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Artist
Gene Moles
12+ albums
Surfrockinstrumentalguitaroldies
about
The "doctor of guitars," as he called himself, played with Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Red Simpson, Tex Ritter and many others. He also wrote surf-rock instrumentals for The Ventures. He was the quality control man for Bakersfield-based Mosrite, which manufactured guitars for several country music stars of the late 1960s, and over the last 30 years he operated a guitar repair shop that traded on his nickname. "He was the most highly thought-of musician in Bakersfield," said Sandy Holly, a Bakersfield singer who fronted bands that often featured Moles. "People loved him." Denver Eugene Moles Sr., the sixth of seven children, was born in June 1928 in Wetumka, Okla., 16 miles from Henryetta. His family moved to Selma, just south of Fresno, in 1936. He got his first guitar seven years later at age 15. Moles got his first nightclub job in 1946 at Paris Gardens in Selma, where he made $3 a night working for a matronly boss he knew only as Texas Mom. He moved to Bakersfield in September 1949 to play in Tex Butler's band at the Blackboard, alongside pianist George French, for $10 a night. "The Jimmy Thomason Show" made him a regional TV celebrity in 1953, and also earned him a solid reputation as a musician. In 1959 that reputation got him into Capitol Records' Hollywood studios, where he helped Owens cut "Sweet Thing" and other tracks. In 1961 he met Nokie Edwards of The Ventures, and the two co-wrote three songs eventually recorded by the surf-sound legends: "Sunny River," "Night Ru
top songs
albums
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Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar - Volume 2 - Point Panic
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Beach Party: Garpax Surf 'N' Drag
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Surf & Drag, Vol. 1
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Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar v3
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Beach Party Garpax Surf N Drag
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Greatest Rock N' Roll Of The '50s & Early '60s
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Shiverin' and Shakin' Hop Rockers & Sleazy Instros, Pt. One: 1958-1965
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Lost Legends of Surf Guitar, Volume 2: Point Panic!
Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar Vol. 2
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Lost Legends of Surf Guitar II: Point Panic!
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Boss Sounds from the Beach and Strip
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Boss Sounds From The Beach And Strip!