by abstamaria » Sun Oct 15, 2023 4:20 am
I believe Theme for Young Lovers was recorded in November 1963. Personally, I don’t consider it "Burns Era" in sound and style. It follows the usual format, with an acoustic guitar for rhythm and likely a Strat for lead, both played by Hank. John Rostill still was on bass, his last I think.
For me, That Sound -- the Holy Grail we have been chasing -- is the early, pre-Burns sound of Hank.
Some years ago, a young fellow in our staff drove me to a friend's home, where a good band was playing assorted 60s music. He did not join us in the patio where the band was, but stayed by the driveway on the other side of the house, chatting with other staff.
On our way home in the car, he told me he was so struck by the opening guitar strains of a tune that wafted in from the other side of the house. He hummed it to me. It was The Young Ones. He had never heard it before. "What is that!" he said he exclaimed to himself as he stopped what he was doing to listen. The first few notes drew him in and captivated him.
There is magic to the early Shadows pieces.
It was, I think, not only That Sound, although that was a critical component, but also the material and the style that made the difference. The Shadows changed all that in1964, along with the guitars. The 1965 album The Sound of the Shadows was and is alien to many old fans, including me.
I agree that by 1964 instrumentals were out of mainstream music, and the Shadows would probably not have retained their popularity even if they stuck with their old formula. But if the Shadows had done that, That Sound intact, It is entirely possible we and the other bands here and elsewhere would be playingp1964-65 tracks till now.
Andy