The Shadows

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The Shadows
The Shadows in 2004 : Bruce Welch, (Mark Griffiths), Hank B. Marvin and Brian Bennett
Background information
Origin	England
Genre(s)	Rock and roll, instrumental rock, Rautalanka
Years active	1958–1999 2004–2005 2008–2009
Label(s)	Columbia (EMI), Polydor,(Universal Music), Eagle Records
Associated acts	The Five Chesternuts, The Vipers Skiffle Group, The Railroaders, The Crescent City Skiffle Group
Website	theshadowsofficial.com
Members
Hank Marvin Bruce Welch Brian Bennett
Former members
Ken Pavey Ian Samwell Terry Smart Jet Harris Tony Meehan Brian Locking John Rostill Alan Hawkshaw John Farrar

Of extreme importance in the development of UK rock music "Before-Beatles" (ie pre-1963). Formed in London in 1958/9, The Shadows are Britain's most successful instrumental and vocal group with at least 69 UK hit singles, 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and The Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. The Shadows were pioneers of the group format in the UK. Their 'Apache' hit single paved the way for many thousands of guitar-based groups both in the UK and abroad. Many of their EPs charted in the EP chart (defunct since 1968) and most of their studio albums charted in various UK album charts. The Shadows, along with Cliff Richard, were from 1958-1962 the UK's (only) major group. They (both) enjoyed a massive 2nd wave revival spell of success and interest in their music from the late-1970's until disbandment in 1990. Their unique guitar sound was produced by American Fender guitars, British amplifiers made by Vox and an Italian Meazzi echo unit.

Introduction

The Shadows was formed from members of several late 1950s UK skiffle groups: The Newcastle-based "Railroaders" who supplied Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, both inspired by USA-pop music; and The Vipers Skiffle Group who supplied Jet Harris and Tony Meehan from London, both inspired by UK-jazz/skiffle music. The Shadows, although originally the live and recording backing band for Cliff Richard, were later marketed as an instrumental combo, following their chart success with the Jerry Lordan composition, "Apache". In the USA and Canada they were briefly marketed as a 'surf' group with two special compilation albums, eg "The Shadows Know", to compete with the Ventures and the Surfaris. Both these two USA albums failed to chart.

The original line-up of Marvin, Welch, Harris and Meehan still remains iconic in the minds of fans. Their creation arose out of Cliff Richard's urgent need in 1958, after the success of his Move It single, which had used a mixture of his own "Chesternuts/later "Drifters" electrified skiffle group, plus session-players, for a set of permanent backing musicians. According to Norrie Paramor, their first producer, their first studio album was dogged throughout its creation by clashes within the band. Harris and Meehan eventually moved on to record under their own names with Joe Meek for Decca Records after first Harris and then Meehan left The Shadows for their own individual reasons. After the departure of Harris and Meehan, Marvin, Welch and replacement drummer Brian Bennett were supplemented by various bass-guitarists, including Brian ("Licorice") Locking and keyboard players. John Rostill was the longest-serving bassist. His loss in 1970 resulted in a somewhat revolving-door type policy regarding this band-position from then on.

The Shadows disbanded in 1970 but subsequently transformed into a vocal/guitar trio Marvin Welch & Farrar. They reformed in 1973 due to low sales and fans demanding Shadows numbers at MW&F gigs. They permanently disbanded in 1990 but temporarily reformed in 2004-5 for a UK and European tour, (the reunion being instigated in 2001 by Roger Field, a guitarist who knew Marvin) and again during 2008-10 to tour with Cliff Richard.

History

1950s

Formed as a backing band for Cliff Richard, under the name The Drifters. The members were founder Ken Pavey (born 1932), Terry Smart on drums (born 1942), Norman Mitham on guitar (born 1941), Ian Samwell on guitar and Harry Webb (before he became Cliff Richard) on guitar and vocals. The original Drifters had no bass player. Samwell wrote the group's first hit, "Move It" which is often mistakenly attributed to "Cliff Richard and The Shadows". Two session players, guitarist Ernie Shear and bassist Frank Clark play on Move It / Schoolboy Crush tracks on producer Norrie Paramor's insistence to ensure a strong sound.

The Drifters signed for Jack Good's Oh Boy! television series. Producer Norrie Paramor of EMI signed Richard, and asked Johnny Foster to recruit a better guitarist. Foster went back to Soho's 2i's coffee bar (famed for musical talent performing there, particularly in skiffle) in search of guitarist Tony Sheridan. Sheridan was not there but Foster's attention was caught by another musician, who was tall, good looking, played guitar well and had Buddy Holly glasses.

Hank Marvin was playing in a skiffle band with Bruce Welch. The pair had travelled from Newcastle and were surviving on little money. Foster offered Marvin the job, and he accepted on condition that Welch would also join. New manager Franklin Boyd could see the pair worked well and they were employed as lead and rhythm guitarists. Ian Samwell was moved to bass until he was replaced by the Most Brothers' bass guitarist, Jet Harris. Drummer Terry Smart left shortly afterwards and was replaced at Harris's suggestion by Tony Meehan. The Drifters' professional lineup was now complete, and they became The Shadows in early 1959 to avoid confusion with the contemporary American R&B vocal group The Drifters. None of the original UK Drifters were in the group when they became The Shadows. Johnny Foster continued for a time as Richard's manager, and Samwell wrote additional songs for The Drifters and The Shadows before writing and producing for others. Meehan recalled that Richard, backed by Marvin, Welch, Harris and himself had played together a year beforehand at least once at the 2i's.

The group started recording and performing with Richard and released two singles in their own right in 1959. ("Feelin' Fine"/"Don't Be A Fool With Love") and ("Jet Black"/"Driftin'"), The first two tracks were vocals and the second pair instrumental. Neither charted. A further (vocal) ("Saturday Dance"/"Lonesome Fella") also failed. The instrumental "Chinchilla" was included on a four-track soundtrack EP by Cliff Richard and the Drifters called Serious Charge released in early 1959 with the film of the same name.

