Dusted Reviews
Artist: The Shadows Album: Shadows Are Go! Label: Scamp Review date: Mar. 31, 2002 |
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Who can deny the lure of twangy guitars? Not me, so I’m pretty grateful to Scamp for compiling this swanky 23-song compilation of vintage Shadows material from 1961 through 1966. Besides backing England’s reigning Elvis impersonator Cliff Richard for nearly a decade, this snappily be-suited foursome churned out hit after hit for the British pop market.
Behind Cliff or out alone, lead guitarist Hank Marvin’s liquid, reverbed sound in the process inspired countless English lads (Richard Thompson, for one) to aspire to something beyond their appointed station. Even after the hits stopped coming, they soldiered on like good professionals, not quitting until 1986, but this disk wisely keeps its focus on their earliest, best work.
A superficial listen might invite one to dismiss the Shadows as tea-stained Duane Eddy wannabes, but that’s hardly fair. Sure, they lifted Eddy’s twang, and there’s something conceptually dodgy about a London combo having a hit named “Apache”; but listen to the tune’s stirring melody and you’ll never peg it for the work of a fish & chips western outfit. Like Eddy, the band’s status as bona fide showbiz pros led them to successfully tackle a myriad of genres, but with greater success. The Shadows handled smoochy teen love themes, cha-cha novelties and exotica with as much aplomb as they did the western twang. The title says it all – Shadows Are Go!
By Bill Meyer
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