Customer Reviews

20 Golden Greats

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I first bought this album on vinyl in 1977, and still proudly own it. As a young kid, when I first became conscious of popular music, the Shadows were always the group. Although Cliff Richard and the Shadows were the British pre-Beatles juggernaut, I always preferred the "Shads" without Cliff. Interestingly, Cliff and the Shadows had the first recognized British Rock and Roll hit, at least according to John Lennon. Nothing against history, and Sir Cliff, but who wants anything to get in the way of Hank Marvin's unique and incredible guitar sound. I don't think anyone has come close to emulating the Shadow's sound, which when I hear it immediately takes me back to the excitement of sixties Britain. The album was released at the time of the 20 Golden Greats tour, and of course I had to make it to a concert, which has since provided many happy memories. The Shadows are not well known in the States, a crowded market at the time with the Ventures and Duane Eddy etc., but this album is worth the price alone for Wonderful Land, which I think was where I was in 1962.

When I first became interested in music the Shadows were my first "favourite" group. 45 years later I still enjoy their music immensely. This, when released topped the UK charts and sparked a short term revival. The music is great, however there are a couple of minor problems. It is not in chronological order and to me at least loses some "flow" as a result. It has also been remixed and instruments are now placed differently in the mix from where they were originally placed. The last problem is the complete lack of annotation. For a band as important as the Shadows, and they were important, there should be at least something to put it all into context. Having said that the music is what really counts and the music on this is grreat.