Background information
Origin
England
Genre(s)
Rock
and roll
Years active
1958–1999
2004–2005
Website
Official website
Members
Hank
Marvin
Bruce
Welch
Brian
Bennett
Former members
Jet
Harris
Tony
Meehan
Brian
Liquorice Locking
John
Rostill
Alan Jones
Ian
Samwell
Terry Smart
The Shadows are an English
instrumental and vocal rock and roll group active from the 1950s to the 2000s.
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Contents
- 1 History
- 1.1 1950s
- 1.2 1960s
- 1.3 1970s
- 1.4 1980s
- 1.5 2000s
- 2 Selected
discography
- 3 See
also
- 4 External
links
|
History
1950s
Formed initially as a backing band for Cliff
Richard, they took the name The Drifters
until finding out that there was already a thriving American band with
that name. The original 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) on
guitar and vocals. The original Drifters had no bass player. Samwell
wrote the group's first hit record "Move It" which is often mistakenly
attributed to The Shadows.
The name was changed to Cliff Richard and the
Drifters shortly after first manager Johnny Foster discovered
the group, and they were quickly signed up for an appearance on Jack
Good's Oh Boy!
television series. Producer Norrie Paramor of EMI
signed Cliff, and asked Johnny Foster to recruit a better guitarist, so
Foster went back to Soho's
2i's coffee bar (then famed for
the strength of musical talent performing there, particularly in skiffle groups)
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 even had Buddy
Holly style glasses.
Guitarist and singer Hank Marvin was playing in a
skiffle band with his friend Bruce Welch. The pair had
travelled from Newcastle to London to become musicians and were at the
time surviving on very little money. Foster offered Hank the job and he
accepted on condition that his friend Bruce would also be allowed to
join. New manager Franklin Boyd could see that the pair worked well
together, and they were employed as lead and rhythm guitarists
respectively. Ian Samwell was moved to bass until he was replaced by
the Most Brothers's bass guitarist Jet
Harris. Drummer Terry Smart left shortly after this and was
replaced at Harris's suggestion by Tony
Meehan. The Drifters' fully professional lineup was now
complete, and they became The Shadows in early 1959. Johnny Foster
continued for a time as Cliff's personal manager, and Samwell wrote
several additional songs for The Drifters and The Shadows before moving
on to write and produce for other artists. Tony Meehan later recalled
that Cliff, backed by Hank, Bruce, Jet and himself had all played
together a year beforehand at least once at the 2is coffee bar in Soho,
London.
The group started recording and performing with Cliff 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 vocal numbers and the second pair were
instrumental. Neither disc charted. A further (vocal) disc ("Saturday
Dance"/"Lonesome Fella") also failed to chart.
1960s
Cliff con The Shadows
Then, in 1960, the band released "Apache",
an instrumental by Jerry Lordan, which was to top the charts for
several weeks. Further hit singles followed, notably "Wonderful Land",
another Lordan composition with lush orchestral backing showing a very
different side to the group and staying at the top of the charts even
longer than Apache. This record, and "Kon Tiki" six months earlier also
reached number one. The Shadows played on several more chart-toppers as
Cliff Richard's band. This group, known to fans as "The Original
Shadows", had a raw gutsy appeal and was responsible for 7 hit records.
In October 1961
Tony Meehan was replaced by Brian Bennett and in April 1962 Jet Harris was
replaced by Brian Locking, also known as
Licorice. Both Bennett and Licorice were old friends from the 2I's days
and they had all played together in different scratch line-ups. The
Marvin-Welch-Bennett-Locking line-up lasted for only 18 months but
convinced the fans, diversified the sound and held its own in the face
of the rise of Merseybeat, spearheaded by The
Beatles. This Shadows line-up produced a further 7 hits, two
of which, "Dance On" and "Foot Tapper" topped the charts.
In October 1963
Licorice Locking left to spend more time as a Jehovah's
Witness. The band had met John Rostill on tour playing
with other bands and had been impressed by his tight punchy playing so
they invited him to take over on bass. This final and longest-lasting
line-up consolidated into a fine musical combo, innovating in numerous
ways as they tried different guitars and developed a wider range of
musical styles and a higher level of overall musicianship. They
produced some impressive albums but the chart positions of the singles
began to ease back. 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 put on in 1964 at the London
Palladium and featured Arthur Askey as Widow
Twankey and Cliff as Aladdin, and The Shadows as Wishee, Washee, Noshee
and Poshee. Cinderella was staged at the Palladium in 1966 featuring Cliff
as Buttons
and The Shadows as the Broker's Men, The film and stage roles
were more than just performances; they allowed the group to develop
their art as songwriters. They wrote only a few songs for the earliest
movie, 1961's
The Young Ones, but by the time they came to make Finders
Keepers in 1966,
almost the entire soundtrack was credited to the
Marvin-Welch-Bennett-Rostill team.
The line-up split in December 1968, after recording the 10th
anniversary album Established 1958 with Cliff
Richard, featuring a mixture of tracks with Cliff Richard, and
instrumental tracks featuring just The Shadows. All tracks were written
by the group. By this time they seemed to have done everything and
Bruce Welch decided to leave. This was almost the end of the band,
although an album (Shades of Rock) and a tour of Japan followed
without Bruce, and with Alan Hawkshaw on keyboards;
in Hank's words, they did it 'for the Yen'. The tour was not considered
artistically successful, and the resulting live LP is not held in high
regard, even though it does feature an unusually long version of
"Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" in which Hank plays both acoustic and
electric guitar.
