I think that we can agree that the Shadows were the greatest instrumental group of all time. They are legendary; their haunting sound still brings chills when you listen to it. They were for instrumental music what the Beatles were for vocal group music. They have achieved greatness. Period. That is why this forum and others are devoted to them. I have absolutely nothing against MWF, but the fact is, I never heard of them until recently. First of all, I don't live in the UK and I had very little opportunity to listen to them. By the time they started performing, there were many, many similar groups, many of them far more popular and probably more interesting. MWF were no longer leaders, pioneers of music, they were followers of a trend created in the wake of the Beatles and the "British Invasion." So, they can never be compared to the early Shadows, even though individually, I'm sure that both Hank and Bruce had become more accomplished guitarists and vocalists, and John Farrar was a high quality artist and very talented musician in his own right, not to mention prolific songwriter. But they simply cannot compare to the fame and glory of the Shadows. Remember, I am speaking from the point of view of a foreigner. It turns out that the highlight of their career, at least as far as I am concerned, was the Eurovision song contest. People living in the UK probably see things differently. But let's not forget, the early Shadows had an unsurpassed energy and originality that later even they themselves lost. Listening to later Shadows is just not as exhilarating and thrilling as listening to the early Shadows. That is the same with MWF.
In a way, it's like Hank today. If he held a concert in which he played Django Reinhard music with his gypsy jazz band, I'm sure that many people would attend the concert, but there's no chance that he would keep filling huge concert halls day after day. Hank Marvin is a legend, but he is not a gypsy jazz legend. There are many guitarists that are much better in that particular music genre than he is, and I would have very little interest in listening to Hank play gypsy jazz (except for the fact the he is Hank!
). But for the early Shadows instrumentals Hank is what Django is for gypsy jazz. A legend, a guitar god, and an inspiration to hundreds and thousands, many of them famous guitarists. As part of MWF, I am simply not sure that he inspired anyone ... that is the difference.
This is just my opinion. I don't mean to ruffle any feathers or demean anything or anyone, and I don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings.
Cheers,
Bojan