1960s

In 1960, the band released "Apache", an instrumental by Jerry Lordan, which topped the charts for 5 weeks. Further hits followed, notably "Wonderful Land", another Lordan composition with orchestral backing, at the top of the charts longer than "Apache" (8 weeks). This, and "Kon Tiki" six months earlier, reached number one (1 week). The Shadows played on more chart-toppers as Richard's band. This group, referred to subsequently as "The Original Shadows" had seven hits.

In October 1961 Meehan was replaced by Brian Bennett and in April 1962 Harris was replaced by Brian Locking, also known as Licorice. Bennett and Licorice were friends from the 2I's and had all played together, mainly with The Krew Kats. This Shadows line-up produced seven hits, two of which, "Dance On" and "Foot Tapper" topped the charts. The Marvin-Welch-Bennett-Locking line-up lasted 18 months and held its own in the face of Merseybeat, headed by The Beatles. (The first original song ever recorded by the Beatles, somewhat ironically, was an instrumental homage to the Shadows entitled "Cry for a Shadow.")

In October 1963 Locking left to spend more time as a Jehovah's Witness. The band had met John Rostill on tour with other bands and had been impressed by his playing, so they invited him to take over. This final and longest-lasting line-up was also the most innovative as they tried different guitars and developed a wider range of styles and higher musicianship. They produced impressive albums but the chart positions of singles began to ease. The line-up had 10 hits but the most successful, "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt", was also the first.

During the 1960s the group appeared with Cliff Richard in the films The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, Wonderful Life, Finders Keepers and as marionettes in the Gerry Anderson film Thunderbirds Are GO. They also appeared on stage in pantomime. Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp was in 1964 at the London Palladium with Arthur Askey as Widow Twankey, Richard as Aladdin, and The Shadows as Wishee, Washee, Noshee and Poshee. Cinderella at the Palladium in 1966 featured Richard as Buttons and The Shadows as the Broker's Men, The film and stage roles allowed the group to develop as songwriters. They wrote only a few songs for the earliest movie, 1961's The Young Ones, but by Finders Keepers in 1966 almost the entire soundtrack was credited to Marvin-Welch-Bennett-Rostill.

The line-up split in December 1968, after the 10th anniversary album Established 1958, a mixture of tracks with Richard, and instrumentals featuring just The Shadows. All were written by the group. Welch left. This was almost the end, although an album (Shades of Rock) and a tour of Japan followed with Alan Hawkshaw on keyboards; in Marvin's words, they did it 'for the Yen'. The tour was not artistically successful, and the live LP is not held in high regard, though it does feature a long version of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" in which Marvin plays acoustic and electric guitar.

1970s

During the early 1970s, Marvin and Welch had a second career as vocal group Marvin Welch & Farrar with Australian John Farrar as third vocalist. Farrar provided a high voice and skill as an arranger. They recorded two acclaimed albums and several singles and, without Welch, a third album Marvin and Farrar, which Marvin described as "Frankenstein meets The Beach Boys".^{[citation needed]} Live performances were hampered by audiences expecting the Shadows' greatest hits. Marvin said (interviewed in Guitar Greats by John Tobler), "In the Batley Variety Club we walked off stage to the sound of our own footsteps!"

The Shadows reformed in 1973 with Welch on rhythm guitar and Farrar on guitar and vocals. Following the death of John Rostill, the group booked session bassists for recordings and tours. Dave Richmond and Alan Tarney, who had each provided bass for Marvin, Welch & Farrar, continued for the reformed Shadows. An album, Rocking With Curly Leads featured Marvin using vocoder to modify his sound. Some tracks used Farrar as second lead guitarist, giving this album a very different sound from previous recordings.

The group were chosen by BBC Boss Bill Cotton to perform the Song for Europe in the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest. The Shadows recorded six options, seen each week on a weekly television show "It's Lulu", televised on BBC1 and hosted by former Eurovision winner Lulu. Unusually for the format, instead of presenting each song live in the studio on a weekly basis and then presenting all six songs consecutively in a 'special' edition on week seven, the group recorded all six performances separately in the TV studio, before the series itself began, with the pre-taped video then being cut into the weekly show. For the presentation of the songs on week seven and the announcement of the result on week eight, the pre-recorded performances were run again. Two of the songs ("No, No Nina" and "This House Runs On Sunshine") were co-penned by members of the group themselves. The public however voted for "Let Me Be The One" by Paul Curtis to go to the Eurovision final in Stockholm. There, the group came second to Teach In's "Ding Dinge Dong" (later released on single as "Ding-A-Dong"). Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History that they were not a popular choice to represent the UK and the viewer's postal vote was the lowest recorded in the 'Song For Europe' history.^[1] But the contest re-established The Shadows. Other records followed.

The packaging of the group's greatest hits in Twenty Golden Greats by EMI in 1977 prompted the group to reform yet again for a tour featuring Francis Monkman from Sky on keyboards, leading to a number one album and a top ten hit single "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". Francis left after that tour and the line-up settled as Marvin, Welch and Bennett, supplemented on records and gigs by Cliff Hall (keyboards) and Alan Jones (bass).

1980s

The Shadows Live At Abbey Road

The group performed and recorded until 1990, with most of their 1980s albums performing well in the charts. With the exception of Guardian Angel, an album of new material, most of 1980s albums featured covers of pop songs, with little original material. The group moved in 1980 from EMI to Polydor with Change of Address. EMI would not agree to a tape leasing scheme, whereby the group would retain copyright of recordings, but the company would be licensed to publish them for individual albums. This resulted in the group re-recording much of its catalogue of EMI hits for Polydor . The recordings were made using analogue equipment, but digitally mastered, but with instruments, amplifiers, and arrangements close to the original. This has allowed the group to package and market their own compilation albums, featuring old hits as well as new. Other albums, such as Diamonds, feature no new material, being compiled from recent albums. The line-up remained until Jones had a car accident and Mark Griffiths of the Cliff Richard band and originally from Matthews Southern Comfort was brought in on bass. He shared bass duties until 1990 when the band stopped touring and Marvin played solo again.

