What If John Farrar had stayed ?

[Gary Allen]

As talented as he was,he was never a shadow.

Never a Shadow? In addition to being a gratuitous cheap shot your comment is also completely inaccurate. What a disappointing lack of respect for a great guy and an outstanding musician.

Andrew

Hi Andrew, I was of course posting about John Farrar and not John Rostill and only when I re read the post did I realise what it looked like, I have the utmost respect for both of them so my apologies for any offence taken. Gary Allen

[donna plasky]

Hi. I just learned this today -- when John Farrar and Olivia Newton-John won a Grammy for Record of the Year (for "I Honestly Love You"), it was presented to them [in absentia] by John Lennon and Paul Simon. This was on 1 March 1975.

Kind regards,
Donna

[alewis41]

As talented as he was,he was never a shadow.

Never a Shadow? In addition to being a gratuitous cheap shot your comment is also completely inaccurate. What a disappointing lack of respect for a great guy and an outstanding musician.

Andrew

Hi Andrew, I was of course posting about John Farrar and not John Rostill and only when I re read the post did I realise what it looked like, I have the utmost respect for both of them so my apologies for any offence taken. Gary Allen

Fair enough, thank you Gary.

I think Lefje is the only person in the world who thought you were talking about John Rostill. The title of the thread should have been a clue.

Andrew

[alewis41]

While I still have a lot to learn about The Shadows, I would say that as a fan I don't put too much emphasis on whether someone (like John Farrar for example) was considered a session player or a Shadow. I've only been a Shadows fan since the time Mark G. joined the group, so everything I've learned so far has been after-the-fact. But I do agree with Captainhaddock. I think John Farrar's presence had a similar effect on The Shadows as you might see in professional sports. Sometimes a new player joins the team and they bring a certain energy with them and it lifts the team. The same could be said about the Shadows who came before John and after John, but he certainly did have a lot to offer.

When I bought John's solo album (which I really like), it came with a booklet -- possibly written by a member of this Forum. I'll post an image of only the front cover so as not to violate any copyright, but it is a fascinating read. I only wish that the name John Farrar was a well-known name here in the US. People here know his work, but they don't know it's his. He wrote a lot of the songs in Grease and Xanadu and many of Olivia Newton-John's solo hits, all of which were quite popular. If John's Australian group, The Strangers, had ever gotten a big break in the US, I think they could have given the Beach Boys a serious run for their money. John can sing exactly like Mike Love, if not better. But if that had happened, I guess he wouldn't have joined The Shadows or MWF.

Thanks for listening.

Kind regards,
Donna

Hi Donna,

You purchased John's CD and Tony's booklet from me on Amazon. I did the interview with John and helped gather the tributes and photos for Tony.

Stuart Duffy, who wrote about his friendship with John in the 1970's, is also a member of this site.

Andrew

[donna plasky]

Hi Donna, You purchased John's CD and Tony's booklet from me on Amazon. I did the interview with John and helped gather the tributes and photos for Tony. Stuart Duffy, who wrote about his friendship with John in the 1970's, is also a member of this site.
Andrew

Hi, Andrew. I thought you might be the same person, as I still have your business card tucked inside the booklet. Thank you for posting. And my thanks to Stuart Duffy and Tony Hoffman as well, for such a great publication. I hope you understand that I did not say your name(s) out of respect for your privacy, and also because I wasn't sure if you were the same Andrew Lewis. Your biography of John Farrar is superb. I pick it up and look through it quite often.

Kind regards,
Donna

[Iain Purdon]

As talented as he was,he was never a shadow.

Never a Shadow? In addition to being a gratuitous cheap shot your comment is also completely inaccurate. What a disappointing lack of respect for a great guy and an outstanding musician.
Andrew

Let's keep it civil, guys. To describe the man as talented does not show a lack of respect! To the question "who is a shadow?" there has been learned input on this site as to what that might mean. Legally, no. But if John F wasn't a Shadow well, frankly, at the time neither were Hank and Bruce. The fact that they reformed as the Shadows and included John makes him the nearest thing to it ever. In my book!

[alewis41]

As talented as he was,he was never a shadow.

Never a Shadow? In addition to being a gratuitous cheap shot your comment is also completely inaccurate. What a disappointing lack of respect for a great guy and an outstanding musician.
Andrew

Let's keep it civil, guys. To describe the man as talented does not show a lack of respect! To the question "who is a shadow?" there has been learned input on this site as to what that might mean. Legally, no. But if John F wasn't a Shadow well, frankly, at the time neither were Hank and Bruce. The fact that they reformed as the Shadows and included John makes him the nearest thing to it ever. In my book!

Actually that's what called being dammed with faint praise but my comments were in reference to "he was never a Shadow".

However Gary and I have already resolved our differences.

Andrew

[drakula63]

As talented as he was,he was never a shadow. A great voice but never really made it as a vocalist either, They deserved more success but it wasnt to be, 20 golden greats came along gave them another 35yrs in showbiz. John Farrar did alright too........................

Not a very nice thing to say. Of course he was a Shadow! And a very good one too. In my opinion, the 'John Farrar era' was one of the most creative and exciting of the Shadows career. I am also a HUGE fan (as you may well know) of the Marvin, Welch & Farrar albums.

A HUGELY talented guy and a HUGE asset to the Shads in the 1970s. I'd love to hear him record or perform with them again...

P.S. Although I bought a copy of the John Farrar magazine when it came out, I have given (or leant?) it to someone else, so this is a timely reminder for me to buy another one!

I know that Alan Hawkshaw stayed with John Farrar at his home in the U.S. - I think back in the 1980s...

[drakula63]

Couldn't help myself...

Just bought another copy of Hoffers' John Farrar magazine (so now the friend I have lent mine to cane keep it!) and I have also just bought the John Farrar solo album, on CD, from Leo's Den. I have it on LP/vinyl, but I bet it'll sound good on CD...

[Gary Allen]

Okay, He was a Shadow....can we leave it at that ?