Johnny Smith - Walk, Don't Run! download song

Johnny Smith was my teacher from 9-14 years old. I'm very sad to hear that yesterday, 6/12/13, the Master passed away. R.I.P. Johnny Smith!!

Jamming with Joe, Herb, Barney, Django, and Wes in Heaven. RIP

I love the Ventures' version, but I must disagree with you. This version *smokes* even the studio pros that recorded as "The Ventures."

I've been hearing this since the '60s from the Ventures and didn't realize the original was a jazz score.

Johnny is an amazing musician who just happens to play guitar( and violin, piano, coronet, trumpet). A real gentleman possessing no ego.

I find it amazing that The Ventures were able to extract their phenomenal version from this tune. Someone had some very open ears to manage this coup!

What a tasty player and chops galore. I was 2 years old when this was recorded. Don Lamond was my first real drum teacher when I was in my teens. Thanks for posting.

The baroque styling of Lullaby of Birdland is wonderful.

What a brilliant solo in S'Wonderful. The structure of an architectural gem.

I guess you're never too old to learn things. Like others who commented below, I had never known that this song was not originally by The Ventures, but in the middle of an interview with Al Bouchard, former drummer of the Blue Öyster Cult, he mentions the Johnny Smith version and the drumming, so I stopped the playback of the interview, and began listening to this. How could I have gone my entire life without knowing about music as great as this?

This is a mean world... during the decades of my efforts at playing the guitar, nobody has ever felt obliged to point me at this truly fantastic player... and I thought I knew them all!

I was fortunate to have served with Chet Atkins great nephew his dad Gary was one of Johnny's best friends as Xmas gift to my father Gary took us to the springs to meet him. Drinks in his basement Barthes wonderful stories he told. I even got to sign a dollar bill and put it on the wall. He is in heaven now playing with Gary Chet jimmy now RIP

the player's player...

Simply put, Johnny Smith was a brilliant guitarist...the fact that the Ventures recorded a surf - rock version, much beloved by every fledgling guitarist only serves to illustrate how the performance of a basic melody of a (relatively complex) jazz version (by a master guitarist) can be made accessible to the guitar hungry public by a group such as the Ventures...as one of those fledgling guitarists in the early 60's, I was able to learn from the Ventures LPs...

absolutely amazing and wonderful. how could you NOT love this.

A discovery has been made. I'm 62 years old, i just discovered Mr. JOHNNY SMITH'S music. Things old, are new again. Great stuff!

Johnny Smith was to me the epitome of jazz guitarists in the style of the first electric guitarist, Charlie Christian. His perfection and cleanliness showed us all that one can be soulful without being sloppy, and there are no wasted notes no matter how fast he gets ... they always fit!!

I grew up with The Ventures version thinking that was best. Johnny's original is even better.