1970s
During the early 'Seventies, Hank and Bruce had a second
career as vocal group Marvin Welch & Farrar
with Australian
John
Farrar as third vocalist. Farrar provided a magnificent high voice and
terrific skill as an arranger. They recorded two critically acclaimed
albums and several singles and, without Bruce, a third album Marvin
and Farrar, which Hank described as 'Frankenstein meets The
Beach Boys'. This group's live performances were hampered by the fact
that everyone who saw Hank in his distinctive spectacles expected a
performance of the Shadows' greatest hits. As Hank says (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 as a group reformed in 1973 with Welch back on rhythm guitar but also
with John
Farrar on guitar and vocals. Following the earlier death of John
Rostill, the group decided not to replace him permanently but instead
to book top session bassists for recordings and tours. Dave Richmond
and Alan Tarney, who had each
provided bass support for Marvin Welch & Farrar, both continued
in this role for the reformed Shadows. An album, Rocking With
Curly Leads featured Hank using vocoder to modify his
distinctive sound. Some tracks used Farrar as a second lead guitarist,
making this album sound fresh and different.
The group were chosen by BBC Boss Bill Cotton to perform the Song
for Europe in the 1975
Eurovision Song
Contest. The Shadows recorded a number of alternatives and played a
song each week on a six week television show. The public then voted on
the best song and eventually, "Let Me Be The One" by Paul Curtis was chosen. The group didn't
win, coming second to Teach
In's "Ding-A-Dong", but The Shadows were re-established as a chart act.
Other records soon followed, featuring Farrar's strong vocal and
writing talents as well as his instrumental skills.
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 the
Big Three, Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett, supplemented on
records and gigs by Cliff Hall (keyboards) and Alan Jones (bass).
1980s
The Shadows Live At Abbey Road
The group then performed and recorded frequently until 1990,
with most of their 1980s albums performing well in the charts. With the
exception of Guardian Angel which was an album of
new material, most of their 1980s albums featured cover versions of
then current or classic pop songs, with little original material. The
group changed record labels in 1980, switching from EMI to Polydor with the
aptly titled Change of Address. The change was
necessitated because EMI would not agree to a tape leasing
scheme, whereby the group would retain copyright of their recordings,
but the company would be licensed to publish them for individual
albums. This resulted in the group re-recording much of its back
catalogue of EMI hits for the Polydor label. The recordings were made
using modern techniques (although primarily on analogue equipment, but
digitally mastered), but with instruments, amplifiers, and arrangements
as close as possible to the originals making it difficult for the
casual listener to tell the difference. This has allowed the group to
package and market their own compilation albums, apparently 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 solid until Alan Jones had a bad car accident and Mark
Griffiths of the Cliff Richard band and originally from Matthews
Southern Comfort was brought in on bass. He and Alan then shared bass
duties until 1990 when the band stopped touring and Hank went solo
again.
2000s
The group re-formed in 2004 for a 'farewell tour', and
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 Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett, joined on keyboards
by Cliff Hall and bass by Mark Griffiths, "one last time" was so
successful (and enjoyed by all members) that they decided to embark on
an extension to 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. Notwithstanding that this was to be a
tour of other countries, they played a final date back in the UK in Birmingham.
Selected discography
From British Hit Singles & Albums, 17th Edition
(Except Life Story)
Albums
- 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]
- 1966 Shadow Music (UK #5)
- 1967 Jigsaw (UK #8)
- 1967 From Hank Bruce Brian and John
- 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
- 1977 20 Golden Greats (UK #1)
[compilation]
- 1977 Tasty
- 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)
- 1984 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
Singles
- 1959 "Feelin' Fine" (as The Drifters) Did Not
Chart
- 1959 "Jet Black" (as The Drifters) Did Not Chart
- 1959 "Saturday Dance" Did Not Chart
- 1960 "Apache" (#1)
- 1960 "Man of Mystery" (#5)
- 1961 "F.B.I". (#6)
- 1961 "The Frightened City" (#3)
- 1961 "Kon Tiki" (#1)
- 1961 "The Savage" (#9)
- 1962 "Wonderful Land" (#1)
- 1962 "Guitar Tango" (#4)
- 1962 "Dance On" (#1)
- 1963 "Foot Tapper" (#1)
- 1963 "Atlantis" (#2)
- 1963 "Shindig" (#6)
- 1963 "Geronimo" (#10)
- 1964 "Theme For Young Lovers" (#12)
- 1964 "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt" (#5)
- 1964 "Rhythm And Greens" (#22)
- 1964 "Genie With The Light Brown Lamp" (#17)
- 1965 "Mary Anne" (#17)
- 1965 "Stingray" (#19)
- 1965 "Don't Make My Baby Blue" (#9)
- 1965 "The War Lord" (#18)
- 1966 "I Met A Girl" (#22)
- 1966 "A Place In The Sun" (#24)
- 1966 "The Dreams I Dream" (#12, official Melody Maker chart
position)
- 1967 "Maroc 7 "(#24)
- 1975 "Let Me Be The One (#12)
- 1978 "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" (#5)
- 1979 "Theme From The Deer Hunter" (#5)
- 1980 "Riders In The Sky" (#10)
- 1980 "Equinoxe Part V "(#50)
- 1981 "The Third Man" (#43)
Chart Source:[1]
This does not include collaborations with Cliff Richard, solo
recordings or those made under the name "Marvin, Welch & Farrar"
See also
External links
