Originally (Ghost) Riders in the Sky was an old cowboy song by Vaughan Monroe from 1949. The Ventures version was clearly in the same style as The Ramrods' instrumental hit from 1961. (The Scorpions - a British three-piece guitar outfit) also did a very different-sounding version around that time. Jet Harris included it in his live shows in the 1970s (a recording exists on his Inside LP) and he reckoned that's where The Shadows got the idea to do their disco-orientated recording on String of Hits in 1979 (a top 10 hit for them in 1980). This might be true, but it seems more likely that it was one of a series of '50s/'60s instrumentals which The Shadows hadn't recorded in the '60s - but which they did versions of from Walk Don't Run in 1977 (on Tasty) up to Diamonds from XXV in 1983. (Others include...from the top of my head (!)... Telstar, Albatross, Time is Tight and Raunchy).
When thinking of songs that both The Ventures and The Shadows have recorded - surely Slaughter on Tenth Avenue has to be up there; two quite different versions but both magnificent (even if Peter Gormley thought The Shadows recording was "bloody boring"!)