The genius of Hank B Marvin - a six decade career of twangtastic twangability!

Hank Marvin and the 1959 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster 

Cliff Richard imported for him into the UK

Hank Marvin has a distinctive guitar sound, in the early 1960's it could be heard on Cliff Richard's chart toppers as well as those records recorded and played by Cliff's backing group The Shadows, which Hank was a part of. He owned the first Fender Stratocaster in the UK which helped drive demand for this guitar across Europe and the Commonwealth.

Hank Marvin with Red Stratocaster, Jet Harris and Bruce Welch

1960 was the start of a decade that would define the post war modern world. Things were changing, the rock n' roll stars of the 1950's were either dead, subdued, in the Army like Elvis was, or mired in scandal it seemed. The vanguard that had established the rock n' roll era now gave way to a slicker and more acceptable entity. One which the movers and shakers realised could be modelled into a commodity - The Teenager - who had money to spend.

The Drifters in Expresso Bongo before they became the Shadows

With the skiffle music boom in the late 50's, the music that followed spawned the first showing of youth culture. The established 'powers that be' were shocked. Their grasp on power looked fragile, a new era was coming. Something that Punk rock achieved 20 years later!

The unassuming frontage of the 2 I's coffee bar - where history was created

Out of Skiffle and Rock n' Roll, a venue in London's Soho established itself as the place to be seen and if lucky, be discovered. The 2 I's coffee bar in Soho's Old Compton Street was where legend has it Tommy Steele was discovered.

Cliff Richard and his original Drifters at the 2I's coffee bar - 

Terry Smart, Cliff, Ian Samwell and Norman Mitham

To this place in Soho gravitated Bruce Welch and Hank B. Marvin, a pair of guitarists from Newcastle. Staying on in London after participating in a talent contest, they worked in the coffee bar when not playing on the stage.

One of the earliest photos of Cliff, Hank and Bruce

Hank was one of the great young guitarists of the era which included Jim Sullivan, Tony Sheridan, Joe Moretti, all names who would find careers in music later. When Cliff Richard started to become famous, it was not long before his original Drifters backing group were replaced by inmates of the 2I's club who possessed greater musical ability. 

By 1960 Cliff had his own show on ATV

These were Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan who then became the Shadows in 1959. Later still, Brian Bennet and Brian 'Licorice' Locking from the 2I's fold would later become Shadows when Meehan and Harris left.

New shirts, new Guitars - at a Soho tailor's shop 1959

Hank Marvin's guitar abilities became honed by his extensive playing in the 2I's coffee bar and touring with Cliff Richard. By early 1959, Cliff purchased a guitar that would change musical history for the 60's as well as for himself, Hank Marvin and the Shadows.

Early record sleeves often feature the Fender guitars of the Shadows

The 1959 Fiesta Red Birdseye Maple neck Fender Stratocaster with gold plated hardware Hank was gifted was a sensation. To look at, it was futuristic and made other guitars look out of date, sonically, Hank Marvin was able to use it to create a unique sound that was to influence guitarists for decades.

The Vox AC15 in the style of the early ones used by the Shadows - 

because of the Shadows, the AC30 was created, 

leading to making the Vox name famous worldwide.

The sum of the parts was the Fender Stratocaster, the Vox AC15 (later AC30) amplifier and the echo machine - all helped create possibilities in Hank's mind which he had the talent to translate into sound.

The Shadows onstage with Cliff Richard 1961 with Vox AC30's

Hank was shown a Meazzi echo machine by Joe Brown in 1959, Joe didn't really get on with the machine, Hank suddenly realised he could and purchased a Vox badged version of it.

A 1960 performance

Plugged in to the Selmer Truvoice Hank originally used, the Stratocaster sounded fabulous. It was not long before the Vox AC15 was adopted and amazing sounds found their way onto records which still sound fresh and outstanding today. At a stroke, many groups ditched their singers and became instrumental groups, emulating Hank's style and glasses, needed or not!

A foray into films jointly boosted the careers of Cliff and the Shadows

A promotional still from 'Summer Holiday' which the Shadows wrote music for

Hampered by heavy strings, Hank made extensive use of the Stratocaster's vibrato arm, (called the tremolo arm, erroneously by Fender). The echo machine combined with the intelligent use of the studio's surfaces allowed dynamic sound to be created.

As many groups came and went from the music scene, Cliff and the Shadows endured. Changes of guitars, amplifiers and line-ups did not diminish the Shadows. Hank Marvin's playing has improved year on year. But go back to his early work with Cliff and you can hear the talent and ingenuity there.

