#31 The Shadows: Out of the Shadows

A much less illuminating Shadows sequel…

(Columbia EMI)

Released: October 1962

Topped the chart:

21st October 1962 (for 3 weeks)

18th November 1962 (for 1 week)

16th December 1962 (for 1 week)

13th January 1963 (for 1 week)

Six weeks total.

Music was moving fast in the early 1960s, and no act makes that clearer than The Shadows. Where in 1961 their sound felt cool and felt genuinely refreshing, just one year later and their sound felt dated and decidedly old hat.

Part of the problem was just how omnipresent their twang had become—George Harrison commented in the Beatles Anthology that they returned from Hamburg to find that everyone in bands sounded (and looked) like Hank Marvin—and it’s a feeling that Out of the Shadows makes very clear. It’s very Shadows-by-numbers from the off with The Rumble, another take on the Apache Native American Western sound, but without any of the drive or energy that powered their great masterpiece. Spring is Nearly Here and a particularly lacklustre take on South on the Border (castrated without the lyrical storytelling of the best versions) quickly fade into the background like a musical chameleon vanishing into the drab wallpaper of a 60s living room.

Meanwhile, The Bandit feels extremely old fashioned and naff taking all the wrong lessons from the previous album’s Gonzales, while Perfidia has the makings of something decent, but is sunk by a ham-fasted Bruce Welch rhythm guitar line and half-hearted “woah” crescendos peppered throughout.

It's a shame that the lack of development hurts Out of the Shadows as much as it does, since there are flashes of a more interesting sound that the band could have moved into. Cosy and Some Are Lonely dial things down for a melancholier feel bring an emotional depth to Marvin’s guitar lines. The wonderful Bo Diddley is a tribute to…well, you know, and predates the Rolling Stone’s trick of matching a Diddley rhythm with a Buddy Holly melody on Not Fade Away by nearly 18 months (there’s an eerily similarity between this album’s cover and the art of the Stones debut, as well).

With a new line up (Jet Harris and Tony Meehan were out, replaced by the less dynamic Brians Locking and Bennett respectively), Shads Mark II just didn’t feel as locked in this time around, and their time at the top was coming to an end. Save for one more appearance on this chart very shortly with Cliff, The Shadows were heading for the nostalgia circuit at alarming speed. Despite the disappointment, there is no doubt that their run of hits more than justifies their place in the rock and pop pantheon.

Now, where did Cliff park that double decker bus…?

Score: 5/10

Tracklisting:

SIDE A

1.      The Rumble

2.      The Bandit

3.      Cosy

4.      1861

5.      Perfidia

6.      Little B

SIDE B

7.      Bo Diddley

8.      South of the Border

9.      Spring is Nearly Here

10.  Are They All Like You?

11.  Tales of a Raggy Tramline

12.  Some Are Lonely

13.  Kinda Cool