An article and a poster from an issue of French music/film magazine Capri. There's very little information about this publication online. I only have these two pages from a supplement (which are in fantastic condition!) and not the full magazine, but my guess is that this was published around late 1962, just after the Shadows were appearing at the Paris Olympia from 31st August to 15th September of that year with Licorice now taking the place of Jet.
And since I still can't speak French, I translated it all with DeepL and then edited it to fix literal translations and make it make more sense in English.
There are a plethora of errors that can't be explained by bad translation though! Apparently Tony Meehan just doesn't exist... as here it's implied Brian Bennett was the first drummer and Jet was the first Shadow to leave... People have been getting Tony mixed up with Brian for well over 60 years now! No one back in the day could ever decide on what year Licorice was born in either... And... who could forget the famous Double I bar, in a wealthy quarter of London...? And there's even more...
Not necessarily an error, but I love how Cliff Richard is described as being "a bit like the English Johnny Hallyday" too, haha. And I don't know what "un pick-up" means in the 2nd paragraph. It translated as 'a pick-up truck' which is wrong obviously, but I think it might refer to the pickups on their guitars? But why would they be listed separately? Maybe it's a French slang term from the 1960s? No idea...
Well here is the article as it is:
The Shadows of rock and roll: Four "shadows" that shine in the sun
There are four of them. Their names are Bruce, Brian, Hank and Licorice. Their respective ages added together give a total of 80 years. They live in the four corners of London. They are afraid of women for fear that they will break up their friendship... but they love them. They are friendly. They are The Shadows.
One morning in April 1958, two young boys landed in London. They carried their enormous suitcases in their arms, a pick-up, and their guitars on their backs. Their pockets contained a total of 5000 old francs. They came from Newcastle, a city in the North of England a few kilometres from Scotland. They thought they were going to make a fortune very quickly.
Bruce Welch and Hank
Marvin were the ones aiming for the most famous bar in a wealthy London
quarter, the "Double I", whose manager liked to promote young talent.
It
didn't take long for Hank and Bruce to realise that the bar wouldn't
lead them to fame. Their working day began late at night and every day
they went to bed at about one o'clock in the morning. Their meagre
savings were quickly used up and they often returned to their rooms
hungry. Their menu consisted almost daily of a slice of dry bread.
Sometimes they would treat themselves to a feast... a bowl of stock, a
bread roll and a wrinkled, tasteless apple.
— "On miserable evenings," explained Bruce, "we packed our bags. We wanted to go back home. But once we'd crossed the threshold of the room, we'd turn back."
— "First of all," continued Hank, "we didn't want to go home to show our
defeat. And then, despite it all, we still had hope. We felt that
something was about to change."
They were right to persevere.
One evening, when they were playing at the "Double I", they made a record for Columbia, with the son of comedian Charlie Chester, Peter Chester, and his group the Five Chesternuts.
We began to whisper their names.
One month later, they were joined by two boys, Jet Harris and Brian Bennett.
Jet Harris did a few tours with Tony Crombie's Rockets. He left them to become the leader of the Shadows and play the bass guitar.
Brian Bennett was leaving school. His parents wanted him to become a printer. He preferred music. He became a bohemian. By day he wandered the streets, by night he played the drums where he could. One evening, he shyly took the place of the drummer of the Shadows.
It was the perfect match. He stayed.
The four boys pledged an eternal friendship.
But Jet Harris was the first to break his promise. He left the team and was replaced by Brian "Licorice" Locking.
The
great singer Cliff Richard had asked them to accompany him. He thought
their playing was excellent. Cliff Richard is a bit like the English
Johnny Hallyday. The Shadows are similar to the Golden Stars, Johnny's
musicians.
With Cliff, the Shadows have been an unprecedented success.
They did a triumphant tour of South Africa and across the Pacific.
They starred in a film, "The Young Ones", that broke attendance records in England.
They have just completed another one in Greece with Cliff Richard. We already know that "Summer Holiday" will have as much, if not more success than the first film.
But Cliff Richard, realising the
value of his group, didn't want to smother them. He let them try their
luck alone in Paris. This is why Cliff Richard was not with them when
they performed at the Olympia.
The Shadows showed the Parisian
public, who didn't know them yet, that they knew how to play real music.
For some uninformed spectators, it was a revelation. As for the
fanatics, they were amazed once again.
These professional
musicians know how to play a number of instruments. They play the guitar
as easily as the violin. They are excellent at the organ and the
harmonica. The piano is no longer a secret for any of them.
The Shadows don't go a day without practicing their pieces for at least an hour. It's the secret of their success.
What kind of women do they prefer? None in particular. They love them all!
Their goal? To be happy, to have a bit of money and to travel a lot.
—
The Shadows play...
Since
their first recording the Shadows have sold more than three million
records. "Apache" has been their greatest success. It stayed at the top
of the charts for a long time. But "Guitar Tango" seems to want to
overtake it.
[then there is a list of their French discography of EPs and albums, up to the point of publication. With "Quartermaster's Shore" and "Peace Rice"!!!]
————————————————————————————————————————
The article is on the reverse of this poster!
The photo was taken backstage at the Olympia.
The slightly odd captions at the bottom translate to:
Licorice Locking
Bass guitar - born on 22 December 1941, gargles with orange juice, lives in the moon
Bruce Welch
Rhythm guitar - born on 2 November 1941, admires women and records
Brian Bennett
Drummer - born on 9 February 1940, acknowledges his dog-like nature
Hank B. Marvin
Lead guitar - born on 28 October 1941, drinks water and loves historical costumes
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