Why are The Shadows SO important to you?

[David Martin]

Whenever I have had the good fortune to meet members of The Shadows, they are all slightly nonplussed by the apparent devotion of fans, and the importance fans attach to the band and it's music.

So what's your story? Why are they important to you?

[Zaanse Shadow]

Hi David,

First of all "The Sound", I love the sound of The Shads. When I heared Apache way back in July 1960 for the first time I was right away a big fan of their music, and still am today. For me the work of Hank does the trick, his style of playing complete with his use of the trem and offcourse his use of the echobox, so I love the whole package. I had allways a dream to play the lead-part like Hank does.
Nowadays I play the lead-part myself so everyday is for me a feast, even when it means dailly a lot of praktise and above all to record my numbers, but what a fun I have doeing those things. Thats, in a nutshell, what The Shads "did" with my life, Thank you Shads and most off all Hank

Cheers

Fred

[dave robinson]

Because they happened at around a big turning point in my life. I was in the Royal Marine cadets at the time and was pondering a professional soccer career or a military one. An injury forced my decision to quit serious football and the music and the sound of The Shadows influenced my direction towards music as a serious option, which led to a professional career in music - As my little pal says, ''simples''

[roninnes]

You always ask such difficult questions, David.

I heard the Shads play Apache, I had no idea who they were, bought the single, wore it out and as a drummer was absolutely amazed at this guy called Tony Meehan. His hand speed in Quartermasters Stores was awesome.
From then on it was a case of listening to anything and everything they recorded and I must say that changing drummers to BB only enhanced my love of the band. His style brought a different dimension to The Shadows and I play in his style.
As a band they encapsulated all that was good in music from the early days of the raw sound through the years to the sophisticated sound they now present. Yes they play the same notes but they do not sound the same.
Their music is timeless and I can only thank them for starting my drumming life.

All hail The Shads!!!!!!!!!!


Ron

[David Martin]

I was "lucky" and passed my 11+ examination, and by the time I was 12 I had been taught that I was "thick", that me and my classmates were no good for anything except trouble. (It's also why I speak no French... the C stream weren't allowed to learn French and Latin... and as our friends in Germany have discovered, I can still manage a few words of awful German!) And so we generated trouble and, as a "good boy" I did my best to keep up with the others - we were the scourge of the teaching staff. Very bad indeed...

Then I saw and heard The Shadows... it was FBI which first made its mark. And, naively, said to myself "If they can do that, I can do that..." and set about learning to transfer the skills I'd learned on the ukulele, and violin, to my cousin Ruth's 25/- (twenty five shilling) guitar...

And I got good enough to join The Zig Zags on rhythm and later took over lead, and, eventually, we won the local battle of the "groups" competition in North Staffordshire.

So why was it so important? Through their music and example, I gained self-respect, status and skill - (and it did no harm with the girls either!) It gave me the platform on which to build success in other fields later in life...

Without them, I may well have become what my Careers teacher had recommended - a job in the warehouse of a pottery in Stoke on Trent.

Put down in words like this, it seems so lame... but it's been one of the single most important influences in my life, and I am forever grateful to them - even if they don't really understand it!

[ecca]

If you remember what we had before the Shadows then it's an easy question to answer.
Much as we love Bert Weedon he was an old man by comparison to Hank.
And that guitar ! Had you ever seen anything like it in your life ?
That's before we even mention Apache...... again...... had you ever heard anything like it before ?
Fantastic.
Ecca

[roger bayliss]

Without doubt the best sound off a guitar ever... just gotta get that sound...

Always liked their approach and style on all the instruments one of the best bands ever and Englands first real rock n roll stars before the Beatles.. set standards that the rest could only follow..

[Moderne]

I first became aware of The Shadows (and Cliff) when my grandparents would let me play their collection of 45s on their Dansette when I was about 6. I loved Living Doll (and its B-side Apron Strings) and also liked Quatermasster's Stores (although I can't remember being impressed with Apache at that age!) Other instrumental discs I particularly liked included Rebel Walk/Because They're Young by Duane Eddy and The Blacksmith Blues/James Bond by the John Barry Seven, so that's where my obsession with guitars began.

Around this time I became aware of Hank because he was the guest each week on the 'It's Cliff Richard' BBC TV shows. I can't honestly remember him playing guitar or singing but I remember thinking he was really funny. Over the years whenever the subject of Cliff's TV programmes has come up on these sites the general feeling seems to have been that they were corny and a bit 'naff' but I've seen the few remaining examples which haven't been wiped and I still enjoy them. I'd rather watch repeats of those (if they still existed!) than any of the X Factor/Britain's Got Talent/Strictly... stuff that gets churned out today but then I am 46 going on 96!

I enjoy lots of types of music today although I tend towards 'older' stuff. To me, the element of melody is the most important and that is the main reason why I love The Shadows so much - they've probably recorded more great melodies than any other act in the history of recorded music. Almost as important to me is the warmth and personality which they have always displayed in live performance. There have been many bands who have played Shadows-style music over the years but few can approach their warmth and professionalism onstage (although The Rapiers come close).This is also partly why The Beatles and indeed Cliff have been so popular.

I love guitar sounds and guitar bands but to me no guitarist can match Hank's complete mastery of so many styles of guitar playing without ever getting too 'way out' - for want of a better phrase. I don't think Hank really understands this facet of his talent: I'm sure he would modestly name dozens of guitarists whom he would consider better than himself without ever asking himself whether any of them were as versatile as him. This, to me, is far more important than any single 'sound' (e.g. 'That Sound') which he has used over the years. His popularity and appeal to literally millions of people as well as his enormous influence over generations of guitarists (which continues to this day) bears testament to this. I use my guitar every day as part of my teaching job - and Hank was (and still is) my main influence. Unfortunately I also think his familiarity and accessibility over the past 50 years have led to many people taking him for granted and not really considering his amazing talent.

Sorry...I've got a bit carried away. The Shadows are SO important to me because they sound so good coupled with great personality and presentation. If you want heavy, rebellious, overly complex or 'deep' music then you probably would dismiss The Shads out of hand. But if you want great sounding melodic music which you could have a go at playing yourself or with a few friends...they're one of the best (if not THE best) bands ever.

Clive

[Tab]

For me, the chemistry of the original line up - Hank, Bruce, Jet and Tony with their complete tight sound just captured the imagination.

Tony's use of the tom-tom - intro to Apache (never been reproduced since) the fade out on 36-24-36 and those magical two opening beats to 'The young Ones' - magical,

Jet's wonderful strolling bass lines - heard throughout the 'Me And My Shadows' album - modern bass players take note.

Bruce's insistance on making the rhythm guitar a prominent feature like never before, made me want to learn all the chords.

Hank's wonderful Meazzi sound made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and evoked emotion and memories I still feel to this day.

The Shadows began my musical education.

[tony parnham]

It was just the sound of that guitar in the mid 50's that got me, schooling and everything went out of the window for Rock'n Roll that was coming from America. Then 'Move It ' arrived, then 'Apache' with that fantastic sound and I never looked back trying to immitatie it with the AC 30 Watkins copycat and the Strat earning me a living. Even now I still love and play Shodowmusic. So, Hank was always my hero and initially gave me the inspiration and technique on the guitar playing all those Shads numbers to be able to cover at my ageto what is considered be one of the greatest guitar solo's of all time from the best selling album of all time and it only lasted 40 seconds. The Beat It solo from Michael Jacksons Thriller. Thats why they are important to me.
http://www.4shared.com/file/145365126/f ... _solo.html
Tony