IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 08:22 PM
I posted this on my Facebook page a couple of weeks ago, and thought that some around here might enjoy it, too. Not exactly surf music, but certainly its cousin! 
Below is my Spotify playlist featuring the Shadows' instrumentals (no vocals) from '65 and '66. Most surf music fans are pretty familiar with their early '60s material, all their big hits from '60 to '64, but not much after that. Though the band's popularity started to decline in '65, their creativity most certainly did NOT. Around that time EMI studios at Abbey Road got a multitrack recorder (probably 3-track), and Hank Marvin immediately started doing all sorts of overdubs, with counterpoint, harmony, additional rhythm guitar, etc., sometimes going completely wild with it. He never did quite as much of that sort of thing after '66. This two-year period IMO is where Hank's playing really hit its creative peak, and is unfairly overlooked.
In addition to the experimentation with overdubbing, he was also exploring the sonic capabilities of his new signature Burns guitar which he got in early '64. I believe it was equipped with a 5-way switch, and by '65 he started to use those in-between pickup settings a LOT. You can hear it all over these recordings, and though I'm usually not a fan, Hank makes it sound REALLY good! Finally, he also started to use the DeArmond 610 Volume/Tone pedal in '65, and it became key to his sound all the way through the early '70s.
I put this 30-song playlist together in order to try to shed a bit more light on this shadowy period of the Shadows' history and in particular Hank's remarkable talent. (Of course, it goes without saying that the talents of Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett and John Rostill contributed a great deal, too! All four were at the top of their game at that time.) Please check it out, and I hope you enjoy it!
https://play.spotify.com/user/ipongrac/playlist/3LNTYPcyvMAp3KJCHAIZbx
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
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The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 08:23 PM
Here's one track that i wanted to include in my Spotify playlist but which unfortunately was not on Spotify - "Friends" from the '65 EP "Themes From Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp" - such a beautiful little gem!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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Matt22
Joined: Feb 15, 2007
Posts: 2858
Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 09:00 PM
VERY nice! What a gorgeous melody! Thanks for sharing!
— Matt "tha Kat" Lentz
Skippy and the Skipjacks: 2018-2020
Skippyandtheskipjacks.net
https://www.facebook.com/skippyandtheskipjacks
Otto and the Ottomans: 2014-2015
The Coconauts surf band: 2009-2014
www.theamazingcoconauts.com
Group Captain and the Mandrakes 2013
http://www.gcmband.com/
The Surfside IV: 2002-2005, 2008-2009
the Del-Vamps: 1992-1999, 2006-2007
http://www.dblcrown.com/delvamps.html
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 09:14 PM
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Matt22
Joined: Feb 15, 2007
Posts: 2858
Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 09:19 PM
I have and I'm following you now. MAN! These songs are GREAT! I've not usually been a fan of the Burns-era Shadows, but I'm in LOVE with their version of Deep Purple!!! I always wanted to do that song. Love the Ventures' version, but this one even more.
One thing: the link took me to spotify, but I copied and pasted your link into the URL, and it took me back to the spotify main page. How I finally found it was pasting it into the search.
— Matt "tha Kat" Lentz
Skippy and the Skipjacks: 2018-2020
Skippyandtheskipjacks.net
https://www.facebook.com/skippyandtheskipjacks
Otto and the Ottomans: 2014-2015
The Coconauts surf band: 2009-2014
www.theamazingcoconauts.com
Group Captain and the Mandrakes 2013
http://www.gcmband.com/
The Surfside IV: 2002-2005, 2008-2009
the Del-Vamps: 1992-1999, 2006-2007
http://www.dblcrown.com/delvamps.html
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 09:35 PM
Hmmm, I don't know what's going on with the link to Spotify, but I'm glad you were able to figure it out. I just copied their playlist link, so I figured if a person already has Spotify installed it would open it.
But HUNDRED TIMES YES on their version of Deep Purple! Listen to that DeArmond 610 pedal! The song is on the album "Sound of the Shadows" from '65, which is hands down my favorite Shadows album.
Just to whet people's appetite a tad more (hopefully!), I'm attaching the song "A Sigh (Un Sospero)", a Franz Liszt piece done on their '66 album "Shadow Music". Never fails to give me the shivers and bring tears to my eyes - Hank's phrasing is so sensitive and masterful (again prominently featuring the DeArmond pedal), it really defies belief.
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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spskins
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 3795
tn
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 09:59 PM
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 13 2016 10:12 PM
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4537
Wisconsin
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Posted on Dec 14 2016 06:32 AM
This is neat. Even on 'Friends' I can hear what sounds like either a vigorous shake in a couple of the double-stops (or what one might do with the heel of the hand on a Strat). Seems no matter the guitar he was not bound by its limits but wringing out of it what he intended.
I recall in that lengthy interview he did "Just Hank Marvin" RE hybrid picking where he (in typical humble fashion) said he "tried, but never quite achieved it." In "Wish I Could Shimmy..." he gives no quarter in honoring influences he cited such as James Burton & Scotty Moore. Throw him a Tele, or a Burns, wouldn't matter.
Great stuff! 
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 14 2016 08:22 AM
Wes, yep, they loved their country music! Check out "Cotton Pickin'" below, another one from their '65 album "Sound of the Shadows".
Hank used those Burns signature models from '64 until '71, at which point most of his guitars were stolen. (He went out and bought an off-the-shelf white '71 Strat that went through a LOT of mods over the next 10 years, including being repainted black at some point, and that was basically his only guitar until '81 - at which point he bought a real vintage fiesta red '57 Strat, which he used for the remainder of the '80s.) He seemed to only have two Burns signature models in those seven years, a white one and a sunburst-green one, which was used much more sparingly. Check out the great clip of the Shadows singing their song "My Way" from the '66 movie "Finders Keepers" with matching sunburst-green Burns guitars (and check out how well Hank emulates a sitar with his DeArmond 610 pedal!).
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 14 2016 08:27 AM
BTW, I know that the Shads really loved Buck Owens and the Buckaroos during that period of time. The Buckaroos of course did a WHOLE bunch of instrumentals around that time, and I think they were pretty influential on the Shadows. Heck, another track from the '65 album "Sound of the Shadows" was titled "Bossaroo" - probably because it sounded like a mix between the Buckaroos hit instrumental "Buckaroo" and the then-hot bossa nova music!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19353
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Dec 14 2016 08:27 AM
Thanks, will give the playlist a few listens!
— Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me
"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Dec 14 2016 12:31 PM
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4537
Wisconsin
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Posted on Dec 14 2016 02:47 PM
"My Way" - OMG, I thought I was standing in Tomorrowland at a HS Grad Nite in '71 and they were onstage (which was being raised out of the ground). The sitar-ry licks were cool - but thank all that is Holy that the fashions of the day were rapidly deemed a sartorial felony.
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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May Birthdays 
You're VERY welcome, Ted!
