Here's a link to a very early video, dating probably from 1969, of the Ventures out in the desert near Area 51, playing Hawaii 5-0:
The comments left by a poster named 'planetcheck,' (who may be one of the Ventures, or was at least on the film crew) are most interesting:
planetcheck (4 months ago)
We filmed this in June 1969 on the outskirts of Groom Lake Nevada. We did the take 3 times. A SR 71 Blackbird jet flew into the background of the first 2 filmings and ruined the shoot. It was over 90 degrees when we filmed this video. Area 51 is 1 mile looking to the West.
LoveTruck (4 months ago)
Groom Lake? How the hell did you get the guys and all the equipment in there? You don't just call the tower and ask for landing instructions there!
planetcheck (4 months ago)
All the equipment was trucked in within 3 days. Large portion of Groom Lake was off limits. We could see the huge SR 71 Blackbirds landing at Area 51 in the distance. They were captured on film in the first two takes and the shoots were redone. I believe those first two takes were better than this 3rd shoot shown here. It was very hot that day.
That was cool. Their amplifiers (which were unrecognizable to me) looked like monoliths.