Relations between Jerry Lordan and Shadows' individuals

[Peter K]

Dear all,

I just wondered why Scarlett O'Hara and Diamonds have been recorded by Jet Harris&Tony Meehan while Atlantis was recorded by the Shadows.

After the big successes with the Shadows' recordings of Apache and Wonderful Land, wouldn't it have been logical to give Scarlett and Diamonds to the Shadows, too?
I don't know anything about the relations between Jerry Lordan and the individual members of the Shadows, maybe Jet Harris and Jerry Lordan were mates?

But if so, why didn't Jet also record Atlantis?

Best regards

Peter

P.S.: Don't get me wrong, I love all those records but I don't know anything about Jerry Lordan's decision criterias (if it was him who made the decisions)

[anniv 63]

Diamonds and Scarlett O Hara were specifically composed for Jet &Tony at that time in 1963.
The Shadows were never offered these titles, a comment from Bruce Welch in some interview, indicated
that they perhaps would have liked to have had first refusal on these titles.
Again I would guess Atlantis was tailor made for the Shadows own sound- cant quite envisage a Bass V1
or detuning on this melody- anyone tried it!!!!!
Probably Jerry Lordan composed mostly to fit specific artists ie Im a moody guy Shane Fenton and Im just a baby
louise Cordet come to mind.
Anyone able to add further to help our friend?

Mike

[GoldenStreet]

Apparently, Jerry Lordan was a great admirer of Tony's drumming (weren't we all?) and was suitably rewarded with his performances on Diamonds and Scarlet(t) O'Hara.

The latter in mock stereo...



Bill

[362436]

A magazine " Hank Marvin Echo" issued January 1999 contains an article by George Geddes.

Entitled Unsung Heroes - Jerry Lordan, George writes ".....Jerry then handed two of his finest compositions to ex-Shadows Jet Harris & Tony Meehan.
He felt that 'Diamonds' and 'Scarlett O'Hara' were better suited to the sound which Jet had established on his first solo outings,though for the Lordan tracks he abandoned his Fender Bass VI for a tuned-down guitar (Gretsch on record,Fender on stage and TV). "

Maybe George would like to add further info if available.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Ian.

[Iain Purdon]

why didn't Jet also record Atlantis?

I must say I can't imagine Jet wanting to record Atlantis. He said he didn't think much of the musical direction the Shadows took after his departure, with the exception of Flingel Bunt.

As to who decided what, I would guess it worked something like this. Songwriters would offer their material to both record companies and likely artistes. Artistes would work up demo arrangements of numbers they thought worth doing. The record companies' A&R Managers would decide which numbers were likely to make money for the company. Discussions would take place and the records would be made. Then it would be up to us to prove them right or wrong!

[George Geddes]

Gosh.. did I write that in 1999... seems like only yesterday.

Unfortunately, the style of a lot of these articles was such that I was not able to annotate them with references. Some of the articles in that series were based on face-to-face interviews, but sadly that one was not. I assume that the details of Diamonds and Scarlett were taken from a reliable source, though what it was I cannot remember but it may well be in the filing cabinet of doom which has lots of my newspaper and magazine clippings. I think IP's summation is accurate. Of course, the Shadows did eventually record Diamonds. I do think the Jet / Tony version is better, but who is to say what a Shadows version recorded in 1962 would have sounded like?

George

George

[JacktheFlash]

Is that not Joe Meek rather than Jerry Lordan at the beginning of the video?

[Iain Purdon]

Yes that's Joe Meek

[Peter K]

Hi Friends,

many thanks for your answers and for some new facts (at least new to me).

I din't know that Jerry Lordan wrote his tunes just tailor-made for certain artists. You are right, "Atlantis" is a great tune, but certainly not a song for Jet Harris & Tony Meehan.
I can imagine that Jet Harris didn't really like most of the Shadows singles recorded after his departure with the exception of "Flingel Bunt". Flingel Bunt was certainly one of the rockier songs (Rhythm and
Greens was also heavier or rockier but I always thought that it was a kind of studio jam and not really "serious".)
But Jet was also on the first version of "Guitar Tango" (not released), does anyone know if he was really happy with this song?
Would Jet have agreed to record "Dance On"?
Jet was also on "Wonderful Land", a tune quite different to the earlier Shadows songs, though a classic song and one of the best instrumentals ever written.

Just by the way, neither Scarlett nor Diamonds got any airplay on German radio stations, I only learned about them by listening to RTL and to BFN Germany.
Jet and Tony's recording of "Diamonds" is quite better than the Shadows' version. But there's another strong version, released by the Spotnicks in 1969 on their album "Back In The Race".

Regards Peter

[Iain Purdon]

... Jet was also on the first version of "Guitar Tango" (not released), does anyone know if he was really happy with this song?
Would Jet have agreed to record "Dance On"?

I don't know, Peter, but probably yes. I suggest that, as a member of The Shadows, Jet was bound to collaborate with the others and the management. They may all have had different views on individual tunes - indeed we know they were not happy with the release in their absence of The Savage/Peace Pipe and, later, didn't think much of Stingray - but collectively they had to abide by what EMI decided to release.

Jet as a solo artiste, or in duo with Tony, would have had a greater say than he would as a member of a four-piece but there would still need to be an agreement with Decca over what to release.

Going back to Atlantis, Licorice said he didn't like it much when they first listened to the demo. But they did it anyway and it later became his favourite number.