Into the 1980's the Shadows career enjoyed a resurgence

Hank's solo tour in 1990 seemed to denote the end of the Shadows as a unit, his move to Australia in 1986 made touring and recording more difficult. His solo work was interesting, but the 'unit' of the Shadows and Cliff Richard seemed to work very well. 

Although Hank's solo playing is very good, it seems to lack the feel of the Shadows line-up. It is probably as they were really good musicians that they worked so well together. There was probably a 'three way unit cohesity' in the totality of the music of their collective input that was perhaps not as achievable in Hank's solo work.

Perhaps those solo years of the 90s allowed Hank to arrange and play the music he was doing in a style away from the Shadows and for his own satisfaction. It certainly was quality music nonetheless, without any doubt. He was able continue to invent great musical renditions of existing music and compose some really catchy new material.

The final tour 2009 - we never thought we'd see this!

To many the Shadows or the Cliff and the Shadows unit is where Hank is best known either as the 'unit' of the Shadows or with the Shadows and Cliff Richard. Hank Marvin has such a distinct sound, one that he has managed to use over six decades of performing and recording. 

The reunions of the Shadows in 2004 and 5 and with Cliff in 2009 are things we thought we wouldn't see again. It is great we were able to have this experience. The reconvening of these performers showed that they were still great, perhaps at a greater leerl than we could have hoped for. 

Cliff's generosity has helped provide us with this great musical legacy. Hank's playing has prompted many now famous guitarists to pursue the gift of music. And buy Fender Stratocasters in Fiesta Red!! Of which I have owned many.

Big glasses and red Fender Stratocaster - 

unmistakeably the great Hank Marvin

The debt we owe Cliff Richard - his generosity kick started 1960's popular music - here's why

1959, the Pink Jacket, the Fiesta Red Stratocaster - 

Cliff Richard at the early height of his fame

If you've ever been fortunate to meet Cliff Richard in person, he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, regardless of who you are - whether you are a celebrity, royalty or just a plain, ordinary citizen.

So why do we owe Cliff such a great and perhaps unrealised thanks? Its quite simple really, because without his generosity, the course of popular music and our way of life might have been very different.

Cliff on his ATV show in 1960, with the Shadows

Before Beatlemania, there was Cliffmania. Many commentators and writers who put pen to paper about 1960's popular music, miss out one very important fact, that there was musical life before the Beatles. There was a phenomena that virtually dominated the musical charts from 1959-63. Cliff Richard and his backing band The Shadows. Both together and separately.

Cliff on the set of Expresso Bongo with the Shadows

Cliff was just one of a number of 'faces' of the late 1950's that came through the conduit of the legendary 2I's club in Old Compton Street, Soho, London to find fame and fortune in the music industry. At that time, it was the place to be seen, heard and  also hired. 

Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Wee Willie Harris, The Vipers - all names that in 1958 became household names due to an unprecedented growth in music came through this legendary coffee bar. 

The teenager was now a major player financially as well as socially in society. The old guard of tweed jacketed people in authority was now giving way to modernity. Suddenly progress was being made and the past was history.

This is the guitar and the player that made musical history  - 

Hank B. Marvin and the famous Stratocaster Cliff bought him

Backing Cliff in 1958 were schoolfriends from his hometown of Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire. Soon it became obvious that a quartet of players who orbited around the 2I's club should become Cliff's backing group. The Drifters as was, changed line-up and in 1959 became the Shadows, displacing Cliff's former schoolfriends.

Lead guitarist Hank B Marvin of the Shadows (as the Drifters name was changed to in early 1959), needed a guitar to show off his obvious talent. Cliff organised the import of the first Fender Stratocaster into the UK. A Fiesta red painted guitar, with Birdseye maple neck and gold plated hardware. Perhaps one of the most important guitars in the history of music.

It was a sensation then, in Hank's hands it became a guitar that launched the careers of thousands of guitarists who either became famous, or in most cases just enjoyed playing and still do.

Hank Marvin in 1961 with his second Red Stratocaster - 

George Harrison stated years later - 'No Shadows, no Beatles.'

Hank Marvin took the Fender Stratocaster, the Vox AC15 amplifier and the Meazzi echo machine and blended those into a cocktail of sound that remains unique. 

Hank's signature sound, whether backing Cliff or on the Shadows recordings was amazing, it was the sound to emulate, his technique the thing to follow. Even in 1964, Beatlemania had not diminished the presence in the charts of Cliff and the Shadows.

As early as 1960, Cliff had plenty to write about

Cliff was in 1960 about to help change the music scene in Britain forever. He pushed for his Recording Manager Norrie Paramor, to record the Shadows in their own right. They had a tune in mind called 'Apache' that Jerry Lordan had offered them.

