The Shadows at their Very Best cd

[johnsmith]

I spotted The Shadows at their Very Best cd in a store today and on reading the sleeve notes it seems the tracks are re-recordings with some of the numbers having a longer running time than the originals. I just wondered if anyone out there has the cd and a) is it worth buying? b) are the tracks better or not as good? I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks, John

[johnsmith]

Thanks for the info Steve,much appreciated. Regards, John.

[John M.]

The shadows at theyre very best is also the title of an album they did for polydor.
You can see the sleeve here:-
www.amazon.co.uk/Their-Very-Best-The-Shadows/dp/B0000073Q7

[Deleted]

Hi John, Steve,

Steve, I'm not sure that your are right about this CD being a recording of their 2004 Final Tour. The Final Tour CD and DVD is a separate item all together. (Red Covers not White)

This is all very confusing because there are so many titles with the words 'Very Best' included in them.

John M is right when he says that 'At Their Very Best' is the title of a CD released by Polydor (But in 1989) with a selection of their original titles all re-recorded. The cover is white with an upright red Stratocaster on it. To add to the confusion, the same cover is used for a DVD of the Shadows Live performance at the Liverpool Empire and released in the same year .. so in effect the CD content does not match that of the DVD.

Finally, as Steve says, the CD is available at Tesco's for £3.47, but there is also an MP3 download at Tesco's titled 'The Shadows At Their Very Best' which contains a real mixture of early material - totally different to the other track list. More confusion !!

The definitive listing is to be found in Malcolm Campbell and Les Woosey's great book 'The Shadows and Hank Marvin' on CD' published in 2005. Anything issued since that date obviously will not be included, but there's not much out there that probably hasn't been released already anyway.

Cheers,

Ian

[Deleted]

Hi again, Steve,

Yes, that is the cover of the LP 'At Their Very Best' which is the same cover as the DVD titled exactly the same. The giveaway is in the dates as both the CD and the DVD were issued in 1989 - 15 years before the final tour - not long before they broke up in 1990.

I think it is utterly misleading to have a CD and DVD of the same name, issued in the same year, with the same cover, having totally different content. I have just played the DVD again and it is the live performance in Liverpool in 1989 which was one of the venues in their tour that year (when Bruce intoduces Hank in his new white jacket !).

From what I understand, the CD content of re-recorded hit tracks was an effort on Polydor's part to be able to publish The Shadows playing their early hits because EMI held the copyright on the originals. To deepen the confusion further, a substantial number of these same re-recordings of the early hits made by Polydor were released again (with a few variations) on another CD with a cover showing a red Stratocaster body only on a white background and called "Hit Sounds of The Shadows". This came out in 2001.

Finally, here's another instance of likely confusion .. "Hank Plays Live" ... (in Birmingham) .. CD issued in 1997 (Blue Cover), DVD issued 2004 (Different Cover). Same concert and much of the content the same, but not all !! Wonderful Land is on the CD but not the DVD.

Frankly, I think it's all a great plot to get us to keep buying re-releases.

Cheers,

Ian

[philbarker]

Hi
I have the "The Shadows at their Very Best" cd, (ref image posted by stevebarnes) and they are re-recordings as described by Ian, above. On this CD Hank is clearly using the Roland RE-301 echo unit and probably his Mesa Boogie Mark II C amp. Hope this helps.
Cheers
PhilB