NationMaster - Encyclopedia: The Shadows

The Shadows were an English instrumental rock 'n' roll group active from the 1950s to the 2000s. This is an album cover. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() â€“ on the European continent() â€“ in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification - by Athelstan 967 Area... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Rock and roll - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() â€“ on the European continent() â€“ in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification - by Athelstan 967 Area... Rock and roll - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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 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. A backing band or backup band is a band which accompanies an artist at a live performance or on a recording. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... Ian Ralph Samwell (born in Lambeth, South London, January 19, 1937, died March 13, 2003, in Sacramento, California, USA) was an english musician, songwriter and producer. ... Move it was the first hit single by British pop/rock music legend Cliff Richard. ...

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. Norrie Paramor is best known as a record producer, but was also a composer, arranger, and orchestral conductor. ... Soho is an area of central Londons West End, in the borough of the City of Westminster. ... The 2 Iâ€™s Coffee Bar was a coffee bar in the basement at 59 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, England, between 1956 and 1970. ... Doghouse Skiffle Group Skiffle is a type of folk music with a jazz and blues influence, usually using homemade or improvised instruments such as the washboard, tea chest bass, kazoo, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw, comb and paper, and so forth, as well as more conventional instruments such as acoustic... Tony Sheridan (born Andrew Esmond Sheridan McGinnity on May 21, 1940), is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist. ... Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 â€“ February 3, 1959), better known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and a pioneer of rock and roll. ...

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. Download high resolution version (591x612, 103 KB) This is an album cover. ... Download high resolution version (591x612, 103 KB) This is an album cover. ... Hank B. Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) is the lead guitarist of the (mainly) instrumental group The Shadows, formed initially as a backing band for Cliff Richard. ... Bruce Welch (born Bruce Cripps, 2 November 1941 in Bognor Regis, Sussex, England) is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer and singer, best known as a member of The Shadows. ... Jet Harris (real name Terence Harris) was the bass guitarist and leader of The Shadows until April 1962. ... Daniel Joseph Anthony Tony Meehan, (March 2, 1943 â€“ November 28, 2005), was one of the founder members of the British group The Shadows, along with Jet Harris, Hank B. Marvin and Bruce Welch. ...

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. Download high resolution version (607x636, 154 KB) This is an album cover. ... Download high resolution version (607x636, 154 KB) This is an album cover. ...

1960s

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. This is an album cover. ... This is an album cover. ... Apache was a popular instrumental song written by Jerry Lordan and recorded by British group The Shadows in June 1960. ...

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 Brian 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. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Brian Bennett is a drummer, pianist, composer, arranger and producer of popular music. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Brian Locking b. ... For the TV program please see Merseybeat Merseybeat, sometimes referred to as Merseysound, was a style of music popular during the 1960s. ... The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. ...

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. 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... John Rostill was a talented bass guitarist and composer recruited by the group The Shadows to replace Brian Locking. ...

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. Wonderful Life is a British film of 1964, made as a vehicle for pop star Cliff Richard. ... Gerry Anderson, born 14 April 1929, is a British producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called Supermarionation. His first television production was the 1957 Roberta Leigh childrens series The Adventures of Twizzle. ... Thunderbirds Are GO (DVD cover) Thunderbirds Are GO! was the first feature film to be made from the highly successful Supermarionation series Thunderbirds. ... The Christmas Pantomime colour lithograph bookcover, 1890 Pantomime (informally, panto) refers to a theatrical genre, traditionally found in Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland, which is usually performed around the Christmas and New Year holiday season. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... The London Palladium in 2004 The London Palladium is one of the most famous of Londons West End theatres. ... Arthur Askey (June 6, 1900 - November 16, 1982) was a prominent British comedian. ... Widow Twankey is a character in the pantomime Aladdin. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... For other uses of the word button, see Button (disambiguation). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

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. Alan Hawkshaw is a composer and performer, particularly of themes for movies and television programmes. ...

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!' This is an album cover. ... This is an album cover. ... Marvin Welch & Farrar were a 1970s British and Australian popular music group formed by three members of The Shadows. ... The cover of Farrars self-titled album. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

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. 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The cover of Farrars self-titled album. ... Tarney-Spencer Band was an Australian rock band composed of Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney in the late 1970s. ...

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. This is an album cover. ... This is an album cover. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion (US$7. ... Sir Bill Cotton (born April 23, 1928) CBE, is a British television producer and executive, the son of big-band leader Billy Cotton. ... A Song for Europe can mean: * A former name of the British national pre-selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, which is currently called Making Your Mind Up. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the twentieth Eurovision and was held on March 22, 1975 in Stockholm. ... Paul Curtis is a British-born Australian-based artist, band manager, music promoter and record label owner. ...

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). For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Sky was an English based progressive rock band, formed in 1978 when classical guitarist John Williams decided to team up with Herbie Flowers, Francis Monkman, Tristan Fry and Kevin Peek. ... Dont Cry For Me, Argentina is the best-known song from the 1978 musical Evita with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. ...

1980s

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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Polydor Records is a record label once headquartered in Germany. ...

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. Download high resolution version (826x834, 154 KB) This is an album cover. ... Download high resolution version (826x834, 154 KB) This is an album cover. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ...

Selected discography

Albums

The Shadows is a 1961 album by The Shadows. ... Official Shadows: Life Story album box This work is copyrighted. ... Official Shadows: Life Story album box This work is copyrighted. ...

Singles

This does not include collaborations with Cliff Richard, solo recordings or those made under the name "Marvin, Welch & Farrar"

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