Van Halen said that the first song that he learned to play on the guitar was The Ventures version of Pipeline.

Bogle and The Ventures co-founder Don Wilson met in Seattle in 1958 when Wilson was selling cars. Bogle, who was working construction at the time, walked into the shop and Wilson asked him if he could get him a job.

Fast friends, they then formed the band that would break through the charts one and a half years later with Chet Atkin's Walk, Dont Run.

“If you listen to Walk, Don’t Run and Perfidia, the lead guitar is just totally unique,” Wilson said. “He used that vibrato bar — they call it a whammy bar — and he used it like nobody else.”

A private funeral service will be held on Friday, June 19th. Bogle was 75.