When they recorded it in 1960, Cliff was on the session as a musician. The track was sensational, suddenly and indeed overnight, many bands seemed to discard their singer and reform as an instrumental band, intent on getting Hank's sound.

The Shadows continued to perform continually with Cliff until 1968

a series of reunions have also occurred over the years since.

The gift of that guitar to Hank led Hank to develop a technique that gave him a career and also helped Cliff enjoy such longevity in the music business. From that seed of generosity, you can count off a whole line of people who are famous today who were inspired by what Hank was doing - Players including Brian May, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton and many more.

Brian Epstein took the Beatles to watch the Shadows in 1963 so that they could see their stagecraft, such was their impact on music. The combined talent of the various Shadows line-ups over the years enabled both Cliff and the Shadows to enjoy lasting fame and appreciation, but their musical legacy also pushed others forward too.

In 1983 I was at last able to afford a decent guitar that fitted the bill and started to play along to Cliff and the Shadows old material, they were at the time still releasing records and doing the occasional reunion, it was a revelation and has provided me with music I still play today.

It all started with that red guitar Cliff bought for Hank Marvin.

So we have a lot to thank Cliff for. Besides that, he's a very nice chap too.

The Shadows Apache at 60 - perhaps the greatest guitar instrumental of all time - a look at how it started

The Shadows in 1960 - their album covers were
great news for Fender guitar sales

In 1960, The Shadows recorded 'Apache', an instrumental written by Jerry Lordan; 
a tune that would change musical history and laid the foundation for 1960's music.

Hank B. Marvin of the Shadows with his new 1959 Stratocaster

Turn on a radio in 1960 and the music likely to be coming out would likely be from Cliff  Richard featuring his backing band The Shadows or from the Shadows own recordings.

Thanks to Cliff Richard's stratospheric rise to fame in 1959, he remained at the forefront of British popular music through the next decade and beyond.  

As the Shadows first hit single 'Apache' celebrates its 60th birthday in 2020, lets look back at how that started, why it endures and why Cliff Richard's generosity helped shape popular music in the 1960's.

By unintended consequence, it helped launch the careers of artists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Mark Knopfler, not to mention encouraging many thousands of amateur guitarists since, to develop their enjoyment of the guitar and pursue it as a lifelong hobby.

Cliff Richard and the Shadows on the Oh Boy television show in 1959

Hank Marvin plays the new Stratocaster on an early public outing

Mention the tune Apache and the version most people will associate with a performer will be the Shadows. Drop the needle to the vinyl and the distinctive Bongo drums played by Cliff Richard heralds an echo laden guitar intro devised by Hank Marvin, that instantly introduced the world to what would become Hank's signature sound.

Cliff in the famous pink jacket with Hank's original Stratocaster

Jerry Lordan was on a tour package with Cliff and The Shadows, when he played the tune to Hank and Shadows bassist Jet Harris. The rest of the group heard it and decided to record it at their scheduled session after the tour.

Bad news for them that Bert Weedon had already got this tune in the can for an LP of his that was as yet unreleased. Cliff Richard had been pushing Norrie Paramor his Producer to give the Shadows a single record slot, Apache was agreed as their contribution to the single but Norrie wanted a new arrangement of Quartermaster's stores as the A side. 

The Shadows Apache EP cover -

with later guitars, not used on the recording!

Norrie was insistent on 'Stores' being the A side, it was musically a weaker track, only saved from mediocrity and repetition by Hank's solo and accompanying fills. So, like the case of Cliff's Move it in 1958 where Schoolgirl crush was slated for the A side, Norrie took the test copy of the record home and played it to his daughters, Apache was the clear winner.

History was repeating itself. When Jack Good heard Move it he was blown away, the other side of the platter did nothing for him. Play the Apache single to day and flip over to Quartermaster's stores and you'll hear an immediate and obvious difference.

On the Expresso Bongo film - the film outing for the 59 Stratocaster

a great pity that this film was shot in monochrome!

When Apache became the A side of the disc, the rest was history. For a while after, bands often ditched their lead singer and went instrumental. The Fentones for example rested Shane Fenton (Later to be come Alvin Stardust) whilst they recorded two tracks The Breeze and I and the Mexican. 

Suddenly, Hank Marvin was the guitarist to follow for the technique and sound. He had a unique sound and style. Apache was the single that launched a thousand bands. Hank Marvin had true guitar genius, he did then and he still does.

Cliff Richard's ATV show featured the Shadows heavily

Most British people had only seen a picture of Buddy Holly's Fender Stratocaster on a record cover or perhaps on a clip from the Ed Sulllivan show on the television. 

