Legendary Guitarist Hank Marvin performs..

[Arpeggio]

There are a few clips on Youtube which iIve just checked out. Look.....the musicianship is outstanding & Hank's playing is exemplary. But.....for me....it's just not the type of music I care to listen to. So...it's the genre...not Hank. I don't think that I could sit through two hours or so of that type of music (no matter how well played) and nor would I buy a CD that I was never going to listen to more than once. Just personal choice. Hank can 'escape' from the Shadows...but the audience / fanbase for the Gypsy Jazz type of music will inevitably be much, much smaller. Overall - he's simply not going to sell out 1,000 or 1,000+ seater venues - maybe not even too many 600 - 700 seater venues - but then again, that shouldn't matter as the overheads would be much less (Two acoustic guitarists, stand up bass and accordion) - no need for enormous stage sets & loads of technicians. The music is smaller scale & all of the potential venues would need to be too. I could see Hank selling out the Newbury Corn Exchange (c.300 seats) - for example. Actually, if he came there (which is only 2 miles away) - then I would go to see him!

Bests.....Rob

[geoff1711]

Hi All

like many my taste is far wider than just Shadows' music, but I just don't like Gypsy Jazz and never have done. I'm not sure why, I quite like main stream Jazz, there's just something about the combination of tones which I find really depressing, whilst I accept Django was a master of his art it's not for me.

The problem with these concerts could be that apart from being his name, Hank Marvin is also a brand, maybe if he recorded and toured under Brian Rankin or some other name he could start climbing the hill of stardom that way.

But I wonder how many of the thousands of Manchester United fans would pay to watch them play Rugby or Cricket?

Hank's job for the last 50 odd years has been as a guitarist in a certain style, it's about what he does rather than who he is, that's not to say he doesn't have the right to change, of course he does, but just because he likes it doesn't mean followers of his original music will. His solo tours he did were all sell outs, but this less than enthusiastic response shows that people went to see him doing what he's known for.

The last few times I've seen Bruce's Shadows play with Phil Kelly on lead they sound just like The Shadows, to me, there have been many bands who have key members leave or die but the band (Brand) carries on.

Whilst I wish Hank all the best, he's had a good life doing what he does so well, to change that style really means he must start from the bottom again and work his way up if there is enough demand.

I wonder what the response would have been if he'd changed his style to Thrash Metal?

If he was to appear on Big Brother or X Factor I still wouldn't watch they shows, for no other reason than I just don't like them, mind you if he went in the jungle with Ant and Dec or on Strictly I might just! or how about a gig in The Queen Vic, but I'd probably miss that one as well.

I wonder how many would go to see Cliff singing opera?

Geoff

[donna plasky]

Hi, Geoff, Arpeggio, and others. Your observations are really ringing a bell with me -- I think I feel exactly the same way. When an artist or group that I love as much as The Shads and/or Cliff release a new album...especially one that is said to be of a different genre...I go through this little thought process where it's the collector/completist in me vs. the logical, practical side of me. Not to change the subject from Hank to Cliff, but I knew I wouldn't like Cliff's 2010 release (Bold As Brass), but I bought it any way and never play it. And now, last month he released another album and I am going through the same mental gymnastics. So far, the "don't buy it" argument is prevailing, but at any moment I'll probably change my mind and order a copy.

I was not yet a Shadows fan back when Marvin, Welch and Farrar debuted. I came to know of them well after the fact. Had I known about them at the time, this would have been a case where if I'd have had any doubts whatsoever...and if I did not buy the album...I would have done myself a great disservice. I love the two MWF albums, and nothing would have pleased me more than if they had released a lot more of them. Conversely, the Gypsy Jazz music might not fall into this same category. But I "talk the talk" and "don't walk the walk"...I am surely going to buy a copy of Hank's new album, not matter what I'm saying right now.

I feel very disloyal "not liking" something. But I am very happy to see Hank enjoying himself. Maybe it got a little boring playing Apache all those years and this new music might be refreshing for him. I wish him the best of luck.

Best wishes,
Donna

[hbmartin]

Maybe the proposed UK tour was a tad ambitious. Perhaps something on a smaller scale might have worked out.
Rob

I'm not sure the proposed tour was that ambitious. Most of the venues were small to medium size and some were festivals. The tour most definitely wasn't cancelled because of poor ticket sales, in fact Croydon was the only place that I know where tickets were on sale and when I tried to get better tickets than what was offered to me on the telephone, I was told it was a third sold already, more than a year in advance. I doubt Hank expected his jazz style to appeal to Shadows fans anyway.

