59 years ago today...

[drakula63]

5th October, 1958...

Cliff and the Shadows (Drifters at the time) played their very first gig together - at the Victoria Hall, Hanley. Apparently.

[GoldenStreet]

Yes, the start of the Kalin Twins' tour.

[Derek Mowbray]

This must have been when Bruce and Hank joined ,The Drifters existed before that with a different line up. The first edition of Oh Boy featured Cliff and The Drifters with only a drummer and guitarist ,I don`t think there is any recordings of this show,a piece of history lost.

[GoldenStreet]

Yes, Hank and Bruce (indirectly) were recruited by Cliff''s early manager, John Foster, to join original Drifters members, Ian Samwell and Terry Smart, for the purpose of that tour.

Bill

[Fenderman]

The first choice for Cliff's backing band was to include a certain Tony Sheridan but for some reason he couldn't be found, then Hank and Bruce were recruited.
I wonder how things would have turned out for them if Tony was recruited. We'll never know.

[Uncle Fiesta]

Very differently, would have impacted on the Beatles' career as well!

[GoldenStreet]

I think we can safely say that fate played its hand to the best advantage of all concerned!

Bill

[Iain Purdon]

The first choice for Cliff's backing band was to include a certain Tony Sheridan but for some reason he couldn't be found, then Hank and Bruce were recruited. I wonder how things would have turned out for them if Tony was recruited. We'll never know.

I think we can see how good a fit Sheridan would have been, just as how Bennett and Locking were natural successors to Meehan and Harris...

[iefje]

I was listening to the 1997 4 CD box "The Rock 'N' Roll Years 1958-1963" again this weekend and very much enjoyed it. A lot of those early rock 'n' roll tracks by Cliff & The Drifters/The Shadows still sound quite fresh to me. They were a very talented combo, even in the early days.