The Shadows In The 60's Vid

[Ian Miller]

Hi All,

Forgive me if this has been covered before but only seen it for the first time today.
A lot of early footage here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFi1K-93vR4

Ian

[JimN]

I don't think I've seen this particular video before, though all the material within it seems familiar enough.

Who wrote the text at the beginning? There are some real inaccuracies there.

[Fenderman]

I posted this video ages ago and no one replied!
I'm not a bassist but i've not seen a bass played like that before, is that strumming normal?

[Iain Purdon]

I'm guessing you're referring to shots of John Rostill at work. Here's my theory.

John was a great innovator, he was double-stopping and playing chords on the bass way ahead of his time. So some of his bass parts were quite unlike anything his predecessors had come up with.

Also, he played with a lot of 'right hand flourish', again much more than his predecessors did. And most of this material was mimed, giving him the freedom to exaggerate the visual attack on his bass without having to worry about what sounds it might make!

[Fenderman]

Thanks for that reply, that sounds about right.
John Rostill was way ahead of his time but never really got the recognition he deserved. He's my favourite Shadows bassist (after Jet).