EMI released a compilation album in the early seventies called "Rarities" covering various recordings from 1962 to 1970, at least one of which, "Goodnight Dick" can be found nowhere else in the discography of the group, and, as far as can be ascertained, has never been played on the radio anywhere. (NUT 2 stereo/*mono OC 056-06 250).

2000s

The group reformed in 2004 - healing a rift of over 10 years - to mount a farewell tour, and they recorded a new track "Life Story" (written by Jerry Lordan)to accompany a new greatest hits package of the same name which featured 1980s re-recordings of all their 1960s and 1970s hits. This opportunity to see Marvin, Welch and Bennett, joined on keyboards by Hall and bass by Griffiths, was so successful that they extended the tour in 2005, this time of Europe. The line-up was almost the same, but Warren Bennett, son of Brian, came in on keyboards instead of Hall. On 27 November 2008 a concert tour, with Cliff Richard, for 2009 was announced.[2].  On 11 December 2008, Cliff Richard and the Shadows performed at the Royal Variety Performance at the same time announcing their forthcoming 50th anniversary tour. The tour commences in September 2009, features 36 shows throughout the UK and Europe and is expected to extend to Australasia early in 2010.

World-Wide Fan base

• 2000: 5,000(est) completists(CD/LP formats), according to recent record labels.

Contact Information

• Hank Marvin: c/o Sh-Boom Studios, Perth, W.Australia.
• Bruce Welch: c/o Bruce Welch Music, Marshall St, London W1, UK.
• Brian Bennett: c/o Honeyhill Studios, Radlett, Herts WD7, UK.
• John Farrar: c/o Moonie Ponds Studios, Malibu 90265, USA.
• Cliff Richard: c/o Cliff Richard Organisation, Esher, Surrey, UK.
• Jet Harris: c/o Bembridge, Isle-Of-Wight, UK.
• Alan Hawkshaw: c/o Radlett, Herts WD7, UK.
• Shadows-fan-club: c/o Shadsfax(Tony Hoffman), York, UK.

Formats

Until the arrival of the CD format in 1983, they originally released their music on all 3 major vinyl formats: LP (12"), EP (7"), and single (7"). Unlike all notable 1960's bands e.g. The Beatles, from 1961 to 1970 all their original studio albums do not feature any hit or miss singles tracks at all. From 1973 onwards their A-side singles tracks were often 'ripped' from studio albums supplemented with occasional non-album track B-sides and album tracks. Only one of their 7" singles was transferred to the 1980s fashionable 12" format. Their last few singles were released on the CD-single format.

Their EPs were a curate's-egg affair in terms of composition and consistency. Some carried new original tracks but were mostly used to promote the first 4 studio albums or carried twinned 7" recent hit singles. By 1968 the EP format was discontinued due to dwindling sales in the UK as the album became the major vinyl format. Since 1985 all original studio albums, live albums and music from EPs and 7"/12" singles have been re-issued on the CD format. Some of their more popular albums are now available as computer file downloads on the ".mp3" format.

Record Labels

• 1959-70: Columbia.
• 1970-72: Regal Zonophone(Marvin Welch & Farrar).
• 1973-79: EMI.
• 1980-90: Polydor (Polygram).
• 1991-2010: Universal.

Songwriting

All their early 1960s hits were written by Jerry Lordan or Norrie Paramor and one-off contributions from old-fashioned British tin-pan alley songwriters. From the single Foot Tapper onwards The Shadows themselves penned most of their hit singles. During the 1970s the Shadows again wrote most of their A side singles under the influence of John Farrar.

By 1979 onwards they became increasing reliant on cover versions of recent hits with only sporadic self penned originals on the B sides. Throughout the 1980s both BBC and Independent UK Radio stations became increasingly reluctant to pass The Shadows' current single onto their play-list especially if it was a cover of a previous charted hit record.

Selected discography

From British Hit Singles & Albums, 17th Edition (Except Life Story)

Albums (UK)

• 1961 The Shadows (UK #1)
• 1962 Out of The Shadows(UK #1)
• 1963 Greatest Hits (UK #2) [compilation]
• 1964 Dance With The Shadows (UK #2)
• 1965 The Sound of The Shadows(UK #4)
• 1965 More Hits! [compilation] (UK #did not chart)
• 1966 Shadow Music (UK #5)
• 1967 Jigsaw (UK #8)
• 1967 From Hank, Bruce, Brian and John (UK #did not chart)
• 1968 Established 1958 [with Cliff Richard]
• 1970 Shades of Rock (UK #30)
• 1973 Rockin' With Curly Leads (UK #45)
• 1975 Specs Appeal (UK #30)
• 1975 Live at the Paris Olympia (UK #did not chart)
• 1977 Tasty (UK #did not chart)
• 1977 20 Golden Greats (UK #1) [compilation]
• 1979 String of Hits (UK #1)
• 1980 Another String of Hot Hits (UK #16) [compilation]
• 1980 Change of Address (UK #17)
• 1981 Hits Right Up Your Street (UK #15)
• 1982 Life In The Jungle/Live at Abbey Road (UK #24)
• 1983 XXV (UK #34)
• 1985 Guardian Angel (UK #98)
• 1986 Moonlight Shadows (UK #6)
• 1987 Simply Shadows (UK #7)
• 1989 Steppin' To The Shadows (UK #8)
• 1989 At Their Very Best (UK #12)
• 1990 Reflection (UK #5)
• 1993 Shadows In The Night - 16 Classic Tracks (UK #22) [compilation]
• 1994 The Best of Hank Marvin and The Shadows (UK #19) [compilation]
• 1997 The Shadows play Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (UK #41)
• 1997 The Very Best of The Shadows - The First 40 Years (UK #56) [compilation]
• 1998 50 Golden Greats (UK #35) [compilation]
• 2004 Life Story (UK #7) [compilation]
• 2004 The Final Tour (UK #??)
• 2005 Platinum (UK #30) [compilation]

