The Virtues

Chances are, unless you're a pop music historian, or over the age of 50, or come from the Philadelphia area (or, more likely, all three), you've never heard of the Virtues. But long before the Ventures ever got together and long before the members of the Shadows had even thought of playing skiffle music or picking up musical instruments -- and, come to think of it, even before Bill Haley & His Comets (or his "Saddlemen"), and before the term rock & roll jumped from a slang expression within music to being a musical reference -- the Virtues were there, doing a brand of instrumental music that could easily have been taken for rock & roll, at least some of the time. It had all of the elements: a beat, electric guitars, and young guys playing it who were trying to do something besides rehash country and pop tunes the old way. Philadelphia-born Frank Virtue (born Jan 21, 1927) grew up listening to the big bands of the 1930s and early '40s, including Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Duke Ellington, and Woody Herman. He took violin lessons as a boy and switched to guitar at 15 and to the double bass at 17, crossing paths professionally with such future renowned figures as Mario Lanza and studying the instrument on a classical level with a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He studied arranging while attending Temple University, and when he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1945, was assigned to the Regular Navy Dance Band, stationed in Bainbridge, MD, later becoming the band's leader. One of those whose paths he crossed during his stint in the Navy was Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, a guitarist and country musician who was about six years older than Virtue. Alas, his time in the service was short, despite its promising beginnings -- Virtue received a hardship...