Why are The Shadows SO important to you?

[Peter K]

Hi Ray,

you wrote that their middle aged recording manager ( Norrie Paramor ) pushed the group to record Quatermaster's stores
and to release it as the A-Side ( instead of Apache ). You may critisize Norrie for his taste when initially chosing this as the
A-side but I feel that Norrie Paramor did a great job when producing the early Shadows records. Those songs were
produced very well, for me it was the first time that I could really hear every individual instrument ( lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums ). Most records released in the beginning of the sixties were not that well produced, nearly all of them were in mono and I still have difficulties to identify the individual instruments when listening to other old records
of that period. But the Shadows' records impressed me from the very beginning, every instrument was crystal clear, especially Jet Harris' bass. Only by listening to Jet's playing I realized how important the part of a bass guitar can be.

Peter K

[Pat Seaman]

I was visiting my best mates' house one day, at the age of 13/14 and saw that they had bought a new Dansette record grinder (!) and the first record that they bought was the Shadows first EP, which they proudly demonstrated.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and was hooked........I played it all afternoon, while Chris went and played with his (Hornby) train set.

I can't let this go without mentioning the cover on the EP as well.....fantastic.....I just couldn't put it down!

Apache had passed me by at the time, because my step-father wouldn't let me watch the nasty pop programmes on TV, but I soon caught up!

Radio Luxemberg listened-to under the bed clothes was the main way of keeping up with new releases.

It was such a different sound from everything else on the radio at that time and I still get the same feeling when I listen to it now........How did they do it?.......Absolutely amazing!......My thanks to the Shads for everything they've done, they certainly changed my life.

Pat

[RayL]

Hi Peter

Could you give some examples of UK records from that period where you have problems identifying the instruments? Not from listening to vinyl records made at the time and heard on a Dancette, but from CD tracks made from the original tapes.

The reason that I ask is because by 1960 the microphones, the tape recorders and the monitoring loudspeakers were all mature technology. With a Neumann U47 and an EMI BTR2 running at 30ips full track you could make a recording that would not be surpassed until digital recording came along. UK studios at that time were notorious for keeping well within the headroom of the simple but high quality audio mixers as well as within the saturation limits of magnetic tape. So technical limitation and distortion would not be the problem.

Similarly, the mixing of the sound in 1960 was very 'straight'. Most UK records for teenagers were stil being made using the recording techniques that had been used five years earlier for Dickie Valentine or Ruby Murray - very clean, all the instruments mic'd at a respectful distance and very clear.

Or are you talking about American records as well? OK, there were many 'hole in the corner' studios but even the very small independents like Audio Recorders in Phoenix or NorVarJak in Clovis had decent Ampex recorders and produced excellent recordings with all the instruments clearly heard.

So come on, Peter, lets have some examples!

Ray

[Geoff Alderton LH]

Hi all. Two years living in the mountains of Oman, the ocasional trip down Ruwi high street to the suk to buy cassette tapes. Two more years living on an Island in the Gulf, with

twenty thousand sea gulls for company and no Ruwi high street to buy cassettes. The tapes I bought down the Suk saved me, over the next few years, from going absolutly bonkers.
Some of the tapes I bought were The Shadows or Cliff and The Shadows. Thats why The Shadows are so important to me. I did have a Strat sent out to Oman when I returned there few years later. I didnt get to see the Strat for nearly a year. But thats another story. Long live The Shadows and their music.
Regards Geoff.

[Mikey]

The sound of the Shad's simply knocked me out, I had never heard such electric guitar sound before. I soon bought myself a guitar and started to have guitar lessons, but sadly without real success, my talent is simply too low.
Peter K

Peter
If like me you are making music and getting pleasure out of it, then your life is richer because of it. Success and talent aren't everything. Play on and enjoy:!:

[drakula63]

Way back in 1977, when I was still a wee lad, a friend of mine played me Apache. For some reason, even though it was almost 20 years old by then, it just blew me away. He also played me the B side, Quartermasster's Stores, and I was sold. At about this time, The Shadows 20 Golden Greats came out and, thanks partly to the great TV commercial, I bought the album. It was the very first pop/rock album that I ever bought.

As I got more and more hooked, I bought (or was bought!) all the other albums advertised on the 20GG inner sleeve. I have a feeling that Somethin' Else and Tasty were the first. Followed by Live at the Paris OLympia and Specs Appeal. As the years went by, so my love of this music grew and I began to play the drums; inspired in the main by Brian Bennett.

It would take me a whole book to outline just why the Shadows music means so much to me, but in one paragraph I'll try.

30-plus years on, those tunes still excite me just as much as they ever did when I first heard them. I have grown to appreciate just how talented and versatile each and every member of the Shadows has been and still is. The first concert I ever attended was a Shads gig (October 1980 in Manchester) and the BEST gig I have ever attended was a Shads gig (May 2004 in Nottingham). For well over 30 years, the Shads have been there and have provided the musical backing to my life. In short, in their reportoire, I have found a song or tune for every occasion. I have also met people and shared some great and unforgettable experiences as a result of a shared interest in and love of the Shads. In short, they have been with me for the last 33 years, every step of the way. And when I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Brian Bennett, in 2004, I told him so!

So there you are. My attempt at explaining why the Shads mean so much to me. I could go on forever. But I won't...

[OLDEREK]

I'm going to use a sentence from post *26, because in my later life it sums up my reason for them being important


"They have provided the musical backing to my life".

[winkrich]

What a great question! I've really enjoyed the answers so far. There's that unique and wonderful sound, the exquisite expression of melody, the beautiful sense of timing, the powerful vibrant contribution of the rhythm section and those instantly recognizable bent notes.

I identify so many of the early tunes with events in my childhood - Dance On with a bus trip to Austria, Apache with my O levels and so-on.

Much later when my kids and I wanted to hurry my wife home so that we could start dinner, the kids would ask me to play Moonlight Shadow as loudly as possible. My wife hates that tune with a passion - too jangly! The kids and I loved it. Just before Hank breaks into that wonderful "improv" section, my wife would always (or so it seemed) come through the front door and yell at us to turn it down.

With both Hank's and the Shadows' later stuff I love the variations on the melody that Hank introduces after he's stated the theme a couple of times. Often he introduces a different tone to the Strat or switches to an acoustic to underline that he's about to play around with the melody. I suppose it's not really improvisation in the jazz sense, but time and time again I discover some nuance that takes my breath away.

David, I live in Canada now and want to say that though I don't often contribute comments, this website is very important to me. It's a link to a wonderfully happy past and I want to thank you and the other moderators for all that you have done over the years.

Richard.

[Mikey]

I agree with everything that's been said about their music but there's another element that goes towards why they are important to us and that is that they're such darned nice blokes.

[Peter K]

Hi Ray,

no, my experiences are not from listening to CD's featuring old songs from that period but from listening to some vinyl singles and LP's of that time. I didn't talk about UK recordings but about German, Swedish and American recordings which I had on vinyl singles and LP's.
I don't have them anymore so I can't name any titles but I still remember my surprise when listening to the " The Shadows "
album in Stereo, suddenly I was able to identify every single instrument and all instruments had the same importance,
nothing was mixed away.

Regards Peter K