Bootleg Albums

• 1979 Would You Believe It (limited to 200 copies)

Would You Believe It (B side, Hank Marvin demo single)/ Evening Comes (Hank Marvin b-side, released in Australia and New Zealand only) / Genie With The Light Brown Lamp (unreleased acoustic version, only available on 1965 Italian compilation) / Omoide No Nagisa / Kimi To Itsumademo / Gin Iro No Michi / Londonderry Air (Only released on 1967 Japanese LP)// Shazam / Guitar Boogie / Sleepwalk / F.B.I. (Only released on 1961 South African EP 'Live at the Coliseum') / Jean Dorothy / Teenage Love (The Chesternuts single)/ Chicago (unreleased live recording from TV 1966)

EPs (UK)^[3]

• 1961: The Shadows ($) (#1)
• 1961: The Shadows To The Fore (#1)
• 1962: Spotlight On The Shadows (#1)
• 1962: The Shadows No.2 (#12)
• 1962: The Shadows No.3 (#13)
• 1962: Wonderful Land Of The Shadows (#6)
• 1962: The Boys ($) (#1)
• 1963: Out of the Shadows (#3)
• 1963: Dance On With the Shadows (#16)
• 1963: Out of the Shadows no.2 (#20)
• 1963: Foot Tapping with the Shadows (#7)
• 1963: Los Shadows ($) (#4)
• 1963: Shindig With The Shadows (#8)
• 1964: Those Brilliant Shadows (#6)
• 1964: Dance With The Shadows (-)
• 1964: Rhythm & Greens ($) (#8)
• 1964: Dance with the Shadows No.2 (-)
• 1965: Themes from Aladdin (#14)
• 1965: Dance With The Shadows No.3 (#16)
• 1965: Alice In Sunderland (-)
• 1965: Sound Of The Shadows (-)
• 1966: Sound Of The Shadows No.2 (-)
• 1966: Sound Of The Shadows No.3 (-)
• 1966: Those Talented Shadows (#9)
• 1966: Thunderbirds Are Go! ($) (#6)
• 1967: The Shadows on Stage and Screen ($) (-)

NB: ($) features original tracks

Singles (UK)

^[5]

• NB: 35 charted hits from 51 singles.
• NB: ($) also as a 12" single.
• NB: (CDs) CD single.

Live albums

• 1959 Cliff (live album w/Cliff Richard) as Cliff Richard and The Drifters - LP/CD
• 1961 Live at Colosseum (in South Africa) - EP/CD
• 1962 Live at the ABC Kingston (w/Cliff Richard) - CD
• 1967 Live in Japan (unissued)
• 1969 Live in Japan - LP/CD
• 1973 BBC-Radio-2, John Peel Session (unissued)
• 1975 Live at Paris Olympia - LP/CD
• 1978 Live at London Palladium("Thank you very much") - LP/CD
• 1983 Live at Abbey Road - LP/CD
• 1984 Live at NEC Birmingham - VHS
• 1987 Live at Liverpool - VHS/CD
• 2004 Final Tour - CD/DVD.

The Shadows—Partnership members

• 1959-1961: Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris, Tony Meehan
• 1961-1962: Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris
• 1962-1968: Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch
• 1969-1970: Hank Marvin
• 1973-1976: Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch
• 1977-1990: Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett

The Shadows—Non-Partnership members

• 1961-1976: Brian Bennett
• 1962-1963: Brian Locking
• 1963-1970: John Rostill
• 1969-1970: Alan Hawkshaw
• 1973-1975: John Farrar

Producers

• 1959-1966: Norrie Paramor
• 1967-1979: Peter Vince
• 1980-1982: Hank Marvin + Bruce Welch + Brian Bennett
• 1983-1983: Bruce Welch
• 1985-1985: Stuart Coleman
• 1986-1990: Dick Plant

Engineers at EMI

• 1958-196?: Malcolm Addey
• 196?-1979: Peter Vince

Management

• 1958-195?: John Foster.
• 1960-1979: Peter Gormley, Gormley Management, Saville Row, London W1
• 1980-2009: Brian Goode, Outrider Management, Notting Hill, London W11

Agency

• 196?-1990: Eddie Jarrett.

Administration

• 196?-1990: David Bryce.

Promotion(Tour)

• 19??-1990: Rank Organisation.
• 2004-2005: Mel Bush.

Guitar Technician(live)

• 197?-2005: John Lionel Ward.

Formation(studio)

• 1959-1968: 4pce-band: lead-guitar, r/guitar, bass, drums.
• 1969-1970: 4pce-band: lead-guitar, keyboards, bass, drums.
• 1973-1975: 5pce-band: lead-guitar, 2nd-lead-guitar, r/guitar, bass, drums/keyboards.
• 1976-2009: 5pce-band: lead-guitar, r/guitar, keyboards, bass, drums.

Formation(live)

• 1959-1968: 4pce-band: lead-guitar, r/guitar, bass, drums.
• 1969-1970: 4pce-band: lead-guitar, keyboards, bass, drums.
• 1973-1974: 6pce-band: lead-guitar, 2nd-lead-guitar, r/guitar, keyboards, bass, drums.
• 1974-1975: 5pce-band: lead-guitar, 2nd-lead-guitar, r/guitar, bass, drums.
• 1976-2009: 5pce-band: lead-guitar, r/guitar, keyboards, bass, drums.

