LONDON'S QUESTION

[Stan666]

Friends,
Someone knows why Hank did London’s not too far alone?

[Arpeggio]

Hank wrote "London's Not Too Far" after being inspired by the themes (based on real life events) explored in "She's Leaving Home" (on the "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" LP). Originally, he had no plans to record it himself. What I cannot remember is who he had in mind to offer it to. (Cliff Richard recorded an LP version on "Sincerely" - but I don't think that Hank specifically wrote it with Cliff in mind). Thus, I cannot fully answer the question as to why he decided to record it himself and why it was not credited as a Shadows release per se.

[iefje]

It was just over a year before The Shadows would break up for the first time, that Brian recorded his first solo album in March and August, 1967 and Hank recorded "London's Not Too Far" on November 4th of the same year. Maybe Hank thought "if Brian can do it, I can do it too". Also, they were getting tired of the yearly routine of doing things as a group, so that must have been one of the reasons to start making solo recordings.