The ShadowMusic Web Community

Interesting recording and sounds a little rudimentary - is it my imagination or does the tempo vary throughout (sounded like the drummer to me).

I love the 1950s and very early 1960s terminology - "amplified harmonica"..... I suspect everything was amplified - why just pick on the poor old harmonica!!

I've got it on the 'As good as it's going to get' CD. I was offered an original 45 from a collector but he wanted £100 for it! I said no

For years, the Five Chesternuts record was one of those 'holy grail' Shadows+related recordings which as a teenage Shadows fan in the 70s I dreamt about finding...along with Feelin' Fine (which I bought for 10p at the 1979 Radio 1 Ally Pally record fair), Jet Black (which I had to pay £10 for from Rob Finnis' At the Hop shop in Fulham Broadway) and Chinchilla (I also got the Serious Charge EP grom Rob Finnis -that was only £8!). (At the time I earnt £8.62 a week clearing tables on a Saturday at The Salad Bowl in Fenwick's in Brent Cross; I remember The Beverley Sisters came in there once...) I seem to remember the Chesternuts' sides first appeared (in 'modern' times) on those 'Sixties Lost and Found'' LPs on the See for Miles label...anyone still reading?!

As I mentioned earlier, I first heard them (as well as The Vipers' single "Summertime Blues"/"Liverpool Blues") during a Dutch radio show documenting the Cliff Richard & The Shadows story, back in October, 1991, which I recorded on cassette. I later bought them on the 1994 Italian semi-bootleg CD "Atlantis - The Classic Collection". I also have them on the 2012 Dutch double CD "Just About As Good As It Gets!". However, I still would like to have a copy of the original single, which will probably become more and more difficult.

Was it released on 78 as well as 45? I bet they would fetch quite a price on the collectors market.

Fenderman wrote:Was it released on 78 as well as 45? I bet they would fetch quite a price on the collectors market.

It was:

In the 80s I found my copy in a second hand record shop in Southsea/Portsmouth. When I asked for the price they wanted an offer from me. As a joke I said 5 quid and I got it for that price minus 10% as they had a sales week.
The Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide from 2006 lists it in mint condition at 110/200 (78/45 rpm) but I have never again seen a 78 rpm copy.

In Hank's case, I suppose he could accurately be described as a 'schoolboy jazzman', having bought and played a banjo when at school.

Bill