Auxilliary Shadows (Studio)

• 1973-77: Alan Tarney (bass)
• 1970-75: Dave Richmond (bass)
• 1979-2004: Cliff Hall (keyboards)
• 1978-89: Alan Jones (bass)
• 1990-09: Mark Griffiths (bass)
• 2005-09: Warren Bennett (keyboards)

Auxilliary Shadows (Live)

• 1973-74: John Fiddy (keyboards)
• 1973-76: Alan Tarney (bass)
• 1974: Mo Foster (bass, John Peel session)
• 1977: Francis Monkman (keyboards, 20 Golden Dates tour)
• 1977-84: Alan Jones (bass)
• 1978-78: George Ford (bass, Change of Address spring tour 1980)
• 1979-2004: Cliff Hall (keyboards)
• 1985-09: Mark Griffiths(bass)
• 2005-09: Warren Bennett (keyboards)

Session musicians (Studio)

• Cliff Richard—Chinese drums on Apache(single)
• Norrie Paramor and his orchestra—various singles & album tracks
• Jimmy Page-on Time Drags By(track: Cliff album).
• Paul Ferris—various singles
• Brian Hodges—bass, Shades of Rock(album)
• Herbie Flowers—bass, Shades of Rock(album)
• Graham Todd—Keyboards on 'God Only Knows', on Specs Appeal(album)
• Adrian Lee—Keyboards, Love Deluxe / Sweet Saturday Night single)
• Clive Hicks—Acoustic guitar, Don't cry for me Argentina(single)
• Steve Gray—String arrangements on String Of Hits album
• Dave Lawson—Synthesiser on String Of Hits / Change of Address albums, 'Riders In The Sky' single, 'Black Is Black'(on Another String of Hot Hits album)
• Alan Hawkshaw—Piano on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and 'You're The One That I Want' (String Of Hits album) and keyboards on 'A Whiter Shade of Pale (XXV album)
• Harry Bogdanovs—Keyboards on 'The Modern Way'(XXV album)
• Tony Catchpole—Keyboards on 'Liverpool Days' (XXV album)
• Tony Rivers—Backing vocals on 'Liverpool Days' , (XXV album), and on vocal tracks from 'Guardian Angel' album
• Paul Westwood—bass, Moonlight Shadows(album)
• Mark Griffiths—bass on 'Themes From Eastenders/Howards Way, (Simply Shadows album), 'At Their Very Best' album, 'Reflection' album

Film Appearances

• Expresso Bongo
• The Young Ones (film) (aka It's Wonderful to be Young)
• Summer Holiday (1963 film)
• Wonderful Life (1964 film) (aka Swingers Paradise)
• Finders Keepers (1966 film)
• Rhythm & Greens (short B-movie)
• Thunderbirds Are GO (as puppet-marionettes)

Pantomines

• Aladdin (appeared with Cliff Richard)
• Cinderella (appeared with Cliff Richard)
• Babes in the Wood (music written for Frank Ifield)

Radio Performances

• Luxembourg 1959-63. Includes: Barneys Blues; Three-30 Blues
• BBC 1959-68. Includes: Cerveza; Dooby Dooby Wah; Guitar Boogie; Walk don't run

Bass and Drum solos

As innovators in rock music The Shadows invented the bass solo and the drum solo that is now common in rock music eg Fleetwood Mac.

• Bass solo: Nivram (live and studio)
• Drum solo(studio): See you in my drums; Big B
• Drum solo(live): Little B; Honourable puff-puff; Arty's Party; Captain Haddock.

Unissued tracks (EMI)

• 1959: (1) C'mon baby; (2) She's Gone
• 1960.
• 1961: (3) She Wears Red Feathers; (4) March Of The Shadows; (5) Blues In An Unfurnished Flat; (6) Happy birthday(un-overdubbed version)
• 1962: (7) Groanin'
• 1963: (8) 3 for B
• 1964: (9) Australia; (10) Yugga Dugga; (11) Blue Tango
• 1965: (12) The Shark; (13) Not Yet; (14) You Came A Long Way From St Pancras; (15) All Right Be That Way; (16)Super
• 1966: (17) Lavish; (18) Lavish (pt2)
• 1967: (19) Hang on Sloopy; (20) Danny boy; (21) Working title; (22) Flowers; (23) Let's rock; (24) Two minutes of sh??? You know what
• 1968: (25) What's behind the eyes of Mary; (26) Schnoedocon
• 19??: (27) Memories of you

Source(book): "That Sound" by R.Pistolesi, M.Addey, M.Mazzini

Fan Club

Due to misgivings from within the group concerning the likelihood of any official Shadows fan-club going bust, The Shadows' founder members never 'encouraged' any official or unofficial fan club in the UK during the 1960s, thus perhaps resulting in inevitable lost opportunities and other consequences (qv non-charting 1967 studio album: "From Hank Bruce Brian and John"). Thus fans had to source the UK music press or the official Cliff Richard UK fan club for group news or new release information.

During the period 1970-85 "The Record Scene" shop in Ashford in Middlesex managed by a fan, in lieu of any fan club acted as a focal meeting point for committed fans keen to plug gaps in their collections. This shop gained kudos when the members of the group made occasional appearances. In more recent times their attitude towards any Shadows based fan club has relaxed somewhat.

In more recent years unofficial fan clubs have been created to act as a data source and debating forum. In Australia, The Shadows circle of friends, and in the UK, Shadsfax. After the collapse of the Record Scene shop, another UK based record shop, Leosden took over from where Record Scene left off until it became an internet only dealer in the mid/late-1990's.

In the 21st century, up-to-date CD/DVD releases and news bulletins are currently handled by www.leosden.co.uk.

The Shadows'-'walk'

Ever mindful of how they appear on stage as a band with or without Cliff Richard, The Shadows developed themselves numerous movement sequences using their bodies and guitars as visual enhancement devices in all sorts of different manners in tempo with the music played such as a 'walk'. As seen on BBC's Top of the pops this 'walk' has been copied by numerous groups as part of their TOTP presentation eg Mud (band), The Rubettes, Showaddywaddy, etc.

The Shadows were inspired by The Treniers wild gig routines to include the 'walk' routine as part of their live act both with Cliff Richard and without him. Used throughout their illustrious career, it simply consists of a 3 step walk contained within a 60-60-60 degree triangle formation with a reverse right-heel back-kick with optional can-can finale. This simple choreographed routine was varied throughout a typical gig to great affect during certain numbers (qv track: FBI).

