“Walk Don't Run” by Ventures

The Ventures' "Walk, Don't Run" was a jazz guitarist's tune before it became a worldwide instrumental hit. Johnny Smith wrote it and cut it first in 1954, hanging a new melody on the chord changes of "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" and leaving the title to his producer, Teddy Reig. Chet Atkins recut it in 1956 on Hi-Fi In Focus, and it was his arrangement that lit the fuse for the Ventures.

They didn't just copy it, though. Their 1960 version trades Atkins' finger-picked finesse for something recognizably their own, and that's the one that carried the tune around the globe. Rolling Stone later counted it among the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.