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--- In , "supertwangreverb"
<supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
>
> > What I WAS saying is that the Shadows actually inspired many
more
> > guitarists who ended up becoming legendary (even though many
surf
> > fans may not really like them) then the Ventures.
>
> Ivan, someone would have to do a load of research to make that a
> valid point.
I understand, and I'm not providing any backing for this claim. It
is based on my twenty-plus years of reading a ton of guitar
magazines and books, and being especially sensitive to anything to
do with the Shadows (having been a huge fan already when I was 12)
when reading these interviews.
I think it's hard for most people that haven't paid much attention
to the Shadows - i.e., the great majority of Americans - to fully
appreciate how revolutionary the Shadows were in the UK (and much of
Europe). I have been researching everything Shadows related for a
long time, so I tend to take it for granted, and I forget that most
people here don't understand that. I recommend that you do some
research into it. Their impact was almost equivalent to
Beatlemania. They just kept knocking out top-ten hits one after
another for a period of three years, and after that golden period
they still kept having hits for a couple of years, in the middle of
the MerseyBeat years, which was quite an accomplishment. I once
even heard that some Fender guy said that the only reason why they
kept producing the Stratocaster in the mid sixties (so from '64
until '66) is that the demand for fiesta red Strats from Europe was
huge!
There were guys like Clapton, Page and Beck that were already
listening to American rock and blues before the Shadows hit, but for
most British musicians rock and roll music started either when they
heard one of Cliff's early hits like Move It, or more likely when
they heard Apache.
> Where are we taking these lists from? I really wonder how many of
> those people would have listed the Ventures as influences as
well.
I remember very few of them talking about the Ventures. Frampton
did, I don't think any of the others did. The Ventures were not a
big deal in UK in the sixties. Just another of hundreds of other
bands.
> I need more solid evidence to be swayed either way.
Can't provide it, sorry. But hopefully if you do some research on
your own you'll see that I'm right.
> I don't think you can argue which band created more of a rock
> evolution. But I think more people worldwide know of the
Ventures.
I just don't see that. I can honestly say that in all of central
and eastern Europe nobody cares about the Ventures, or has heard of
them. One of my dad's friends back in Croatia had some Ventures
records and I remember being fascinated by them at the age of 13 or
whatever cause I never saw them anywhere else. And he would never
play them for me! (Bastard!) On the other hand, tons of people had
the Shadows records. In most Mediterrenean countries, both European
and African, Shadows were as big or bigger than the Beatles (I have
a rock'n'roll history book from '68 that makes this exact point).
In all the former British colonies, so South Africa, Canada, India,
Australia, New Zealand, etc. the Shadows were KINGS! Nobody gave a
shit about the Ventures. The Ventures did very well in Japan,
Phillipines, maybe Australia, but where else?
Again, most Americans that tend to be very American-centric, have no
idea how the rest of the world feels about these things.
> Like Phil Dirt said, the Ventures impact on rock n' roll(and I
hope
> this is what you meant Phil) is more than just a list of Guitar
Gods
> citing Nokie Edwards as their idol(and there are A LOT). It's the
> foundations they layed for young guitarists starting out, the
whole
> act that started the concept behind garage rock, pick up a guitar
> and play. They were part of the driving force in America that
> influenced these kids, and I think they were the driving force for
> the Japanese kids.
I could say pretty much the same things about the Shadows.
Ivan
