The Shadows (album)

The Shadows is a 1961 rock album by British group The Shadows, which reached number one in the UK charts.

Not to be confused with The Shadows (EP), an EP of the same name.

The Shadows
Studio album by
The Shadows
ReleasedSeptember 1961
Recorded1961
GenreRock & roll
LabelColumbia (EMI) SX1374 (mono); SCX3414 (stereo) (UK)
ProducerNorrie Paramor
The Shadows chronology
The Shadows
(1961)		 Out of the Shadows
(1962)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Track listing
Side 1
  1. "Shadoogie" (Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris, Tony Meehan)
  2. "Blue Star" (Victor Young, Edward Heyman)
  3. "Nivram" (Bruce Welch, Hank Marvin, Jet Harris)
  4. "Baby My Heart" (Sonny Curtis) – (Vocal: Hank Marvin)
  5. "See You in My Drums" (Tony Meehan) – Drum solo
  6. "All My Sorrows" (Dave Guard, Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds) – (Vocal: Jet Harris)
  7. "Stand Up and Say That" (Hank Marvin)
Side 2
  1. "Gonzales" (Jet Harris, Bruce Welch, Hank Marvin)
  2. "Find Me a Golden Street" (Norman Petty)
  3. "Theme from a Filleted Place" (Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris)
  4. "That's My Desire" (Helmy Kresa, Carroll Loveday) – (Vocal: Bruce Welch)
  5. "My Resistance Is Low" (Hoagy Carmichael)
  6. "Sleepwalk" (Ann Farina, Santo Farina, Johnny Farina, Don Wolf)
  7. "Big Boy" (Bruce Welch, Hank Marvin)

Chart positions
Chart Year Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[2] 1961 1

Personnel

Instruments

Recording

The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios (Studio 2) between 26 October 1960 and 21 June 1961. It was recorded on entirely analogue equipment in real time, with each track recorded on a one-track-per-day basis with no overdubs or edits on a 2 track recording machine. Rather than having a stereo mix being mixed down into a mono version, both stereo and mono mixes were recorded simultaneously but separately within the same session. Mistakes made during recording necessitated immediate retakes, and for that reason, multiple versions for some (if not all) tracks exist in EMI's tape vaults.

All of the tracks were recorded in several sessions over an eight-month period (nine session-days), during which singles were also recorded, including "Kon-Tiki", "She Wears Red Feathers" (unissued), "The Frightened City", "Wonderful Land", "36-24-36", "March of the Shadows" (unissued), "Peace Pipe", "The Savage", "Blues From an Unfurnished Flat" (unissued), "Happy Birthday to You" (unissued except in an overdubbed form on 21 Today), an LP by Cliff Richard.

The songs from the album were recorded in this order:

  • "Gonzales" – recorded 26 October 1960
  • "Baby My Heart" – recorded 27 January 1961
  • "Find Me a Golden Street" – recorded 27 January 1961
  • "Theme From a Filleted Place" – recorded 1 June 1961
  • "Blue Star" – recorded 18 February 1961
  • "Shadoogie" – recorded 20 April 1961
  • "Sleepwalk" – recorded 20 April 1961
  • "That's My Desire" – recorded 20 April 1961
  • "Big Boy" – recorded 12 May 1961
  • "See You in My Drums" – recorded 1 June 1961
  • "All My Sorrows" – recorded 13 June 1961
  • "Nivram" – recorded 13 June 1961
  • "Stand Up and Say That" – recorded 13 June 1961
  • "My Resistance is Low" – recorded 21 June 1961

Formats
Vinyl
  • 1961: 1st – (Stereo) Light Green, and (Mono) Dark Green Columbia label
  • 1963: 2nd – (Stereo) Blue/Black Green Columbia label
  • 1970: 3rd – (Stereo) Black/Silver EMI label
Tape
  • 1961: Reel to reel tape
  • 1973: Cassette and 8 Track cartridge 2-fer ("The Shadows As Was!"): The Shadows/Out of the Shadows. EMI Double Executive Series label
  • 1980: Cassette (MFP Label)
CD
  • 1991: Normal. 2-fer (2-4-1) CD: The Shadows/Out of the Shadows. Jewel case
  • 1997: Remastered. 2-fer (2-4-1) CD: (Mono and Stereo albums). Jewel case

Notes

The sleeve notes were written by Cliff Richard.

This album is cited by many highly influential and successful British rock/metal/heavy metal guitarists (e.g. Brian May of Queen) as being their no.1 favorite Shadows album thus influencing them in their career first choice in music.

Only Shadoogie, Nivram, All My Sorrows and Sleepwalk were used "live on stage" to promote this album in 1961-2. Nivram has been used as 1st choice Shadows bass solo for live concerts from 1962 right through to 2010. The track Gonzales was played live on a radio performance (late 1960) but never on stage until belatedly included on the final tour live set in 2004.

After three non-charting singles ("Feelin Fine", "Jet Black" and "Saturday Dance") followed by the massive number-one selling Apache single in June 1960, the group ostensibly merited an immediate debut album but in the UK at that time albums were of secondary importance to singles and EPs (the reverse was true in the US). Hence the year-long delay in releasing this important album. The UK's economy was still not sufficiently strong to enable the British record buying public to prioritise albums over singles in terms of purchasing choices. From the mid-1960s, the album would eventually predominate over the single in the UK.

This is the only Shadows album that features the original Shadows line up with Tony Meehan and Jet Harris. Meehan was sacked for persistent lateness in 1961 and Harris was constructively dismissed (resigned) in 1962. The only other early album of note featuring Harris and Meehan is the South African "Rockin Guitars" Shadows special compilation album.

The British public in 1960-61 anticipated an all instrumental debut album but the Shadows and Paramor wanted to produce an album showcasing their numerous diverse talents instead, hence the inclusion of two specialist instrumental "solos", Nivram (a bass feature) and See You In My Drums (an obviously drum-heavy track). The album was rounded out with three relatively unexpected vocals. By contrast, the debut album of The Ventures (seen to be their American counterpart) was an all-instrumental one.

This album reached the number-one slot in the UK albums chart in 1961. No singles were taken from it, though two "extract" Eps were compiled from its tracks: "The Shadows No. 2" and "The Shadows No. 3" - both in mono only. The group's first EP The Shadows (available in both mono and stereo) had been released in January 1961 and featured four original tracks: Mustang, Shotgun, Theme From Giant and Theme From Shane.

However, notwithstanding any minor criticisms, this very successful debut album features seven (out of fourteen) all new original compositions written by members of the Shadows in various permutations, thus contradicting many later British authors who erroneously claim that this period of British pop music "before the Beatles" was 100% influenced and dominated by "Tin Pan Alley" songwriters who wrote their material at offices in London's fashionable West End.

Bibliography
Books
  1. That Sound (From Move It on, the story of the magic sound of The Shadows), by R.Pistolesi, M.Addey & M.Mazzini. Publ: Vanni Lisanti. June 2000.
  2. Rock 'n' Roll - I gave you the best years of my life, Autobiography by Bruce Welch. Publ. Viking Penguin Inc., London. 1989. ISBN 0-670-82705-3

See also

References
  1. Thompson, Dave. The Shadows at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  2. "The Official Charts Company - The Shadows - The Shadows". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
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