The ShadowMusic Web Community

Nokie Edwards, legendary lead guitarist for The Ventures, passed away today.

http://gretschpages.com/forum/players/nokie-edwards/62386/page1/

Are we sure? There’s nothing on his website nor on his Facebook page?

I read on the Ventures sites that Nokie Edwards passed away this morning.

Iain Purdon wrote:Are we sure? There’s nothing on his website nor on his Facebook page?

Yes - it was confirmed by various USA sources, including Deke Dickerson (who was close to Nokie).

Thank you. I see the story is all over the place now.

Just my natural uber-caution. This site has a bit of history sending people off prematurely. In this case, I’m sorry to say, it is clearly true.

Jim N and I had the pleasure of spending time with Nokie at Lakeside some years ago. A fine player and a very modest gentleman. I remember Jim asking a question about a Ventures track - I think it was El Cumbanchero - and Nokie took his guitar out of its case and gave us a quick run through.

He later phoned me at home to comment on a draft of our interview. He was about to fly out Japan and was hugely apologetic when he discovered it was 2am in the UK...

RIP Nokie - a pleasure to have known you.

George

I subsequently met Nokie one more time, at Deke Dickerson's penultimate Guitar Geeks' Festival at Anaheim, CA, in 2012.

He made himself available to fans who wanted to chat and did a set with Deke's Ventures-tribute act "Venturesmania".

One of my favourite guitar players of all time.

Sad news..Nokie was a great player and a true legend.

Definitely one of my favourites..RIP.

RIP Nokie,

Jim,
Did we go together that year to Deke' s Guitar Geek?

I had the honor of meeting Nokie a few times and especially at the NAMM show a few years ago.
I went to see the Ventures play at their booth and at my surprise, they came to see me play at the Minarik Guitar booth where I
was featuring the "Diablo" Minarik guitar, a weird looking but extremely well sounding one.
It didn't have a vibrato, so they fitted a Floyd Rose tremolo bar on it and it played beautifully. The neck was one of kind.
At my first set, Nokie, and the Ventures came to listen and I was stressed and intimidated.
At my second set, Dick Dale came surrounded with a big crowd following him everywhere he went, and he asked me to play my version
of "Maria Elena" that he had previously listened to in his small plane out of the CD I had sent him.

In addition to his immense talent, Nokie was a very humble, courteous and amicable person.
Below, the Ventures in their prime years:



Blessings,
Abel