Marvin, Welch & Farrar: 50 years

[MeBHank]

A point taken from the article I posted:

Nobody really knew that Marvin and Welch could sing. Yes, The Shadows did backing vocals for Cliff Richard from time to time but most audiences assumed that, because they specialised in instrumentals, there wasn’t a strong vocalist in the band. It turned out that not only could Marvin and Welch both sing but that they were both perfectly capable of doing lead and harmony vocals, to considerable effect.

I can't find it on YouTube at the moment (I fully expected to find it) but follow this link to a well-known live Shads performance and listen to the way Hank and (specifically) Bruce effortlessly share lead vocal duties:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2xomll

Bruce shifts into harmony so easily, and you don't even realise he's done it. Yes, it's mixed well, but hell, the man is a master. They might not have been happy with the recorded results of their harmony singing when they were young and just starting out, but thirty years of experience (not least the time spent with Farrar) meant The Geordie Boys became harmony singers who could contend with the world's absolute best.

[fzrsew49]

That’s interesting, last week I submitted (via email) “Let me be the one” the 1975 Eurovision entry, to be included in “Johnnies Juke box” on the Sunday edition of the Johnnie Walker show Radio2. As far as I could see, The Shadows were not represented.

[GoldenStreet]

They might not have been happy with the recorded results of their harmony singing when they were young and just starting out, but thirty years of experience (not least the time spent with Farrar) meant The Geordie Boys became harmony singers who could contend with the world's absolute best.

Certainly, they were disappointed with their 2i's efforts to emulate the 'brother' harmonies of Don and Phil, and probably those with the Five Chesternuts, but to this day I still derive full enjoyment listening to the vocals on the eponymous first album.

Bill

[Fenderman]

It would have been a rather different story had either Feelin' Fine or Saturday Dance were substantial huts, it shows they were good vocalists, and may have become a vocal group. My Dad always said 'they can't sing for buttons' I tried to prove him wrong!
It's interesting that there was no vocal tracks after 1984, it was as if they had gave up trying to prove they could do it.

[drakula63]

It would have been a rather different story had either Feelin' Fine or Saturday Dance were substantial huts, it shows they were good vocalists, and may have become a vocal group. My Dad always said 'they can't sing for buttons' I tried to prove him wrong!
It's interesting that there was no vocal tracks after 1984, it was as if they had gave up trying to prove they could do it.

I think, after the failure of 'Guardian Angel', in 1984, Polydor insisted upon only albums of instrumentals from then on. I once played a friend 'Simplify Your Head' and asked him who he thought it was. Indeed... he listened, thought about it for a minute and said "The Who." The Shadows/MWF were extraordinarily good singers and there can be no doubt about this. Another friend of mine incorrectly identified the band playing/singing 'Love De Luxe' as The Moody Blues. Play virtually ANY Shads/MWF song out of context and virtually no one (if anyone) would guess who it was.

[manofmystery]

I remember many years ago, Tony Blackburn played "Love Deluxe" prior to release and asked listeners to vote if it would be a hit or a miss. He did not reveal the name of the group.
It was voted a resounding "Hit" by the listeners who were mainly young listeners. He then revealed the name of the band and suddenly attitudes changed. It wasn't going to be a hit, the song was rubbish etc.

Amazing and the public were almost right. It scraped into the charts at number 80!

Best wishes

Paul

[JimN]

A little coincidence: a couple of days ago, prior to me discovering this thread, I was conducting my semi-regular search for a backing track for Lady of the Morning (I'm probably going to eventually make my own). One Google result that cropped up (on a website which, upon visiting, I realised has nothing to do with backing tracks) featured this article. I don't know if I agree with all the opinions/statements, but I found it an interesting read. So here you go:

[quoted article, verbatim]

[Credit: https://americana-uk.com/forgotten-arti ... lch-farrar]

A couple of things I'm not sure about: 'Second Opinion', whist brilliant, probably doesn't top 'Dark Side of the Moon' or 'Wish You Were Here', for me at least. Oh, and I don't think that Lady of the Morning is 'weak' in any way. It's a wonderful piece of music, and was, IMO, one of the highlights of the 2004/5 Final Tour.

Overall I think this article is an excellent piece and a very summation of the reasons why M,W&F didn't succeed. They really deserved to. I genuinely prefer their songs over those of C,S&N(&Y). They're more listenable.

Many thanks for bringing this to my attention, Justin. It was just what I needed for a commentary over on the FB group "The Shadows' Albums"!

So far, it's been quoted in the "MW&F" commentary, and I'll use different parts of it for "Second Opinion" and "M&F".

[Uncle Fiesta]

Well I don't think Love Deluxe sounds much like the Moody Blues but will agree that Simplify Your Mind has the Who written all over it!

[drakula63]

Well I don't think Love Deluxe sounds much like the Moody Blues but will agree that Simplify Your Mind has the Who written all over it!

Listen to early 80s Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager and The Present.

[iefje]

During the last couple of months, beginning around the Christmas period, I started listening again to the original LP issues of all of The Shadows' albums and last weekend I listened to both the Marvin, Welch & Farrar albums and the Marvin & Farrar album.
The "Hank Marvin & John Farrar" album long ago became one of my favourite albums, with for me as highlights "So Hard To Live With", "Music Makes My Day", "Skin Deep", "Galadriel (Spirit Of Starlight)", "You Never Can Tell" and "Nobody Cares". I do think however, that "So Hard To Live With" and "Skin Deep" would have worked better as singles, than "Music Makes My Day" and "Small And Lonely Light".
"Galadriel (Spirit Of Starlight)" is quite a strange and haunting track, which is why I like it very much. I can't help imagining John Farrar singing from the sky during the verses and then Hank and John together singing to the sky during the choruses. All this together with Richard Hewson's heavenly orchestral backing, parts of it as well as parts of John and Hank's vocals with a phase effect.