Some new additions to my 'shadow music' collection (or hoard) over the past two months! I'm really happy as I found some of my favourite records that I didn't have physical copies of.
I got the Change Of Address cassette, the postcard and the Throw Down A Line compilation off Ebay, everything else I picked up from various local record shops.
Not pictured are the Shadows singles Maroc 7 and I Met A Girl, and Marvin, Welch & Farrar's Marmaduke. I had already put them away with the rest of my 45s and didn't want to dig them out for a photo!
I bought Established 1958 on Friday for just £2. It's in excellent condition too. This album is half the Shadows with Cliff, and half the Shadows on their own, and all the songs and instrumentals were written by Hank, Bruce, Brian and John themselves (in varying combinations). I didn't know this record had a gatefold sleeve until I picked it up in the shop, and it took me by surprise when I opened it up...
This album is a real mixed bag! The Shadows' solo contributions range from Brian's delicate composition Poem, to The Magical Mrs Clamps, a real hoedown 'Schmoedown' (the actual working title!), to the boys taking a fuzzy, sardonic Voyage To The Bottom Of The Bath...
I'm not too keen on most of the Cliff songs, but I love the haunting Not The Way That It Should Be, written by Hank and Brian. This would've been perfect as a Shadows song with Hank singing the lead vocal, it could've easily been taken from one of their late 60s albums. It's similar to many other songs he wrote or co-wrote in this period, like The Dreams I Dream.
Changing the mood completely, my other favourite is Somewhere By The Sea, which is a funny song, with an unexpected phone call from Bruce!
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From 1968, going all the way back nine years with this Valex postcard:
This is now the earliest photo postcard I have of the Shadows, it's from 1959. Jet and Bruce don't even have their Fender guitars yet, and look how young they all are - practically babies!
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Now to 1963...
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I got the Los Shadows EP on Friday as well. It's not in fabulous condition but it's good enough for me, and it was only £2 and I didn't have a copy. Now I have to find one with the alternate cover too... I really like this EP as I'm a big fan of the Shadows' Spanish/Latin style instrumentals. Adios Muchachos starts off with a pleasant melody driven along by Bruce's rhythm and some military style drumming from Brian, before at about a minute in, if you listen closely you can hear a click noise - that's Hank switching pickups and then a second later his unobtrusive guitar sound turns into a ferocious bite for the middle eight! The beautiful, dreamy treatment of Las Tres Carabelas is also worth a mention.
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The year is 1971 and it's time for a...
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| Close up of the album cover, designed by Hipgnosis. The photo was taken on saltmarsh mud flats at the estuary of the River Tees. |
I alway see copies of the first MWF album everywhere, but for some reason this was the first time I'd ever seen the second one for sale.
Some day I'll write a big post about this album, or Marvin Welch, & Farrar in general. I think their music is superb and it's absolutely criminal that they never got the recognition they deserved. It's not a bad thing that the Shadows came back a couple years later, but part of me will always wonder what would have happened if they had carried on like this instead.
Here's a fun game to play - get someone who's never heard of MWF or this album to have a listen to 'Simplify Your Head' and see if they can guess who's singing, then when they're completely stumped, reveal that the singer is none other than Hank Marvin, "yes that Hank Marvin"!
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