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vienna · 07-05-20, 05:49 AM

In the past, there have been a couple of posts dealing with the possible origins of surf music; some hold it started with Dick Dale recordings in 1961; I have suggested the overall sound of surf music (slinky guitars, rich reverb, etc.) may have come from Santo & Johnny's Sleep Walk in 1959; however there is another contender to the pre-Dick Dale crown: a British band called The Shadows who had a huge 1960 UK hit with this instrumental, Apache:

Th Shadows were the backing band for an iconic UK pop singer, Cliff Richard, and they also recorded numbers on their own. The song seems like a presaging of not only surf music, but, also, the musical guitar style and sound of future Italian "spaghetti western" soundtracks...

The fellow in the videos who looks a bit like a Buddy Holly clone is Hank Marvin, a legend in UK musical circles for his style of guitar playing and, much as US guitarists point back to Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley as early idols, UK guitarists revered Hank. He had a serious Buddy Holly (whom he closely resembled) obsession and had a Fender Stratocaster specially ordered and imported because he had seen pictures and newsreels of Buddy playing a Strat as his main guitar; Hank's Strat had a bright red finish and it became part of Hank's trademark image...

When Hank got the Strat, it came with fairly heavy gauge string, which made it hard to bend notes, but he liked the sound of the heavier strings, so he compensated by heavy use of the tremolo (whammy) bar to get his sounds; he also is known for his use of reverb/echo which he started when one of his band mates got an early echo unit and didn't like it at all, so Hank took possession; one man's disappointment was another man's success...

The Shadows did a version of Sleep Walk themselves with Hank Marvin's slinky guitar at the center:

<O>

07-05-20, 05:49 AM	#6037
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,521 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	In the past, there have been a couple of posts dealing with the possible origins of surf music; some hold it started with Dick Dale recordings in 1961; I have suggested the overall sound of surf music (slinky guitars, rich reverb, etc.) may have come from Santo & Johnny's Sleep Walk in 1959; however there is another contender to the pre-Dick Dale crown: a British band called The Shadows who had a huge 1960 UK hit with this instrumental, Apache: Th Shadows were the backing band for an iconic UK pop singer, Cliff Richard, and they also recorded numbers on their own. The song seems like a presaging of not only surf music, but, also, the musical guitar style and sound of future Italian "spaghetti western" soundtracks... The fellow in the videos who looks a bit like a Buddy Holly clone is Hank Marvin, a legend in UK musical circles for his style of guitar playing and, much as US guitarists point back to Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley as early idols, UK guitarists revered Hank. He had a serious Buddy Holly (whom he closely resembled) obsession and had a Fender Stratocaster specially ordered and imported because he had seen pictures and newsreels of Buddy playing a Strat as his main guitar; Hank's Strat had a bright red finish and it became part of Hank's trademark image... When Hank got the Strat, it came with fairly heavy gauge string, which made it hard to bend notes, but he liked the sound of the heavier strings, so he compensated by heavy use of the tremolo (whammy) bar to get his sounds; he also is known for his use of reverb/echo which he started when one of his band mates got an early echo unit and didn't like it at all, so Hank took possession; one man's disappointment was another man's success... The Shadows did a version of Sleep Walk themselves with Hank Marvin's slinky guitar at the center: <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __ Last edited by vienna; 07-05-20 at 08:07 AM.