Guitar Techniques Magazine October 2016 Retour à l'édition précédente

THE SHADOWS
The Shadows started as Cliff Richards’ backing band in the late fifties. But with the release of Apache in 1960 they unleashed a new and exciting sound on gloomy post-war Britain. Audiences loved it. Apache was a monster, topping the UK charts for five weeks and began a string of hit singles that included FBI, Foot Tapper, Man Of Mystery, Kon Tiki, Wonderful Land and many more.The band at this time featured Hank Marvin (lead), Bruce Welch (rhythm), Jet Harris (bass) and Tony Meehan (drums). Bruce Welch’s rhythm work is the foundation of The Shadows’ sound. His deft strumming technique is never sloppy; even at brisk tempos his playing remains tight and focused. In the studio Bruce primarily played acoustic, simply because that’s what complemented Hank’s electric sound best. His guitars of choice were generally Gibson, including J-45, J-50, and J-200 models. Bruce was a huge fan of Buddy Holly and you can clearly hear this influence coming through on The Shads’ early recordings.