let me tell you baby... it's called rock 'n' roll - 2cd

[Arpeggio]

Cliff also recorded a Saturday Club transmitted on September 5th, 1959 and a show called 'Funny Side Up' which went out on September 8th. He was backed by the Drifters. I haven't got the new CD set yet.....but by the time of the next Cliff BBC Radio session (for Saturday Club) - transmitted on October 24th 1959 - he was backed by the Shadows. Most definitely. It's written on the actual contract filed at the BBC archives.....that Cliff's backing group (same personnel), formerly the Drifters are now to be known as the Shadows for all future contracts...beginning with the October 24th one. There was a little feature in the NME (dated September 18th, 1959) explaining why the Drifters would now be known as the Shadows. So, presumably sometime around 18 / 9 / 1959. Plus - they were definitely billed as the Shadows by the BBC on 24 / 10 / 1959.

Bests....Rob

[Fenderman]

I'm not a massive CR fan so i would prefer to see a CD of just Drifters/Shadows material.

[Arpeggio]

Don't worry Roy. It's definitely 'in the offing'. John Beecher's next major project I think.

Bests....Rob

[damart]

Cliff sounds great on some of these early recordings, pure rock n roll. Generally for that time period the sound is excellent Thankyou Rollercoaster records and Bernie Andrews. DPM.

[iefje]

Apart from a few recordings from late 1958 with Terry Smart on drums, the remainder features the classic Drifters and original Shadows line-up. This release then, is I think a very fitting posthumous tribute to Jet and Tony. I think this applies also to Bernie Andrews from a 'behind the scenes' point of view.

[GoldenStreet]

Cliff also recorded a Saturday Club transmitted on September 5th, 1959 and a show called 'Funny Side Up' which went out on September 8th. He was backed by the Drifters. I haven't got the new CD set yet.....but by the time of the next Cliff BBC Radio session (for Saturday Club) - transmitted on October 24th 1959 - he was backed by the Shadows. Most definitely. It's written on the actual contract filed at the BBC archives.....that Cliff's backing group (same personnel), formerly the Drifters are now to be known as the Shadows for all future contracts...beginning with the October 24th one. There was a little feature in the NME (dated September 18th, 1959) explaining why the Drifters would now be known as the Shadows. So, presumably sometime around 18 / 9 / 1959. Plus - they were definitely billed as the Shadows by the BBC on 24 / 10 / 1959.

Bests....Rob

Thanks, Rob, for the confirmation.

An interesting point Rob Finnis makes in his notes is that the name change was made on the advice of Aberbach Music, the US publishers whose UK operation, overseen by the late Freddy Bienstock and based at 17 Savile Row in the West End, became known as Belinda, then subsequently Carlin Music Corp, and of which Shadows Music was a subsidiary.

http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/fred ... ies/040807

Bill

[cockroach]

I'm waiting to get a copy of this, but in the meantime, I'm impatient and curious to know, does it feature them using their old gear before the Strat and echo etc?
That is, I presume Hank is using the old Antoria with just a Selmer amp for most of the pre- Apache material?

[GoldenStreet]

I'm waiting to get a copy of this, but in the meantime, I'm impatient and curious to know, does it feature them using their old gear before the Strat and echo etc?
That is, I presume Hank is using the old Antoria with just a Selmer amp for most of the pre- Apache material?

John,

The earliest session represented on the CD is from 23rd December 1958 (6 tracks), recorded at the old Aeolian Hall studios in New Bond Street, although these are off-air recordings (not a brilliant sound in the circumstances), the original tapes having been lost or destroyed. There are also tracks included from sessions on 11th March (also off-air) and 13th April 1959 (from the Playhouse Studio in Manchester), which are almost certainly pre-Strat days, with Hank likely to be playing the Antoria... not too sure about his amp, though!

Bill

[cockroach]

Thanks Bill- Hank and Bruce had small Selmer amps before the Vox AC15s were used.

[cockroach]

Just got the CD-

Very, very interesting! You can hear Hank’s playing improving, especially after he got the Strat and started using the vibrato arm...couldn’t hear much, if any , echo on Apache and QM stores though?? Mind you, the little Antoria sounded really funky on the early Drifters stuff, and you could almost feel the resistance of the heavy gauge strings (of which I now have three new flatwound sets for future use!)

Jet was amazing right through- some great driving bass playing and the cheeky little bugger was often cranked up louder than Hank! And as for Tony Meehan...wow! I know BB is great kickarse rock’n’roll player as well as a great technician (as per Kingston Live 1962) but Tony was really doing the business here, and poor old Terry Smart sounds a bit pedestrian by comparison on the earliest stuff- no wonder they got the little Irish kid into the band.
Bruce? As usual, he coasts through with his ‘four chords in any key’.....apart from some nice harmonies with Cliff and Hank, but he got better as he went on, perfecting his technique, touch and sound. He was perhaps more impressive on records really, I think..

Sir Cliff? Not too bad at all really as a rock’n’roll singer, and they were at least a PROPER Rock’n’roll group then...( before the inevitable musical improvement and sophistication, and the eventual softening of the whole setup towards ‘all round entertainment’ – pantomime, TV, comedy/variety, weak films etc...)