[Arpeggio]

I'm not sure the proposed tour was that ambitious. Most of the venues were small to medium size and some were festivals. The tour most definitely wasn't cancelled because of poor ticket sales, in fact Croydon was the only place that I know where tickets were on sale and when I tried to get better tickets than what was offered to me on the telephone, I was told it was a third sold already, more than a year in advance. I doubt Hank expected his jazz style to appeal to Shadows fans anyway.

Indeed - I'm sure that Hank would know that not all Shads fans would embrace this new style. Ticket sales a year in advance - Croydon Fairfield Hall - a third sold. Hmmmmm. If that was Cliff / Shads a year in advance - the place would have sold out in less than a couple of hours. If it was the Shadows a year in advance - it would have probably sold out within a week or two (pretty quickly anyway). If it was Hank Marvin doing the kind of shows he did in the 1990s then I reckon that the Croydon F H would have been well on the way to selling out after two or three months advance sales. A lot of the venues in the UK for the proposed 2012 H M G Jazz Tour (although agreed many were smaller) had poor advance sales. What would Brian Goode make of the figures? Brian Goode is a (very) hard - nosed businessman pure and simple. So you don't think that the projected tour was cancelled for financial reasons? What other reasons then? Hank's been attending the annual Gypsy Jazz festival in France for several years - so he's always in Europe (followed by the UK) around about that time. He's played a few Gypsy Jazz shows in Australia but, even there....some have been scrapped / pulled because of insufficient ticket sales. Forget altruism. As Hank's manager - Brian Goode's sole motivation is money and profit margins. I would bet the proverbial 'pound to the penny' that he couldn't see Hank's Gypsy Jazz tour being anywhere near profitable enough for all concerned. Maybe ('gasp') even possibly losing money. Result.....pull the plug on the whole thing.

Rob

[Martin Page]

It's the same with Cliff. I wouldn't bother to see one of his solo concerts but I went to see Cliff and The Shads at the O2 because I love all their early stuff that they released together up to about 1964. To be quite honest, I wasn't particularly enamoured by all the 'wallpaper music' issued by The Shadows in the Polydor era.

Martin.

[hbmartin]

A lot of the venues in the UK for the proposed 2012 H M G Jazz Tour (although agreed many were smaller) had poor advance sales.
Rob[/quote]

How can that be that the advance sales were poor when the only show on sale was the Croydon Fairfield Hall show. None of the other venues that I called had tickets for sale. All of them told me it was too early for tickets to go on sale. Also your Brian Good reason doesn't really add up Rob. Pat at Leos Den told me he wasn't involved in Hank's Gypsy jazz Tour it was another promotor.

[drakula63]

Without a shadow of a doubt (sorry!), Hank Marvin is one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of the past 50 years. He is genuinely a true legend. However, it's his inimitable sound that is also legendary and maybe it really is best not to stray too far away from it.

I admire him for trying to do something different, but maybe if he had stuck to doing some appearances at jazz festivals that would have been a better way to introduce people to this new (for him) style of playing. The advantage of this is that anyone who was interested in going to such an event would have gone regardless of who was playing and might have been very pleasantly surprised by what they heard from Mr Marvin. A full scale tour could then have followed? Just my thoughts.

I wish him the best of luck with it, but it isn't something that really appeals to me. Having said that, if they get the album in my local library, I will gladly pay a couple of quid to give it a listen.

As I say, he is one of the greatest and long may he continue...

[Arpeggio]

How can that be that the advance sales were poor when the only show on sale was the Croydon Fairfield Hall show. None of the other venues that I called had tickets for sale. All of them told me it was too early for tickets to go on sale. Also your Brian Good reason doesn't really add up Rob. Pat at Leos Den told me he wasn't involved in Hank's Gypsy jazz Tour it was another promotor.

HI Harold,
I have PM'd you. It seems that B G has no direct involvement with this project - although Hank could undoubtedly consult him for business advice. Maybe it's more to do with the general recession and the fact that shows have had to be pulled out in OZ. So, maybe the time isn't quite right in 2012 for Hank to do a Gypsy Jazz tour. But....it's only November. Who knows....a revised schedule / list of dates (this is purely hypothetical BTW) could appear in the new year...who knows??

Bests.....Rob

[Detailed Infinity]

He should have distanced himself from his Shadows background years ago. George Harrison playing 'She LovesYou' right up to his latter years with no expansion of his talent would have been really embarrasing for him ie 'have you no other talent than pop songs?'

Hank's music style is rooted in the late '50s/early '60s and has no relevance in today's music scene other than to a diminishing pool of baby boomer fans. Justin, as good as he is, merely swims in the brackish pool around which said boomers congregate.

Hank maybe sees the writing on the wall and decides that time is running out age wise and to do what he should have done all those years ago. That's not being selfish, it's being happy within yourself.

B.