Bruce has always maintained that "Foot Tapper" (version#1 recorded 10/12/62, version#2 recorded 8/1/63) was the very first track on which they were able to use overdubs (in the sense that we think of the term nowadays) thanks to multi - track recording. Prior to this, as Bruce has ruefully recalled many times, if anything went wrong, the entire track would have to be played all the way through again from beginning to end. I'm inclined to go with the January 1963 re - make as being the first use of overdubbing to which Bruce referred.
Bruce has always maintained (as indeed have Hank, Jet, Tony and Brian) that they didn't employ extra session guitarists either. (I'm particularly referring to 1960 - 1962 here). That being the case - then how come those 'extra' guitar lines are there - and sometimes extra percussion? 1) There was no multi - tracking and so overdubs were out of the question 2) The group members themselves maintain that extra musicians ( with particular reference to guitarists & drummers) were never used 3) Apart from the Chinese drum on "Apache" - I do believe (for all manner of reasons) that we can take it as read that Cliff wasn't involved any further in any instrumental capacity on Shadows' recordings.
The 'phantom' guitarist on these great Shadows tracks is.......none other than Bruce Welch himself. Similarly, any extra drumming (including the bongos on "Gonzales") was provided by Tony Meehan. But how? Plus (I hear you say - to me - 'How do you know? You weren't there!') how can I be so certain?
OK. Just over two years ago - someone who I have known for about thirty years or more came into possession (on cassette tapes) of c. 45 hours (yes - 45 hours!!) of EMI rehearsal / recording sessions (Cliff Richard / Shadows, a little Shadows) 1959 - 1966. He wouldn't tell me how he came by them. Even though I've known him for c. thirty years - he will not copy even a single track for me (for fear of prosecution). Also - he most definitely does not wish to be identified. The only way that I've been able to listen to these recordings is by going around to his house (which I'm not able to do all that frequently). I would guess that I've heard about 25 hours' worth so far.
For example - all 35 takes of "Fall In Love With You" - which includes about a dozen 'Breakdowns' and as many false starts - there were only a handful of complete takes - with the final one being the 'best'. Or how about all 11 takes of "On The Beach". The first 8 or 9 are purely instrumental (no involvement from Cliff at all) - fascinating to hear how these tracks were developed from beginning to end. During the break between each take of "O.T.B." for example you can quite clearly hear Hank, Bruce and Brian talking to each other - making suggestions etc - as well as Hank experimenting with different sounds / solos. When Norrie wasn't involved quite so much - it was always Bruce urging everyone on and keeping things moving. Overdubs were available here and there are separate sections with Hank / Bruce preparing their vocal harmonies - which were dubbed on later.
The 'secret' of the very early 'overdubs' was all to do with a mixture of building up Composite tracks or 'bouncing' one of two tracks down to one track and then recording something else on the now 'vacant' track - or, much riskier, a process of live 'Superimposition' (sometimes called 'Backtracking'?). This involved having a virtually completed master - playing that in real time and then having someone playing along live with the track playing and simultaneously recording it to make a 'new' master. Naturally the whole process was pretty risky - as any errors made whilst 'overdubbing' in this manner could potentially ruin the performance already recorded for commercial release.
I do believe that's why EMI made the Shads do so many takes of some tracks (apart from the inevitable BDs, FSs etc and other technical problems. Now, "Wonderful Land" is a good case in point. The Shadows recorded numerous complete takes (pre - orchestra) of this track. At one point - they were clearly fed - up of having to play it again after (what they considered) a couple of excellent performances. There's a lot of frustrated arguing and swearing until Jet tells everyone just to play the next take "Exactly the f*****g same as before!" They do. It's virtually identical - so virtually identical it's uncanny. This was clearly a great skill which the Shadows had. "Wonderful Land" - recorded on May 12th 1961. The Orchestra was added during January 18th / 19th 1962. Now - the stereo version is minus Tony's additional drumming (Dum - dum dum, Dum - dum dum etc) between c. 0'46" - 0'58", 1'02" - 1'30", 1'36" - end). This is because Tony 'superimposed' this on July 6th 1961. But.....he couldn't do it as an isolated 'overdub'. A tape exists of him rehearsing his extra part and then playing along live from 0'46" to the end with the group's performance from May 12th. Presumably this was then mixed / 'bounced' down to mono immediately. I can only presume that EMI must have had a backup copy of the stereo master - but, of course, it's minus what Tony did on July 6th! Thus when EMI put out "Wonderful Land" on 'hit' compilations - the stereo version isn't stereo at all - it's the mono track 'enhanced' for stereo.
There are lots of examples on Cliff / Shads tracks where either Hank or Bruce are instructed to 'play along with' a previously recorded take in order to create a 'new' track. Malcolm Addy can be frequently heard to announce that such and such a take is to go from 'Track 2' to 'Track 1' or is a stereo remix etc., etc. Look, I'm not a recording expert - but someone reading this will be able to work out the kind of things which were obviously going on - such as adding different / extra vocal harmonies by singing 'live' to synchronise with a completed take - the whole, as it were, being re - recorded. So, this is certainly the case with tracks like "Big Boy" and "Gonzales" (and therefore probably most of the other examples). So many complete takes which are virtually identical. At some point - during one of the 57 takes - Tony plays bongos in sync with a previously completed take. Ditto Bruce 'thickens' up a rhythm line by dint of playing along with an already existing take.
With so many tracks, so many sessions, so many takes, so many years ago (nearly 50 now!!!). Plus - throw in Cliff sessions, Cliff / Shads sessions, BBC sessions, filming, TV Broadcasts, Pantomimes, numerous live shows etc., etc. Is it little wonder that he simply wouldn't remember putting down extra rhythm guitar on a handful of tracks nearly 50 years ago. That's why he is sometimes puzzled - because you can hear the extra guitar. Yes, Bruce knows that the first (separate, isolated, multi - track) overdubs proper were c. January 1963. He is adamant (as they are all) that session players weren't used and he is adamant (as are they all) that Cliff didn't play on any Shadows tracks (apart from "Apache"). There's one Cliff track for example (the title escapes me) where you can clearly hear Hank (again pre - January 1963) playing two slightly different solos simultaneously. Again, this must have been achieved by 'live' simultaneous 'Superimposition' - a bit like George Harrison in "Can't Buy Me Love"!!
A very, very long post....thanks to anyone who has read it to the end!!!!!
Bests.....Rob
PS: Please don't ask me to divulge the owner of these tapes (now transferred to CD) - I won't break a confidence.
PPS: I can't copy any tracks for anyone - because I don't have copies myself!!!!