During the 1980s during an instrumental number, rather than playing their instruments in a static posture or using the Shadows' walk, their live act was further refined (qv Equinoxe V) to include another stage movement routine effect featuring Marvin, Welch and the bassist synchronizing all their guitars in unison as a threesome to move them in time or in sequence with critical note or chord changes.

Occasionally, during other instrumentals, this guitars in-step presentation mode is re-engineered with Marvin and Welch acting out of sequence or alternating with each other. As a spectacle this is a visual feast for guitar enthusiasts and fans alike.

For vocal numbers they act more conventionally and play their instruments close up to their microphones with minimal guitar movements except when Hank Marvin plays any mid-song guitar-break.

Fender Guitars UK launch

The Shadows were launched in 1959 at a time when most imported goods into the UK were prohibited by law as a consequence of the UK government repaying the USA government for the UK's WW2 war debt. Cliff Richard bought Hank Marvin a red Fender Stratocaster guitar costing hundreds of pounds to improve the sound of his then backing group. As a consequence of the success of the Apache single, thousands of instrumental groups suddenly sprang up overnight throughout the UK and then Europe during 1960-61. Sales of all types of guitars throughout the UK soared leading on to a surge of quality guitar sales later on in the UK.

Once all 3 guitarists in the Shadows acquired 3 Fender guitars in 1960 sales of all Fender guitars in the UK took off exponentially. It is generally reckoned that the Fender telecaster and stratocaster are some of the most widely played guitars on the market due to their versitility.

Comparisons

Obvious comparisons between the Shadows and the Ventures are both awkward and complicated by unique circumstance as the Shadows' worldwide record sales have not, so far, been aggregated by EMI records and Polydor records ie Universal Music or by the Official UK Chart Company. This situation is likely to remain so for some time to come due to prior commitments by all parties who hold the raw data.

This situation is complicated by the fact that The Shadows spent their first 10 years assisting Cliff Richard's successful career helping him to amass sales figs of 260m around the world. The Shadows' career mostly concentrated on singles releases but reverted to albums during the 1970/80s. By contrast the Ventures focused mostly on albums throughout their entire career.

Youtube

On Youtube website the Shadows 'Apache' single has had in excess of over 1,000,000 hits to be compared against the Ventures 'Walk Don't Run' single.

Influences

Many major British, European, Australian, American, Canadian guitarists and other musicians have identified The Shadows as a key influence in their choice of career in music eg Elton John; Brian May (Queen); Roger Taylor (Queen); Phil Collins (Genesis); Eric Clapton; Peter Frampton; Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead); Neil Young (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young); Pete Townshend (The Who); Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac); Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits); Paul McCartney (The Beatles); Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath); Jean-Pierre Danel, Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple); Francis Rossi (Status Quo); Rick Parfitt (Status Quo); Andy Summers (The Police); Randy Bachman (The Guess Who); etc.

George Harrison (The Beatles) wrote the Beatles' first original composition, an instrumental, "Cry for a Shadow", released on Polydor in 1962 as a B side.

Guitars (Lead)

• Antoria
• Fender Stratocaster (red, black, white)
• Burns Marvin (green, white), 6/12 strings
• Martin D-28

Amplifiers

• 1958: Selmer Truvoice Stadium
• 1959-1985: Vox AC-15, AC-30 [Normal, Treble, Top Boost]
• 1985-1990: Mesa Boogie, Vox AC-30

Guitar SFX

• 1960's: Meazzi Echomatic

Tribute Bands

Whereas every well known successful group has at least a few tribute bands eg Led Zeppelin, today, perhaps their greatest legacy (one of many) is that The Shadows can lay claim to have possibly more tribute bands than any other instrumental band eg The Rapiers, etc.

To enable any tribute band to function, there are several companies around the world that still make echo and reverb units in both analogue and digital domains to enable budding lead-guitarists try their hand at the Hank Marvin Shadows' style of guitar playing.

So far logged from the internet: Bruce Welch’s Shadows; Tangent; Echoes; The Rapiers; The Runaways; The Foot Tappers; Reflection; UB Hank Band; The Apaches; The Bootleg Shadows; Out of the Shadows; The Moonlight shadows; The Five O’clock Shadows; Bungelflint; Shadtastic; Lost For Words; The Evening Shadows; Shadoogie; The Young Ones; The Midnight Shadows; The Shadows tribute band; Legend; The Epitones; Guitar ZZ; Los Jets; The Saunters; FBI; The Vibratos; Indra and Move it; The Local Heroes; ‘1961’; The Silhoutes; The Shadsfaxers; The Lefties; Sentone and the shadow caster; Nivram; The Backbeats; Guitar Syndicate; Shotgun Ltd; The Beat-Shadows; The Marvingers; The Ryders; Fiesta Red; The Red Strats; The Sleepwalkers; The Shadmasters; The Light Valley Shadows; Atlantis; The Past Masters; Shadivarius; The Shadowcasters; The Sangrounders; Shaboogie; Shazam; The Shadders; The Shudders; The Silver Shadows; The Shadtones; Tom Jet and the MTGs; The Delsonics; Beyond the Shadows; Cliff Richard and The Shadows Club Italia band; Rich Clifford and The Saddows; Wodash (pre-internet); The Secrets; Zoe McCulloch (solo); Matilda (solo); James McSkimming (solo); Chris Watts (solo); Peter Williams (solo); Pierre Teodori (solo); Guitar George (solo); Jean-Pierre Danel (solo); Mark Griffiths (solo); Warren Bennett (solo); Cliff Hall (solo).

Other Careers Responsible for

Aside from assisting Cliff Richard's (world sales: 260m) hugely successful career as his backing group from 1958-1968 and as major song writers, Bruce Welch and John Farrar can also lay claim to effectively having launched the career of Olivia Newton-John whose emerging career in 1971-4 required John Farrar to quit the band in 1975, six years later, having formed Marvin Welch & Farrar with Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch in 1970. Olivia Newton-John has sold in excess of 100m records worldwide.

