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Bill,
I think your observations are right on the money. I've
talked with many US guitarists of the day, and have
been listening to this music since day one. What it
looks like to me goes something like this:
The Shadows were virtually unknown in the US in the
sixties (only one LP release - the mistitled "Surfing
With The Shadows"), but they had a huge influence in
Britain and Europe. It was a different kind of
influence as well. Their sound was not just
influential, it was often copied outright, especially
today. It's hard to talk to an early sixties British
guitarist that doesn't mention them in their
influences list. Another difference is that they were
first down that sound path. One little piece of
evidence that they didn't influence US bands was the
one Shadows styled LP the Challengers did, a style
change they quickly dropped to return to surf.
In the US, the Ventures inspired huge numbers of
players, many of which had a 5 years' earlier
influences laying ground work, from Link Wray, Johnny
and the Hurricanes, and the Fireballs, and more.
Unlike the Shadows, the Ventures didn't inspire a
thousand sound-alikes, but rather a thousand bands,
each with their own sound. They created an environment
friendly to rock instro evolution.
Secondly, the Ventures' "Play Guitar With" series was
the teacher to a whole lot of beginners.
Third, the Ventures took rock instro to Japan and
sparked the eleki scene, essentially launching a new
era in Japanese music and culture. The impact they had
on Japan should not be understated. It was immense.
Like the Shadows in Europe, many of the eleki bands
copied the Ventures, but others evolved their own
unique sound.
Lastly, and by way of observation, the instrumentals
covered around the world by other than Shadows styled
bands are virtually all of American origin, either
from the Ventures songbook or surf. "Walk, Don't Run,"
"Pipeline," etc. It may likely be the energy in the
music that makes the difference. The Shadows played
extremely polish, often beautiful songs, sometimes
with lush arrangements. The Ventures, surfbands, etc.,
on the other hand, were rock 'n' roll.
As a final note, I also don't think it's valid to try
to demonstrate which is more important or more
credible or whatever. They are very different, apples
and oranges so to speak, and both had an influence few
bands can claim.
Phil Dirt
--- supertwangreverb <>
wrote:
> Maybe the Shadows had more of an impact in Britian,
> but I doubt that for America, or even Japan. My
> dad is dead now but by looking through his record
> collection it's fairly easy to see which band
> influenced a 16-18 year old guitarsist in 1964.
> I'm sure his collection is rather similar to
> the countless other American garage
> bands of the mid 60s. I'm also willing to bet
> the Ventures had more of an influence on the actual
> American surf bands at the time as well.
> Lastly, aren't the Ventures responsible for a
> cultural change in Japan during 1965?
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