The Ventures - '' Walk, Don't Run '' - 1960 "Walk, Don't Run" is an instrumental composition written and originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954. It was later adapted and re-recorded by Chet Atkins in 1956, and was a track on the LP Hi-Fi In Focus. This arrangement was the inspiration for the version by The Ventures in 1960 (though the Ventures' arrangement is recognizably different from Atkins' finger-picked style) which achieved world-wide recognition, being regarded by Roll