Band Logo

As pioneers in British rock-music The Shadows were naive in terms of commercial exploitation opportunities such as self-promotion via artwork etc. The Shadows allowed Vox amplification to produce small metallic badges, using an italicised Tahoma type font, with the group name to be positioned on the front bottom right corner of all three Vox cabinets sometime during the early 1960s for gig usage. This Vox made badge became a 'default' band-logo which was never commercially exploited by The Shadows.

Moreover, unlike The Beatles et al., The Shadows never used this Vox-badge band-logo on the front of the bass-drum preferring to allow their 2 drummers, Tony Meehan and Brian Bennett, to use their names on the bass-drum. Belatedly the band-logo was used only once on the artwork front of their 1975 original studio album, Specs Appeal. To date this band-logo remains untrademarked and uncopyrighted.

By contrast, thanks to its proactive management, The Beatles' band-logo with its dropped-T (qv The "BeaTles") was commercially exploited to great effect, not only on the kick-drum but also as an artwork icon in its own right, such as on stationery, posters, album releases, etc. Since the invention, and subsequent wide ranging usage, of this band-logo by the Beatles (created by Eddie Stokes in 1963), all successful UK bands have, with the aid of graphics or art-work specialists in this field, produced a band-logo often as an artwork piece of work (eg The Who with an arrow-head on top of the 'h') to further promote their group throughout its career often trade-marking it to protect it from copyright infringement.

All time Top 50 UK chart singles sales

In 2005 the Official UK Charts Company with Channel4 TV published an all-time top 50 UK singles chart based on career aggregate sales of both hits and misses of the top selling 50 artists/groups of all time.

Cliff Richard came 1st, not unsurprisingly to the considerable annoyance of many influential insiders and movers-and-shakers within the UK pop-music industry, with aggregate sales of 20m. The Beatles came a very close 2nd with 20m. The positions might have been reversed if the chart had included the Beatles single "Ain't she sweet" credited on the label A side to: "Tony Sheridan and The Beatles" on Polydor to the Beatles aggregate career total. Prior to this chart's worldwide publication, it was widely anticipated that the Beatles with 1,000m sales would walk to the no.1 position in this chart with consummate ease.

The Shadows with only 5m sales were 43rd in this chart but were not credited at all with any of their joint-collaboration 34 hit singles with Cliff Richard (qv "Cliff Richard and The Shadows" or "Cliff Richard and The Drifters"). Coincidentally, The Supremes, without Diana Ross written on the label, with career sales approaching 5m also finished in the bottom 10 places of this chart despite having had considerably more than 30 hit singles during their career both as "The Supremes" (including Diana Ross within the trio but not named on the label) and "Diana Ross and The Supremes". Other UK pop-music publications interpret these joint-collaboration matters differently. These anomalies are 'corrected' in the later (eg 16th and onwards) editions of the Guinness Book of Hit Singles and Albums published by Guinness Books and in fact several other well known UK chart type books published in the UK follow the Guinness methodology.

In this chart, all other joint collaboration-singles were duly credited to both parties: qv 'and', 'feat(uring)', 'with', etc, on the label A side. Groups and soloists in this top 50 chart that have had at least one or more joint-collaboration, either as the 1st or 2nd named artist on the A sided label, singles include: Queen, Status Quo, Cliff Richard, Elton John, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Olivia Newton-John, Phil Collins, Shaking Stevens, Tom Jones, Celine Dion, Robbie Williams, etc.

An obvious example is the hit DJM single "Slow Rivers" by Cliff Richard and Elton John which is double-counted in this chart. Elton John's, Cliff Richard's (post-"Cliff Richard and The Shadows" career) and Diana Ross's (solo; and as an un-named member of The Supremes trio and "Diana Ross and the Supremes") careers, to name but a few, heavily feature numerous duets with many famous other pop-stars.

Annual Convention

• 1998-2008 Shadowmania. This annual convention for the benefit of about 1,000 dedicated Shadows fans is organised by Bruce Welch and is held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Frimley, in Surrey in late September every year. Jet Harris, Cliff Hall and Alan Jones regularly attend as performing artists. Tony Meehan appeared until his untimely demise. Mo Foster and other ex-Shadows occasionally attend. Brian Bennett has also appeared live occasionally.

Elsewhere, there are other annual Shadows type conventions in Germany, Italy and other European countries at which Bruce Welch and others perform live.

Presentation

Unlike all USA pop-stars, during the late 1950s in the UK many pop-stars were forced to undergo a somewhat pointless and now outdated (sur)name change into a 'stage' name eg Billy Fury as part of the indoctrination process into show business British style. This process was initiated by either the manager or the producer or the record label who signed the pop-star. The general opinion at that time was that a pop-star without a stage name would fail to excite fans to listen to the music or buy records or attend concerts.

Unlike their contemporaries such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones or any USA band during that era, several members of the original Cliff Richard and The Shadows line up changed their birth names into old fashioned stage names. Harry Webb became Cliff Richard; Brian Rankin became Hank Marvin; Terrence Harris became Jet Harris. But Bruce Cripps became Bruce Welch and Daniel Anthony Meehan became Tony Meehan. Subsequently these were all confirmed permanent by deed poll. By contrast, as if to draw a line in the sand, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and all other groups post-Beatles continued to use their birth names throughout their career in music with only a few notable exceptions during the glam-rock (eg David Bowie) or punk-rock (eg Johnny Rotten) eras.

Throughout their career The Shadows' approach to all live appearances was to adhere to a somewhat outdated presentation style with expensive stage suits of various designs. The original mohair suits during 1959-1962 became dinner-jackets in 1962 until 1970. This pattern was only broken during 1970-1976 while the line up included John Farrar when normal street clothes were worn. The Shadows reverted to stage attire from 1977 until 1990. The Rolling Stones were the first UK rock band to ditch the somewhat pointless use of stage costumes.

Legacy

Hank Marvin is considered by most major British rock guitarists to be the most significant and important lead guitarist of the 20th century. In second place is guitar soloist Bert Weedon, whose major contribution remains as the author of "A tune a day" book. Number 1 selling hit singles "Apache" and "Wonderful Land" remain as masterpieces for all time as do many of their other commercially successful hits, e. g. FBI.

