| Hank Marvin |
| Born |
October 28, 1941 (1941-10-28) (age 65)
 Newcastle
upon Tyne, England |
| Alias(es) |
Brian
Robson Rankin |
| Genre(s) |
Rock and roll |
| Affiliation(s) |
The Shadows
Cliff Richard |
| Notable guitars |
Hank Marvin Signature
Stratocaster |
| Years active |
1956
- present |
Brian Robson Rankin (born 28 October
1941), better
known by the stage name Hank B. Marvin,
is the English
lead
guitarist for the band The Shadows. The group, which
primarily performed instrumentals and was initially formed
as a backing band for singer Cliff
Richard, is considered to be the U.K's
most influential band until the emergence of The
Beatles. Marvin inspired guitarists such as Peter
Green, Richard Hawley, Tommy
Emmanuel, Peter Frampton, Eric
Clapton, David Gilmour, Brian
May, Tony Iommi, George
Harrison, Mark Knopfler, Andy
Summers, Neil
Young, Randy Bachman, Ritchie
Blackmore and Pete Townshend.
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Discography
- 1.2 Personal
life
- 2 Trivia
- 3 References
- 4 See
also
- 5 External
links
|
Biography
Marvin was born in Newcastle
upon Tyne, England. As a child, he played the banjo and the piano, hearing one
of Buddy
Holly's songs made him switch to the guitar, although he occasionally played both
instruments in recordings. At the age of 16, he travelled with his
Rutherford Grammar School friend Bruce
Welch to London, where he met Johnny Foster (Cliff Richard's
manager) at The 2i's Coffee Bar (pronounced:
"two eyes") in Soho.
Foster was looking for a guitarist for Richard's imminent tour of the
UK, and Hank agreed to join as long as there was also a vacancy for his
Newcastle band-mate, Bruce. Foster had actually been looking for
guitarist Tony Sheridan at the Two Is
and so had encountered the 16-yr-old Hank by the merest chance. Hank
and Bruce both joined The Drifters (as Cliff's group was then known).
This started their careers as professional guitar players. They
actually met Cliff for the first time at a nearby Soho tailor's shop
(Cliff was having a fitting for a pink stage jacket, Hank just wanted
to get something to eat), and had their first rehearsal with him after
travelling with him to his parents' home in Cheshunt, Herts, by Green
Line bus.
Hank Marvin played what is thought to have been
the first Fender Stratocaster in the UK,
serial number 34,346, finished in a Coral Pink shade of Fiesta Red,
sometimes referred to as 'Salmon Pink' and this guitar with its tremolo
arm contributed to the Shadows' distinctive sound. The guitar was
imported from America by Cliff Richard for Hank to use.
Hank's original sound was achieved by the use of
a Stratocaster, a Vox amplifier (AC15 and AC30
models) and a drum echo machine, his first being a MEAZZI ECHOMATIC
echo. He later used a Vox badged Meazzi and then a Binson (Drum) Echo
Machine. Currently he is using the Alesis Quadraverb Q20 programmed by
Charlie Hall with his "Echoes from the Past" (EFTP).
Back in 1959, Hank and Cliff Richard searched
through a specially-ordered Fender catalogue to find the guitar played
by James
Burton, Ricky
Nelson's lead guitarist. They assumed that it must be a Stratocaster
because the most expensive instrument in the brochure was a gold-plated
example of that model. Burton, however, played the Telecaster
and the Stratocaster was a relatively new product. Although Hank used
that original guitar between 1959 and 1961, it remained Cliff's
property and was returned to him when Jennings Musical Industries (the
makers of Vox amplifiers and the importers of Fender guitars) outfitted
the whole group with new matching red guitars. The 1959 instrument is
nowadays owned by Bruce Welch - a gift from Cliff Richard in the 1970s
in gratitude for his production work on several of Cliff's hit albums.
Unfortunately Cliff Richard had the guitar sprayed white before
'loaning' it back to Bruce who had it "restored" which has meant that
the history of this unique guitar which included the scratches, knocks,
faded paint etc has been wiped out.
In the early 1960s, Jennings named a range of
guitar accessories (including plectra, a guitar strap and a Bigsby-styled
tremolo unit) after Hank. They used the Hank Marvin signature tremolo
unit on several of their own Vox guitars. More significantly, Hank also
worked in conjunction with Jim Burns (head of the Burns
London guitar company) to develop his own signature model: the "Burns
Marvin". The "Marvin" appeared in 1964 and a 12 string version called
the "Double Six" appeared just a little earlier. The Burns London
company was taken over by the American piano-maker, Baldwin in 1967,
and partly as a result of that, the fewer-than-400 original Burns-made
Marvins are now highly sought after. More recently, the revived Burns
company made a limited reissue of 2004 signature 'Marvin' guitars with
a certificate of authenticity for each, personally signed by Hank.
Those instruments were promoted on the Shadows' 2004 Final Tour. Hank's
original Burns guitars had been stolen in 1972 and never appeared again.
Although neither Hank Marvin nor the Shadows were
ever well known in the United States, despite several
appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, Marvin is
nonetheless listed by Frank Zappa as an early influence on the
first Mothers of Invention album, and
Afrikaa Bambaataa cited the
group's first UK number one single "Apache"
as a big influence. Canadian guitarists Randy
Bachman and Neil Young have both credited Marvin's guitar work as being
major influences on their careers. Carlos
Santana's nickname in his formative years was Apache
because it was one of the earliest pieces he learned to play.
As well as playing with The Shadows, Hank Marvin
has enjoyed a successful solo career as a performer and a recording
artist. He has been willing to experiment with styles and material,
doing some purely instrumental albums, some with only vocals (e.g. "All
Alone With Friends"), one with only acoustic guitars and one with a
guitar orchestra ("The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate"). In 1970 Hank
Marvin and Bruce Welch formed Marvin, Welch &
Farrar, a vocal harmony trio who despite the quality of their
recordings failed to appeal either to the majority of Shadows fans, or
to contemporary music fans. They reverted to being 'The Shadows' in
1973 for the Rockin' with Curly Leads album.
As a songwriter he was responsible for "Geronimo"
for The Shadows and "The Day I Met Marie", and as co-writer with Bruce
Welch, Brian Bennett and John Rostill he penned other hits mainly for
Cliff Richard such as on "I Could Easily Fall in Love with You" and "In
the Country".
In 1988 Hank Marvin had a guest role at a concert
by Jean Michel Jarre in front of the
industrial backdrop of London's East End Docklands, in a concert
entitled Destination Docklands.
After thirteen years away from the Shadows, Hank
Marvin and the Shadows reformed for a 2004 Final Tour, which was so
successful that a 2005 European tour was also organised.
Hank Marvin releases his new album "Guitar Man"
in june, and hits the #6 in the UK album charts.
Discography
1969
Hank Marvin #14
1977
Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate (no chart position)
1982
Words and Music #66
1983
All alone with friends (no chart position)
1992
Into the light #18
1993
Heartbeat #17
1995
Hank plays Cliff #33
1996
Hank plays Holly #34
1997
Hank plays Live #71
1997
Play the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber #41 (includes
re-issued tracks by The Shadows)
2000
Marvin at the Movies #17
2002
Guitar Player #10
2007
Guitar Man
#6
Personal life
Marvin has lived in Perth, Western Australia
since 1986.
He is a committed Jehovah's Witness.
Trivia
- The phrase "Hank Marvin" is often used in Cockney
rhyming slang as a substitute for the word starving
References
See also
- List of
bands/musicians from North East England
External links
