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A bit before my time but.......How come nobody else ever got a parallel sound to Hank in the early years ? I presume others knew back then about his echo but you just dont hear it on records that were out at the time...Is there something else we re missing out on....?.....gary

<Panto mode>

Oh yes you do...

Listen to (example off the top of the head) Moody Guy by Shane Fenton & The Fentones, for a Cliff/Shadows sound par excellence (especially on the stereo version - which does exist). And Saturday Nite At The Duck Pond by The Cougars (played on a Hofner) isn't too far removed from the Shads sound.

JN

Hmm, let's see: then we have: the Spotnicks from Sweden, the Jumping Jewels and ZZ en de Maskers from the Netherlands, Les Guitars, Les Phantoms (and many others) from France, The Atlantics from Oz, Teddy Robin & the Playboys from Hong Kong . . . just to mention a few! I'm sure you've heard songs like Johnny Guitar, La Comparsa, Bombora, Galaxie, The Sands of Time . . . All of them have their own kind of "THAT SOUND" but as Dave said, many of them did not stand the test of time -- but some did.

Listen to this fabulous sound drenched with echo, reverb, and nostalgia:

...... and don't forget Ernie Shear's riffs on Move It, played on a Hofner and pre Hank, so maybe Hank was copying Ernie.

Hi Bojan,
I'd not heard of Teddy Robin and the Playboys before - but what a LOVELY "That Sound", eh? Thanks for posting it here!
I particularly like your description of the Bands you have named as "All have their own kind of "That Sound"".
I tend to get a bit grumpy about those who try to describe "That Sound" in definitive terms, but I'm happy to live with that!
Regards
Paul.

I guess that sound was all ready associated with the shads so why would any artist/group want to sound the same. I guess if some one else beat Hank to it Hank would sound very different today

Cheers John

I think its still down to Hank's smooth flowing style and better use of the trem arm!

Subscribed to Spotify?

Try this (short) playlist for a pretty good Cliff/Shadows sound (recorded at EMI) and one instrumental by The Cougars (recorded at EMI under the executive supervision of Norrie Paramor)

http://tinyurl.com/yfb9xyj

See what you think.

JN

Also, before Hank, have a listen to some mid -period Gene Vincent tracks when Johnny Meeks was on lead (after Cliff Gallup left the group)- a good example is "Baby Blue"- lots of thin echoey screaming Strat and vibrato arm workout in the solo..)

And as I have said before- Cliff Gallup's playing on Gene's slow ballads also preceded Hank and had a very similar tape echo and vibrato arm sound and approach...listen to Up a Lazy River, Jezebel, That Old Gang of Mine- all on the 1956/7 10 inch LP Bluejean Bop.

And don't forget James Burton on Ricky Nelson's tunes- the solo on Believe What You Say must have been studied by Hank....