As per the Ventures in the USA, The Shadows legacy is summed up in words and phrases such as "pioneers", "catalyst", "originators", and "prototype" etc in terms of the rock group. In the succeeding years into the 21st century most other groups have taken the original 4 piece instrument format line up and modified it to suit their own needs and aspirations. Most British rock and heavy metal rock bands who began their careers in the 1960/70/80's recognise The Shadows as being important influences.

Politics

As consistent with the dominant success of the Beatles from 1963-70, it is no secret that the Shadows have been consistently out of favour since 1963 with many sections of the British pop music's opinionated and highly influential journalists, press, award-givers, movers and shakers etc. From 1960-62 The Shadows regularly received awards and honours from the UK pop music industry.

Collectively these entities now prefer to acknowledge the supreme importance of the Beatles as the group that kick started British Rock music in 1963 which is ironic given John Lennon's noted opinion on the significance of Cliff Richard's Move It hit single in 1958. No immediate UK based organisations by name immediately spring to mind although individual members of the Shadows are aware of specific examples of such distortions and misinformation by those UK industry bodies who are supposed to be above such politics.

During the late 20th century and early 21st century the Shadows importance is only fully recognised when Cliff Richard is nominated for a major award and The Shadows are only then recognised as an important appendage to his career in pop music. However, it is unlikely that The Shadows will ever receive such pop music industry awards in their own right.

Major Awards

• 200?: BPI(Brits): Lifetime achievement. (NB: as Cliff Richard AND The...).
• 200?: Nordorf-Robbins: Lifetime achievement. (NB: as Cliff Richard AND The...).
• 2005: Govt(UK): O.B.E. (NB: Hank Marvin refused his OBE).

Note: as a general rule, despite being the most successful singles-charted band of all time, the Shadows never receive major awards from the UK pop music industry in their own right: they only do so (if ever) as an appendage/afterthought when Cliff Richard receives a major award in his own right.

Nevertheless, Cliff Richard continues to gather other major awards from the UK pop music industry in his own right ie without the Shadows as co-recipients due to his then ongoing success after he split with the Shadows in 1968.

TV Documentaries

To date all UK commercial and non-commercial TV channels have so far ignored all major Shadows' anniversaries eg 20th, 25th, 30th, 40th, 45th, etc, in terms of celebrating the Shadows as a rock band of extreme importance. Only Cliff Richard's career has been celebrated in 1983 (and again in the 1990/2000's) to coincide with his silver anniversary in which The Shadows were only briefly mentioned as an afterthought (a brief reflection by Sir Tim Rice on the Shadows' importance) in the last (5th) program in this 5-part series of 5 one-hour long documentaries covering Sir Cliff's career to date. Sir Cliff Richard's lifelong friend Olivia Newton-John received more air-time in that major documentary than did his former backing group.

In addition, the UK's non-commercial TV channel continues to ignore Hank Marvin (and John Farrar) as a major guitarist of supreme importance in the development of rock music in the UK (post 1954) whenever it broadcasts any major revues on British rock music from the 1960/70/80/90/00's from its world-class extensive rock-music archives preferring to ignore all UK rock music pre-1963 ie "Before-Beatles".

Sampled

The Shadows' Apache track has been sampled several times by black-USA hip-hop etc musicians since the mid-1980's.

In conclusion

The Shadows always generate highly polarised opinions amongst UK pop music buyers and the UK industry concerning their merits despite their considerable chart success. Only when Hank Marvin has passed away will those who run the UK pop music industry - no doubt motivated by mega-selling key rock guitarists eg Brian May(Queen) - realise just how important the Shadows were Before-Beatles in establishing an industry that The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zepellin, Pink Floyd, Queen, etc etc all benefited from according to rock music book author: Peter Frame (cc Rock Family Trees(book)). The Shadows pioneered the original 4-member line up of 2 guitars, bass and drums (+vocalist) which is still (2009) currently the most popular formation line up as used in the UK in the 21thC eg Oasis.

Bibliography

• 1. The Shadows by Themselves by Royston Ellis with The Shadows. Consul Books. 1961. No ISBN.
• 2. The Story of the Shadows by Mike Read. 1983. Elm Tree books. ISBN 0-241-10861-6.
• 3. Rock 'n' Roll, I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life - A Life In The Shadows by Bruce Welch. ISBN 0-670-82705-3 (Penguin Books).
• 4. That Sound, by R.Pistolesi, M.Addey & M.Mazzini. Publ: Vanni Lisanti. June 2000. No ISBN.
• 5. A pocket guide to Shadow music, by M.Campbell, R.Bradford, L.Woosey. Idmon. ISBN 0-9535567-4-3.
• 6. A guide to The Shadows and Hank Marvin on CD, by M.Cambell & L.Woosey. Idmon. ISBN 0-9535567-3-5.
• 7. The Shadows at Polydor, by M.Campbell. Idmon. ISBN 0-9535567-2-7.
• 8. The Shadows at EMI, by M.Campbell. Idmon. ISBN 0-9535567-1-9.
• 9. The Complete Rock Family Rock Trees, by Pete Frame. Omnibus. ISBN 0711968799.
• 10. 17 Watts, by Hank Marvin and Mo Foster. ISBN .

See also

• The Shadows (album)
• Eurovision song contest
• Cliff Richard
• Marvin Welch & Farrar
• Olivia Newton-John
• Rautalanka
• The Shadows discography

References

External links

• The Sound of The Shadows
• A great fansite with lots of pictures of The Shadows
• The Shadows Appreciation Club Of Ireland
• The Shadows' Official Site
• The Shadows discography at MusicBrainz
• http://www.cliffandshads.co.uk/ Cliff Richard and The Shadows discography
• Sounding discography by The Shadows
• World News Network article with photo of Hank Marvin and Roger C. Field, the instigator of the reunion.
• The Apaches
• The Runaways