When he and the Crickets played in England at the Elephant and Castle in 1958, a few saw the actual Stratocaster in the flesh at the shows. Hank was the first to own one in the UK.

This clever EP cover design removed Cliff Richard in the foreground

Due to a post-war trade embargo, Cliff Richard had to send for Hank's Fender Stratocaster as a personal import. The one that the Shadows chose was the top specification, Fiesta Red painted body, gold hardware and with a birdseye maple neck. 

At 120 guineas, it was not cheap, that was about 10 weeks wages for an ordinary worker! Probably £4000 in today's money in comparison.

Cliff Richard impersonating Hank Marvin, playing Apache 

on the original guitar through a Vox AC15 - from Cliff's ATV show 1960

Hank's guitar was a revelation. But it was only a part of the story. For those interested, the guitar was a Fender Stratocaster, no 34346. The Stratocaster had a 'contour' body that was cut on a bandsaw with reliefs cut away on the front and back so the player could 'mould' with the guitar. The 1954 design was futuristic and even looks great decades later. I don't think it has been bettered.

The design was a sensation, but was also relatively simple to produce. Against the hollow bodied Gretsch 6120 which came a year later in 1955, the Stratocaster looked modern. The Gretsch looked old-fashioned.

With three single coil pickups, tone controls and a vibrato system (erroneously called a Tremolo by Fender), the Stratocaster guitar was functional and modern. The slim C shape neck introduced in October 1958 was easy to play, an improvement over the 56-58 V shape neck.

A Fender Custom shop 1959 Stratocaster built under the supervision of Greg Fessler - essentially this is a reproduction of Hank's original Stratocaster, with a few modern lifts such as 5 way pickup switch, flatter neck and wider frets. I just had to have one.

The beautiful Birdseye Maple neck as Hank's guitar was built with on mine

Rarely seen in colour photos, Hank's guitar put him right out in front of the crowd. But he also had the technique to match the bright, modern guitar he played. That's what got him the job with Cliff on the Kalin Twins tour and the rest is history.

The early Vox AC15 amplifier

Hank originally used a Selmer Stadium Truvoice amplifier on the early Cliff Richard recordings, it is on the 'Me and My Shadows' album with Cliff Richard. The next move was to the Vox AC15 combo. This is the single speaker one, Vox added another speaker and the AC30 was born.

The Shadows blazed the way for Vox to become the amplifier of choice almost exclusively for instrumental bands from 1960-63 when the instro craze was in full swing. It would lead to the AC30 which would become worldwide renowned.

Jet Harris and Hank Marvin with the famous Stratocaster - 

From the Shadows first album cover.

The Shadows had their thunder stolen on the American market by Jorgen Ingmann's version of Apache which was released over there, although it was not as good as the Shadows version many believe.

Late out of the starting gate into the charts was Bert Weedon with his version of Apache in response to the Shadows release, but it didn't have the energy or the sound of the Shadows version, which remains the definitive one for most discerning listeners.

Ironically, the follow up single to Apache was suggested to be Walk don't run, it was deferred in place of Man of Mystery which became a massive hit.

Walk don't run became the Ventures signature tune just as Apache had for the Shadows and around the same time too. The Ventures covered Walk don't run in 1960, it featured in a number of films which also helped propel it to a massive US audience.

60 years on Hank is still giving us that unique sound

Apache has endured. Although the instrumental guitar sound lasted a few short years in mainstream pop terms in the 60's, the Shadows thanks to their association with Cliff were able to enjoy it until 1968, before embarking on various solo projects and reunions since, even charting into the 80's.

Hank Marvin is one of the great guitarists, without his great sound inspiring thousands of guitarists since 1959, popular music might have been very different. 

George Harrison paid the ultimate compliment - 'No Shadows, no Beatles.' John Lennon said that until the Shadows were on the radio there was nothing worth listening to.

If Cliff hadn't bought that first Stratocaster and pushed for Norrie Paramor to record Apache, who knows? Certainly Fender may not have made so many Fiesta red Stratocasters!

Apache endures and rightly so. 60 years on it sounds dynamic and fresh. And I was one that was spurred into getting the Hank Marvin sound because of it.

In 1982 a school friend of mine had the Shadows Apache single and we listened intently to it frequently, in awe of Hank Marvin's sound. The 45rpm single sounded more vibrant and alive than the LP version, Dave reckoned it was the material that the single was made from, it sounded dynamic and fresh. I wondered if I could ever emulate that guitar sound I was hearing on the record? It would take some time.

Pete Townshend had a similar experience of Apache, the tune resonated in his head as he walked home from a practice with a band he played in before the Who.

Me and Dave were just a couple of the thousands who were inspired to take up the guitar by Hank's playing.