The Shadows - Cliff Richards

BBC

This is a great documentary. The BBC has the touch for those things. In the 70s, they produced my friend Derek Bailey’s documentary on Improvisation. 

I was 13 years old when The Beatles played on The Ed Sullivan Show. After that, the British Invasion exploded.

It’s unusual that I didn’t really get hip to The Shadows and Cliff Richard until a few years ago. I’d heard about Cliff Richards in the 60s, and how popular he was. Elvis was usually mentioned, Cliff was the UK, British Elvis. 

I heard Apache when it came out. I didn’t’ know they were British. In the USA, several guitar instrumental bands had record hits. 

This video has many clips I’ve seen before. My knowledge about Cliff Richards and The Shadows is up to date. 

One reason American Teenagers like myself weren’t exposed to Cliff and The Shadows is because they never appeared on United States television. If they could’ve been on Ed Sullivan with Cliffs hits, (Move It) they would have been more known. 

The documentary details the phases of The Shadows minus Cliff. Hank Marvin, Cliff Richards and Bruce Welch (no relation) are all alive. They’ve performed throughout the decades. Cliff Richards has been very active since 1959. 

Like myself, they were 16-17-18 years old when they started playing professional gigs and hitting the road. 

Cliff Richards and The Shadows should have been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame years ago, when it was still relevant. Hank Marvin influenced many guitarists in the 60s and 70s. 

They’ve never been nominated and never will. 

They don’t need that place to validate what they contributed to music. 

BaDa Boom