FAVOURITE SHADS TUNES

[paulnic]

I was unfortunately born in 1971, so I missed the late 50's and 60's, but I was thankfully brought up on Cliff and the Shads by my dad, who unfortunately is not here with us any more.

while I was growing up it followed on to Queen, amongst others, but I always relayed back to the Shads.

I suppose the point that I am trying to make is, no matter how happy or down you are, there is always a Shads tune that puts a smile on your face.

For me of late I have just learned "Round and Round" and it is a fantastic piece of music. I still cannot however, do the dance moves with it!! lol

Just thought I would share this with you.

Paul ;D

[Charlie Hall]

I like Round And Round too.
My favourite Shads tune overall is Wonderful Land, but it's not just the tune, it's the sound that probably makes more than 50% of it for me. However close any of us try, we have never managed to match the sound exactly. For me, half of it is the guitar tone and the other half is the echo sound.
Regards,
Charlie

[paulnic]

Hi Charlie

Wonderful Land is a nice sounding tune too. Another that I particularly like playing is "Tonight", When I play it, it reminds me of my duaghter that I lost 3 years ago. I like the haunting echo sound that the song has.

Paul

[harley]

Hi all

i couldnt pick 1 tune so my favourites would be wonderful land, atlantis, and theme for young lovers

regards
Ian

[joeboy]

Hi

There are several so it would be hard to pick a single tune. Atlantis was my favourite when I was young & still remains one of my favourites

[twang46]

I'm with Charlie with "Wonderful Land"

I get the breakdown as .... 50% guitar tone, 50% echo tone, 50% Hanks playing, 50% Abbey Road studio

I know it's more than 100% but didn't some one once say that "the sum of the parts is greater than the whole"

Thats why I think it is more or less impossible to catch the recorded sound of the originals 100%

Just my 2 pennies worth ;D

Cheers

Dick

[spikestevens]

Another vote for 'Wonderful Land' from me, too. Closely followed by 'Atlantis'. But I also like the rather quirky ones like 'Quartermasters Store' etc.

[roymattblack]

Yes, Wonderful land, Atlantis and Them for Y.L.
There's an overall sound to the whole track (Atlantis particularly) that seems impossible to capture.
It's not just Hanks guitar....
That's partly why I don't try to copy him too much.
It would be an endless quest.
I prefer to be influenced by him and 'do my own thang'.....
It's fun to play things Hank never did (as far as I know) but in a vague 'Shads' kind of way.

Roy.

[rosemary]

There are so many I could list including all the above but another of my favourites is Genie With The Light Brown Lamp. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL-ecbBQYjk
best wishes
Rosemary

[benitor]

Mar 6, 2011 18:09:50 GMT harley said:

Hi all

i couldnt pick 1 tune so my favourites would be wonderful land, atlantis, and theme for young lovers

regards
Ian

exactly the same for me
benitor

[chrishampton1981]

Hi Folks!

Very difficult for me to pick favourites but I'd say these were my top choices -

Theme For Young Lovers
Wonderful Land
Apache
Atlantis
Foot Tapper
Midnight

Kind Regards
Chris

[gthomson]

Paul,

I'm just a couple of years younger than you, and I too was introduced to the Shads thanks to my Dad. I distinctly remember him buying the 'String of Hits' and 'Another String of Hot Hits' albums. Because these compilations of covers in fact comprise my earliest Shadows memories - and always take me back to my childhood, I'm afraid I'd have to have some of these in my favourites list - hopefully this won't offend the purists too much ;D

If I had to compile a Top Ten, in no particular order, it would contain:

Apache
Wonderful Land
The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt
The Savage
The Frightened City
FBI
Cavatina
Riders in the Sky
Black is Black
Baker Street


.....actually, it's difficult to stop at ten!

Incidentally, I too became a fan of Queen - too late, once again, as it was my girlfriend at the time who promted me to segue into their music...about a year after Freddie Died HBM will always be the main man for me, but Brian May gives him a d**n good run for his money!

