The Early Records

[Hank2k]

Hi All

Sorry if this has been posted before but this morning during my rather tedious journey to work i had a listen to a couple of albums that i havent listened to for some time. These were 20 Golden Greats and Cliff Richard and The Shadows Live at the ABC Kingston.

Have to say how refreshing it was after all the later albums and rerecordings etc to hear the Shadows being themselves having a laugh at the ABC but also on the golden greats album hearing the odd miss note or bits not quite how we expect them to be, bit of fret buzz here and there it was brilliant to hear i wonder if when the shadows rerecorded them again whether they had to keep rerecording them over and over until they were perfect or if it was the Shadows themselves decision to go over and over till they were perfect.

[ala1940]

What always amazes me is, their ages ( they were/are so good), the equipment used to record in those days, the amps that were available. very little in the choice of strings, guitars were not "set up" as today, it would be so easy to go on and on as to the differences compared to the current crop. But have still stood the test of time. Only the other day there was a young lad busking "Shadows" numbers in Stevenage town centre and getting lots of attention and he was spot on with just a samll portable amp and a Zoom 508.

[Stratpicker]

If not in search of the Holy Grail "Apache" sound, you can do very OK with minimal kit. We go off in the touring caravan and I take with me a cheap £20 second hand 20w amp and a battery powered Korg Ampworks for AC15 modelling , reverb and delay.
I have seen a couple of "Shads Buskers" using a car battery+inverter to power their amps and they sound excellent.
cheers
ian

[roninnes]

The sound on the Kingston cd like the South Africa ep has a "raw" sound which would not be acceptable today and of course with all the gizmos available one can refine the sound to a point where it bears little resemblance to the original, but that my friends is progress.
Even with drummers I well remember my original kit's sound and what I have today with different heads and miking and mixers I barely recognise myself.

Ron

[iefje]

Talking about perfectionism, if you compare the official live album output of The Shadows and The Ventures, then The Shadows have been and are very critical towards their own recorded live concerts. Since 1965, The Ventures have released a live (double) album/CD, VHS video, LaserDisc or a DVD of almost every tour they undertook each year. I have collected quite a few of The Ventures' live output. Not all of them yet, one because not all of them are available any longer and two because they are very often for sale for very high prices, mainly because they originate from Japan.

I cannot mention enough, I still wish there would be some more official releases of vintage live material by The Shadows. From the late 1950's and early 1960's, TV material; from June 1967, The Shadows' concert in Japan; from the Spring of 1977, one of The Shadows' "Golden Dates"; from April 1980, The Shadows' filmed concert at the Doelen Theatre in Rotterdam.

[Paul Childs]

The sound on the Kingston cd like the South Africa ep has a "raw" sound which would not be acceptable today and of course with all the gizmos available one can refine the sound to a point where it bears little resemblance to the original, but that my friends is progress.
Even with drummers I well remember my original kit's sound and what I have today with different heads and miking and mixers I barely recognise myself.

Ron

In a lot of ways I preferred the raw sound that The Shadows and other bands had when they played live in the old days. You heard them as they were.
In modern times they have all this equipment to make things more accurate but you can buy the CDs to hear that.
Things have gone from just a van to a tour truck or several.

[roninnes]

Totally agree Paul, going to the local Palais de dance on a Saturday night and seeing a live band, warts and all, was exciting.
Considering what they and subsequently my band had to work with in the early sixties I believe we did alright.
There was an honesty to the sound produced then whereas today it is more "manufactured" because of the equipment available, not to say that I don't enjoy todays sound.
Then again think of the cars driven in that era and compare to todays versions.
Ron

[neil2726]

With regard to the RAW SOUND - DEl Shannon stated he wasnt keen on the new digital recording methods he said he prefered the "hiss" from the 60s !

[ecca]

Here's 'raw' sound from the sixties.
It's my band The Jaguars, recorded at Hollicks and Taylor in Birmingham in 1963.
I'm not the singer but the magnificent guitar solo was mine, I was 15.
Played on a Hofner Cororama, AC15 and valve Copicat.
We all stood round a grand piano ( I'd never seen one in the flesh )and did it live, warts and all, the bass player Dennis, hits a real bum note late on in the song.

http://www.eccathacker.com/Audio%20down ... yoump3.mp3

[cockroach]

ecca

You sure that wasn't you singing- before they dropped?