Hank Marvin Shadows

A major influence on British guitar heroes of the '70s such as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, Hank Marvin played lead guitar for the Shadows, one of the U.K.'s top instrumental outfits and backing band for Cliff Richard on most of his hits. Born Brian Robson Rankin on October 28, 1941, Marvin grew up in Newcastle learning guitar, banjo and piano. He played in various skiffle groups around the area, and met up with rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch.

The Shadows have gotten a magnificent sendoff with this concert DVD from their final tour, undertaken in 2004 and featuring Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, and Brian Bennett, supported by Mark Griffiths on bass and Cliff Hall on keyboards…

Re-forming after a four year absence, the Shadows broke into the 1970s with an almost brutal lack of restraint – and an instrumental version of the Who's "Pinball Wizard"/"See Me Feel Me," which rearranges the simplistic original with fiendish aplomb. A decade earlier, Hank Marvin was the idol of every would-be guitarist in the U.K.. By 1973, those would-bes were the hottest shots around, but Marvin wasn't even slightly phased…

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…

Guitar ace Lee Hodgson provides a note-by-note guide to five legendary guitar classics by the king of the Stratocaster, Hank Marvin. Learn five guitar originals by The Shadows including Kon Tiki, Foot Tapper and Geronimo, and master the secrets of Hank's distinctive melodic phrasing and musical poise. There's even a special focus on the trademark Marvin echo-guitar sound and how to achieve it, as well as all the techniques and tricks that have made Hank one of the world's favourite guitarists since the days of rock 'n' roll.