Are they playing FBI?

[GoldenStreet]

Further to March Of The Shadows, I see from the PRS database there is a Norrie Paramor composition of that title, supposedly from The Young Ones. Interesting!

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The Shads recording of whichever version is referred to in the Wikipedia article on the first album, The Shadows, in addition to other unissued tracks recorded during the 1960-61 period, namely She Wears Red Feathers (crikey!!) and Blues From An Unfurnished Flat. Will we ever get to hear those??

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Bill

[Arpeggio]

Very interesting Bill! A lot of work was done on "She Wears Red Feathers" - culminating in a finished master in late January, 1961. When you think about the rest of the album.....it just seems so incongruous. Presumably the Shadows must have really hated it with a vengeance & wanted no possibility of it ever being released. All of the run throughs and the completed master were destroyed (presumably this was quite rare - there's no other such reference in the Shadows' EMI tape log) - at the express instructions of Norrie Paramor in November, 1963. Refs "March Of The Shadows" - Carr / Carr (?), Mintz (?) Paramor (?) - who knows. The composer credit is not specified on the tape log. However - the completed takes ranged from 1'08" to 2'30" & the master (unissued) was 1'59". All shorter than the 3'01" as noted in your researches. Interesting isn't it??

Bests....Rob

[malcolmc7]

Bill

The feature below does Shepherd justice, showing him to be a very productive and ingenious character from early on. Norrie P. would have regarded him as a kindred spirit and it's not in the least surprising, looking at Shepherd's interests, that a rocked-up version of Q.'s Stores surfaced when it did. Maybe there was an orchestral demo with an upbeat version, like his invigorating treatment of In The Mood and other oldies.

http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/65.html

Indeed, considering that The Bee Gees, had it not been for Shepherd's influence, would have carried on with their mid-60s variety act, he has to be regarded as one of the giants in his particular field.

Best wishes
Malcolm C.

[GoldenStreet]

Thanks, Rob and Malcolm... fascinating insights, but what frustration over those destroyed tapes. You almost feel it would be preferable never to have known about them in the first place!

Bill

[Arpeggio]

Hi Bill,
It was only "S W R Feathers" which was destroyed. A highly unusual and far from common scenario.

Rob

[malcolmc7]

Bill

I am a devoted fan of Tony Hancock and once planned to write a book about his radio shows, but in the event I found different diversions. Why the reference? Well, March Of The Shadows was one of the pieces contributed by Norrie to the soundtrack of Tony's Punch And Judy Man. I can't say that I recall it offhand and I don't have the facility to search at the moment (computer DVD drive on the blink) but it might be worth a look. I'm not going to attempt to speculate on the mention of The Young Ones in the documentation you adduce!

Malcolm C.

[GoldenStreet]

Malcolm,

Spot on! It's a long time since I saw The Punch And Judy Man and, as you say, March Of The Shadows is included in the soundtracks listing, along with The Savage! Maybe, the film might be shown on television next May to mark the 90th anniversary of his birth...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057435/sou ... tt_trv_snd

Bill

[Arpeggio]

Hi Bill,
Thanks to Malcolm - I will certainly look out for "The Punch & Judy Man" too! BTW.....a rumour has reached my ears from an authoritiative source (discretion required - no names, no pack drill) that......er...viz: "S W R Feathers" - Norrie's express instructions to destroy the tapes may not, apparently, have been carried out after all.

Rob

[JimN]

Intriguing sub-thread. Just ordered a DVD set of both "The Rebel" and "The Punch And Judy Man". I've never seen the latter, though I can recall seeing Hancock interviewed about it on TV when it was first released.

[captainhaddock]

I don't suppose they have anything to do with the subject in hand, but what are the you-tube uploads of "March Of The Shadows " all about. There are several and they seem to be orchestral in nature