RATO RECORDS: shadows

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domingo, 20 de outubro de 2019

CLIFF & THE SHADOWS Anthology (1958 >>> 1969)

segunda-feira, 20 de maio de 2019

THE SHADOWS: EP "At The Colosseum"

Original released on EP Columbia SEGJ 11014
(SOUTH AFRICA, 1961)

This rare EP was recorded in March 61 at the Colosseum in Johannesburg, and it was released only in South Africa. In fact, I knew very well the Colosseum Theatre, where I saw many shows and movies, including the premiere of "Summer Holiday", with Cliff & The Shadows. That's why this EP means a lot to me.

domingo, 21 de abril de 2019

CLIFF Sings Italian

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI) 33SX 1762

(UK, August 1965)

Recorded, oddly, in Lisbon, Portugal, "When in Rome" was originally cut for Cliff Richard's Italian audience, with the U.K. Top Ten success of the earlier "When in Spain" ensuring a simultaneous domestic release for this set. Lightning, however, was not going to strike twice. "When in Rome" became the artist's first ever non-charting album. He sings utterly soullessly, devoid of emotion, feeling, or even the vaguest hint of understanding - all the factors, in fact, which would make anyone want to buy one of his records in the first place. Most of the performances were recorded specifically for this release; several, however, took earlier backing tracks and grafted translations into place, and here, too, the misguided nature of the project rings loud.

sábado, 20 de abril de 2019

CLIFF Sings In Spanish

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI) 33JSX1541 (mono)

(SOUTH AFRICA, September 1963)

Through the first half of the 1960s, Cliff Richard was recording at a furious rate, turning out material not only for a seemingly endless stream of new U.K. singles, EPs, albums, and soundtracks, but also for the foreign markets where his appeal was strongest. What makes this last category especially appealing is that he actually sang in the language in question - Germany, Spain, France, and Italy were all granted a number of exclusive recordings, with the first-named earning the equivalent of six full albums worth of material between 1960-74. History, after all, insists that prior to the Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper", artist's albums were essentially little more than random collections of songs. But Richard and producer Norrie Paramor had been scheming thematic - i.e. conceptual - albums since 1963, beginning with this album. Recorded in Barcelona, "When in Spain" became Richard's seventh album (soundtracks and compilations notwithstanding) in late 1963, at a time when Merseybeat was ensuring that his domination of the U.K. pop charts was undergoing its most serious challenge yet. The fact that he did not rise to the challenge, however, only amplifies his untouchability. As far back as his second album, 1959's "Cliff Sings", he had stated his intentions to rise above simple rock & roll; by the time of this album, he was ready to transcend pop altogether. Overlook the fact that the track listing is very much a beginner's guide to the genre, the kind of thing which turns up on TV-advertised Latin Lovers Greatest Hits-type albums, and it is a beautiful album. "Perfidia", with the Shadows in full flight behind him, an insistently percussive "Frenesi", and the flirtatious "Maria No Mas", all draw out some of his most majestic vocals, while the moments where he slips - a gently drifting, and clearly hesitant "Vaya Con Dios" - themselves possess a convincing fragility which only amplifies the album's overall appeal. The same can be said for Richard's occasionally suspect pronunciation, and the nagging suspicion that he might not be fully aware of what he's singing about. Several songs from this album would be reprised with English lyrics on the artist's next album, 1965's eponymous set. But it's a mark of "When in Spain"'s naïve strengths that neither "Sway" nor "Kiss", "Magic Is the Moonlight" nor "Perfidia", could ever improve on their Spanish language siblings. Of course, line this album up against the originals of the songs it features and Richard's grand illusion promptly crumbles. He was banking, however, on the fact that nobody would ever need to do that - and you know what? He was right.

This is one of the rare albums I have. I've bought it in Johannesburg, when I was about 12 years old. At that time - the early sixties - I had only money to buy some selected singles. Maybe "When In Spain" was a birthday or a Christmas gift, I don't remember anymore. But I've always been very closed to this wonderful album and I still have it in my personal collection.

sexta-feira, 30 de novembro de 2018

THE SHADOWS: EP "Dance On ! With"

Original released on EP Columbia ESDF 1457

(FRANCE, 1962)

segunda-feira, 1 de outubro de 2018

The First 2 Albums From The SHADOWS

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI)
33SX 1374 (mono) / SCX 3414 (stereo)

(UK, September 1961)

Having already scored three major U.K. smashes, the Shadows confirmed their independence from singer Cliff Richard with an eponymous album which rates among the most accomplished British LPs of the pre-Beatles era, and one of the most influential rock instrumental sets ever. An entire generation of would-be guitar heroes learned their licks from Hank Marvin and the Shadows, an accolade which a star-studded, mid-1990s tribute album certainly affirms. But the bespectacled guitarist was not the band's sole star. Drummer Tony Meehan's "See You in My Drums," like bassist Jet Harris' "Jet Black" single of two years previous, is a gripping showcase for his own remarkable talents, while "Baby My Heart" unveils vocal talents which, again, the group's earliest singles alone had illustrated. Modern listeners, schooled in the axeman excesses of more recent years, will doubtlessly find the Shadows impossibly well-mannered and implausibly sedentary. Low-key instrumentals like "Blue Star," "Sleepwalk," and "Nivram" (the inspiration behind Peter Frampton's "Theme From Nivram") scarcely begin to speak of the frenetic abuses which the likes of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton would one day wring from their instruments. What they did do, however, was illustrate the untapped possibilities of the guitar, a lesson which Marvin might have taken his time in teaching, but which was vivid all the same. (Dave Thompson in AllMusic)

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI)
33SX 1458 (mono) / SCX 3449 (stereo)

(UK, October 1962)

The Shadows' second album is one of the group's better efforts, though not a very hard-rocking one. By this time, the Shadows were moving in a direction similar to that of Cliff Richard, aiming for a wider, more mature audience that was attuned to more than rock & roll. Much of what's here, including "Perfidia," "Spring Is Nearly Here," and "Some Are Lonely," could pass for adult pop music more easily than rock & roll, though there is some of that, what with numbers like "The Rumble," "Tails of a Raggy Tramline" (a "Telstar"-like instrumental), the Hank Marvin-Bruce Welch "Kinda Cool," and Brian Bennett's "Little 'B'" (a great drum showcase that doesn't wear out its welcome at all). That material is augmented by the presence of several country & western-style (!) numbers, by way of the Kennedy-Carr songwriting team ("The Bandit," "South of the Border") and the group's own composition efforts, most notably "1861," which would have been a great theme for a Western television series of the era - the latter showcases lead guitarist Marvin's precise and elegant picking. This repertory seems to have been the group's and producer Norrie Paramor's attempt to tap into the folk music boom of the period, and "The Bandit" is a moment of genius, with the group harmonizing almost like the Kingston Trio. Regardless of the idiom in which they're working, the playing is lean, tight, and melodic, displaying the same qualities that the group brought to Cliff Richard's recordings during the first half-decade of his career. Marvin and Welch play their guitars like they're the same person, and Bennett proves himself perhaps the best full-time band drummer in England at the time, providing tasteful fills and little percussion embellishments that were beyond the ability of most rock & roll drummers at the time, and outdoing himself on "Little 'B'." The one grotesquely weak moment here is the cover of "Bo Diddley" - the band should have known better than to attempt it, and Paramor, if he understood rock & roll at all, should have declined to release it, instead giving the world what has to be the wimpiest version one is ever likely to hear. There are, indeed, a few too many soft instrumental numbers breaking up the rock & roll that does work, but the album holds up. (Bruce Eder in AllMusic)