Was Bert Weedon the catalyst for the Shads 70s resurgence?

[bgohara]

I've been starting to transfer some old video footage onto DVD and I dug out a 'Bert Weedon Play in a Day video' that I think my mum got me for Christmas about 20 years ago - which teaches you half a dozen chords from scratch. Now Bert's music is not my bag (to me he is from the pre 'rock 'n' roll era) - and I know that there was recently a discussion on these boards about his version of 'Apache' (which, in my opinion, is not a patch on the Shads definitive version) - but it did get me thinking.....I remember hearing his '22 Golden Guitar Greats' when I was a bit younger - which contains a number of Shads tunes (Apache, Man of Mystery, Kon Tiki and I think Dance on) - of these I think that Dance on was probably the best - though some of the others aren't great (although while Bert's music isn't my scene I did appreciate his undoubted skill)

But it got me thinking.....while I know that Hank and Bruce wrote 'Mr Guitar' for Bert, and I think that 'Shadoogie' was, no doubt, influenced by 'Guitar Boogie Shuffle', I'm not sure that Bert was that significant an influence on the Shads...(although I would be interested what other members think....?)

HOWEVER - Bert's '22 golden guitar greats' was released in the mid 70s - and I think that this actually went to No 1 in the album charts. Given that the Shads '20 Golden Greats' was a monster hit in 1977 - do you think that Bert actually paved the way for their renaissance with the success of his album (which actually featured a few shads numbers?)

Interested in any views.

Bernie

PS - I know that Hank also paid tribute to Bert in his 'This is Your Life'...probably from about 1992?

[neil2726]

Yes Bert had a big influence on us all from that era. While the Shads were our idols and inspiration Bert's contribution should not be underestermated. His "Play in a Day" book was a God send for it actually showed where to finger the chords and where all the notes were on the guitar neck. This was backed up by his weekly tutorials on live childrens TV!

[ecca]

Bert was all we had.... for a time.
God bless him.

[George Geddes]

Well, it may have been a factor to the extent that EMI decided to make the Shadows one of their 20 Golden Greats series - they were the third after Beach Boys and Glen Campbell (I think) - though I am not sure that the company would be too influenced by a fairly small independent record company (Warwick) even though it had a No. 1 album. Eric Hall might know - does he still have his radio show?

George

[Twang46]

Influence YES !!
Bert was from the "old school" of guitarists who crossed over to rock & roll with varying degrees of success
Berts album, King Size Guitar predates the (recorded) Shadows & stills sounds fresh today.
Together with Vic Flik from the JB7 for me the scene was then set for the emergence of a new instrumental group :-
Enter a young Irish composer ............ we of course know the rest

Cheers

Dick.

[Arpeggio]

Was Bert Weedon a catalyst for the Shadows 1970s revival? No. The Shads themselves were. Thanks to Cliff Richard's immensely popular TV shows / series in the early 70s - Bruce & Hank especially (thus thoughts of the Shadows, even in the MWF - era) kept the Shadows in the public consciousness. Then we had "Rockin' With Curly Leads", their appearance on Sounds On Sunday, Eurovision (spawning a big hit with "Let Me Be The One") with massive TV exposure, "Specs Appeal", "Live At The Paris Olympia" and "Tasty" - EMI must have sensed that the general public still loved the Shadows and their huge back catalogue of massive hits was ideal for the "20 Golden Greats" TV advertised campaign. Credit is due to John Friesen...he contacted someone at EMI with a 20 - track suggestion. Whereupon said person (only John Friesen knows who!) changed ONE track from John's suggested listing (no, I don't know which track it was) and then claimed the idea for themselves!! Anyway - the "20 Golden Greats" LP and tour certainly set up the Shads (with regular breaks) to carry on for the next 13 years after that - but I would say that it had nothing whatsoever to do with Bert Weedon - although I do like that Warwick album, which has never been released on CD. Strange really, considering how many copies the vinyl LP sold.

Rob

[Steve Parish]

'...changed ONE track from John's suggested listing...'
I'm guessing the track would have been one of the following, either The Stranger, The Boys, Rhythm And Greens or possibly even the vocal, Don't Make My Baby Blue. Maybe we will find out one day!

[bgohara]

thanks for all your thoughts above. I was just thinking that the Shads 20 Golden Greats was one of the first 'Golden Greats' - and maybe someone at EMI (or maybe even John Friesen) thought 'there could be something in this' after the success of Bert Weedon's album...

Though personally I think that the Shads 'renaissance' would have happened anyway...

[Mikey]

Without a doubt Bert was an influence on many players amatuer and professional and he doesn't get the recognition he deserves and much of that is due to his own modesty, I think.
Here's an interview with him that shows what a pioneer he was in many ways. It's a few years old but that doesn't change anything.

http://www.bertweedon.com/interview.htm

Checkout his website, its very good and he does reply to e-mails although his wife Maggie (who looks fabulous, by the way) deals with his correspondence.

I recently bought "The Very Best of Bert Weedon" CD just as a bit of a nostalgia thing and although some of the numbers seem a bit dated there is no doubting his musical ability. I particularly like "Twelve String Shuffle". Several of the tracks have "Shuffle" or "Boogie" in the title, it a sign of those times.
And he could (can) sight read a piece of music on the spot. As a "play it by ear" man, I find that most impressive No wonder they used him on so many sessions.
I say, God bless you Bert.