Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Roy: When you see video of the Shadows most recent tour, it is easy to see why Marvin is loved in the UK.

Very true but Welch and Bennett are also a part too, like a lot of sixties bands though they had their rough times in the seventies playing in Northern Cabaret type venues.

When they tried to become Marvin, Welch and Farrar and move away from instrumentals the public could not accept them as anything but The Shadows.

Good points Roy. It would seem that the relationship that the Shadows had with Cliff Richard, while gaining them some recognition to be sure, did not allow them to move forward on their own vocals.

What is even more surprising, is that some of Cliff's vocals were Shadows' compositions.

Roy: A close friend posed the following question today. Did the Ventures and Shadows ever meet, consult one another or have a working relationship? I am guessing that the answer is no, but I think it is an excellent question.

Not that I am aware of Peter, though clearly would know of each other.

Strangely a CD was released which featured 7 tracks by Ventures and 7 tracks by Shadows.

Perhaps this is evidence of some working relationship, albeit tenuous, between the management or labels associated with these groups Roy. Do you recall the tracks?

I have a CD of each... sort of "Best Of..." compilations. They both performed some of the same instrumentals (e.g., The Savage, Perfida, etc.). Perhaps folks can chime in with their opinion of which band did the better rendition...?

Not withstanding some of the original material that was recorded by the Ventures, head to head on the same tune, Hank Mavin gets my vote with regard to his tonality and arrangements over that of The Ventures.

It is only in recent years that I have truly come to appreciate the brilliance of Marvin's playing, something those in the UK have known forever.

Enter Clough, uttering "I told you so."

I give the nod to Hank too, Pete.

When I consider where Britain was, economically and culturally, in the 1950s (the time during which Marvin was learning his chops and ascending musically) and where the USA was during the same time period in the same areas, Marvin's work acquires almost heroic significance.

In short, the Ventures had it easy and bouncy and were prosperous nearly from the get-go (having been paid musicians in the military); Marvin had the opposite situation.

Consider also how inspirational his Fiesta Red Strat was to an entire generation of British youth, whether they were musically-inclined or not! It was virtually a cargo cult built upon the one symbol.

In the USA at roughly the same time, Strats, while certainly not a dime a dozen, were affordable workingman's guitars.

Yes Peter, in answer to your query, tracks were as below, CD was called Back To Back, interestingly at time of release one of The Shadows tracks was a previously unreleased track, their version of Hollies "Air That I Breathe"



1.Apache - The Shadows
2. Stardust - The Shadows
3. Somewhere (West Side Story) - The Shadows
4. California Dreamin' - The Ventures
5. Green Onions - The Ventures
6. Hawaii Five-O - The Ventures
7. Foot Tapper - The Shadows
8. Fly Me To The Moon - The Shadows
9. The Girl From Ipanema - The Shadows
10. I'm A Believer - The Ventures
11. Man From Uncle - The Ventures
12. Pink Panther - The Ventures
13. Trains And Boats And Planes - The Shadows
14. Friday On My Mind - The Shadows
15. The Air That I Breathe - The Shadows
16. Walk Don't Run - The Ventures
17. Telstar - The Ventures
18. Wooly Bully - The Ventures

Thanks Roy. It is very interesting to see the songs chosen by each group, with the Ventures offering a bit more upbeat songs in this compilation.