GT

[paulnic]

hi gt another string of hot hits (i remember the burning black strat on the cover lol) and the first
time i heard black is black i thought wow that is how a strat should sound lol. it just goes to show no matter what your age, you can still appreciate shadows music (appreciate - thats a big word for me at this time of morning..lol ) and yes brian may does give Hank a good run for his money

paul

[groundhog]

I like Atlantis and Wonderful Land But my fav is 36.24.36. and I have yet to hear one of us do a version of it. It won't be me cause I am not good enough But what about some of you . Cheers John

[Charlie Hall]

Hi John,
I have always liked 36-24-36 too. I am probably going to do a version of it fairly soon.
Regards,
Charlie

[paulnic]

hi all
36.24.36 what a brilliant sound it has. what i want to know is which girl is the song on about? ... lol

[jimmyc]

Hi Everyone

My three favourites are : Wonderful Land
Peace Pipe
Little Princess

It's certainly hard to choose though !

Jim

[solidlg]

Hi Everyone,

Well Wonderful Land started me on the road to playing Shads numbers, has to be, as Charlie and others have said, the most haunting of numbers, and the sound achieved just lifted by the addition of the Strings, so that's number 1 for sure.

Like everyone else who have posted here, every number listed is right up there, and you can add many more from the early days, The High and Mighty, Chattanooga, Fandango and the list goes on.

Another of my favorites is Deep Purple, great to play and a great arrangement.

Think of how many of these tunes keeps us off the streets at night :-)
All the best
Steve
Toronto

[rogerbayliss]

Justin Daish did a great live version of 36-24-36 with Jet Harris at Shadowmania last year and it is on UTube.

I like most of the early stuff myself and it is hard to pick a favourite but the original line up with Jet and Tony !

[niccolosito]

Hello everybody,

There must be something wrong with me! Or maybe it's because I've always heard "Wonderful Land" in mono that's why I never really fell for it. As you all know, the "stereo spread" sometimes contributes to the overall appeal of a tune. Now, The Savage has always been my favorite, in mono or in stereo, it doesn't matter. Next would be Sleepwalk, Atlantis, Nivram, Perfidia, Peace Pipe, Shindig, 36-24-36, Les Girls, Man of Mystery, Bossa Roo, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Geronimo, Gonzales, and of course, Theme For Young Lovers.
Thank you.

My best regards,
Nick
Winnetka, CA
USA

[neopardyguitars]

Hi Paulic,
In 1963, I was 14 and lying in bed ill. My parents bought me a small record player with a lid, and 3 45's. One of them was 'Wonderful land' - A lifetime of enjoyment started on that day.. There was a second hand record shop not far away, and I quickly discovered this instrumental band already had a number of previous 45's and album. Wonderful music....
I still, at 62, can recognise Hank's sound at 60 paces, and get goosebumps whenever 'Apache' is played.
Another favourite is 'Evening Comes' from Hanks' 'Would You Belive it' Album. I think it was released in Australia , before that , but is is very representative of his 'squeezbox' style.

[ramdrew]

I too was brought up on Shads and Clif by my Dad. Best tune? Hard to say but I like the random titled tracks such a Ranka Chank, I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Arther and With A Hmm Hmm On My Knee.

The Stranger is great little track but If I had to choose it would be Dance On. The reason? I can remeber being pleases as punch of mastering the hammer on / pull off when I was around 7 or 8 yeasrs old. Dad gave me a stack of 45's and Dansette record player when He bought me my first guitar whne I was 6 and said 'there you go - you want to go twang? Get on with it'

Love him ;o)

[paulnic]

hi and thanks for all your comments
I have to say that the Savage is up there in my top ten, and how the hell does Bruce Welsh keep that rhythm going all the way through??? coz Im knackered after two strums!! lol
Paul

[DaveC]

I can't believe that no one has listed "Kon Tiki". Surely that must feature somewhere in everyone's Top 20!

Dave C.