Post by Roadhog on Oct 28, 2008 18:38:03 GMT 12
Brian Robson Rankin (born 28 October 1941), Newcastle upon Tyne, known by the stage name Hank B. Marvin, is an English guitarist, lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for singer Cliff Richard. Marvin has a distinctive guitar sound and appearance, primarily using a clean sound with very high reverb and vibrato giving a dreamy effect.
Marvin was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As a child, he played the banjo and the piano. Hearing one of Buddy Holly's songs made him switch to the guitar, although he occasionally played both instruments on recordings. At 16, he traveled with his Rutherford Grammar School friend Bruce Welch to London, where he met Johnny Foster, Cliff Richard's manager, at The 2i's Coffee Bar ("two eyes") in Soho.
Foster was looking for a guitarist for Richard's upcoming tour of the U.K., and Marvin agreed to join as long as there was also a place for Welch. Foster had actually been looking for guitarist Tony Sheridan at the Two 2i's, but by chance he encountered Marvin. Marvin and Welch joined the Drifters, as Cliff Richard's group was then known, and began their careers as professional guitar players.
They met Cliff Richard for the first time at a nearby Soho tailor's shop, where Richard was having a fitting for a pink stage jacket, and had their first rehearsal with him at his parents' home in Cheshunt.
Hank Marvin played and owned the first Fender Stratocaster in the UK, serial number 34346, finished in Fiesta Red (although Bruce Welch states in his autobiography that the guitar was more of a salmon pink colour), with gold hardware. This guitar, with its tremolo arm, contributed to the Shadows' sound. The guitar was imported from America by Cliff Richard.
Marvin's original sound was achieved with a Stratocaster, a Vox amplifier (AC15 and AC30 models) and a drum echo machine, his first being a Meazzi Echomatic that was shown to him by Joe Brown (of Joe Brown and the Bruvvers fame) as Joe was asked to try it, but couldn't get on with it. He later used a Vox-badged Meazzi, then a Binson Echorec(Drum)Echo Machine, and Roland 301 Space Echo. Currently he is using the Alesis Quadraverb Q20, programmed by Charlie Hall with his "Echoes from the Past" (EFTP).
In 1959 Marvin and Richard searched through a Fender catalogue to find the guitar played by James Burton, Ricky Nelson's lead guitarist. They assumed it must be a Stratocaster because the most expensive in the brochure was a gold-plated example. Burton, however, played the Telecaster, and the Stratocaster was relatively new. Although Marvin used that original guitar between 1959 and 1961, it remained Richard's property and was returned to him when Jennings Musical Industries (the makers of Vox amplifiers and the importers of Fender guitars) outfitted the whole group with matching Fiesta Red Fender guitars.
In the early 1960s Jennings named a range of guitar accessories (including plectra, a guitar strap and a Bigsby-styled tremolo unit) after Marvin. They used the Hank Marvin signature tremolo unit on several of their own Vox guitars. More significantly, Marvin also worked with Jim Burns (head of the Burns London guitar company) to develop his own signature model: the "Burns Marvin". The "Marvin" appeared in 1964 and a 12-string version called the Double Six appeared a little earlier. The Burns London company was taken over by the American piano-maker, Baldwin, in 1967, and partly as a result of that, the fewer-than-400 original Burns-made Marvins are now sought after.
The Burns Marvin
Marvin influenced many later guitarists, and Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Mark Knopfler and Andy Powell are among many who acknowledge his influence. Although neither Marvin nor the Shadows were ever well known in the United States, despite several appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
In Canada, Cliff Richard and the Shadows met with success, especially 1961-1965 when they enjoyed several top 10 hits. Canadian guitarists Randy Bachman and Neil Young have credited Marvin's guitar work as being influences. Carlos Santana's nickname in his formative years was Apache because it was one of the earliest pieces he learned to play.
Marvin and the Shadows reformed for a 2004 Final Tour, which was so successful that a 2005 European tour was also organised.
In 2007, Marvin duetted with French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel on his hit album "Guitar Connection 2" for a new version of the Shadows' standard "Nivram". The single hits the French charts at #14.
Hank Marvin's name is also used in cockney slang to signify hunger: 'I am Hank Marvin' - 'I am starvin
Marvin with his favourite guitar, the Fender Stratocaster
Marvin lived in the hills above Perth, Western Australia from 1986 but has since relocated to a luxury apartment in East Perth. He is a committed Jehovah's Witness
Marvin was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As a child, he played the banjo and the piano. Hearing one of Buddy Holly's songs made him switch to the guitar, although he occasionally played both instruments on recordings. At 16, he traveled with his Rutherford Grammar School friend Bruce Welch to London, where he met Johnny Foster, Cliff Richard's manager, at The 2i's Coffee Bar ("two eyes") in Soho.
Foster was looking for a guitarist for Richard's upcoming tour of the U.K., and Marvin agreed to join as long as there was also a place for Welch. Foster had actually been looking for guitarist Tony Sheridan at the Two 2i's, but by chance he encountered Marvin. Marvin and Welch joined the Drifters, as Cliff Richard's group was then known, and began their careers as professional guitar players.
They met Cliff Richard for the first time at a nearby Soho tailor's shop, where Richard was having a fitting for a pink stage jacket, and had their first rehearsal with him at his parents' home in Cheshunt.
Hank Marvin played and owned the first Fender Stratocaster in the UK, serial number 34346, finished in Fiesta Red (although Bruce Welch states in his autobiography that the guitar was more of a salmon pink colour), with gold hardware. This guitar, with its tremolo arm, contributed to the Shadows' sound. The guitar was imported from America by Cliff Richard.
Marvin's original sound was achieved with a Stratocaster, a Vox amplifier (AC15 and AC30 models) and a drum echo machine, his first being a Meazzi Echomatic that was shown to him by Joe Brown (of Joe Brown and the Bruvvers fame) as Joe was asked to try it, but couldn't get on with it. He later used a Vox-badged Meazzi, then a Binson Echorec(Drum)Echo Machine, and Roland 301 Space Echo. Currently he is using the Alesis Quadraverb Q20, programmed by Charlie Hall with his "Echoes from the Past" (EFTP).
In 1959 Marvin and Richard searched through a Fender catalogue to find the guitar played by James Burton, Ricky Nelson's lead guitarist. They assumed it must be a Stratocaster because the most expensive in the brochure was a gold-plated example. Burton, however, played the Telecaster, and the Stratocaster was relatively new. Although Marvin used that original guitar between 1959 and 1961, it remained Richard's property and was returned to him when Jennings Musical Industries (the makers of Vox amplifiers and the importers of Fender guitars) outfitted the whole group with matching Fiesta Red Fender guitars.
In the early 1960s Jennings named a range of guitar accessories (including plectra, a guitar strap and a Bigsby-styled tremolo unit) after Marvin. They used the Hank Marvin signature tremolo unit on several of their own Vox guitars. More significantly, Marvin also worked with Jim Burns (head of the Burns London guitar company) to develop his own signature model: the "Burns Marvin". The "Marvin" appeared in 1964 and a 12-string version called the Double Six appeared a little earlier. The Burns London company was taken over by the American piano-maker, Baldwin, in 1967, and partly as a result of that, the fewer-than-400 original Burns-made Marvins are now sought after.
The Burns Marvin
Marvin influenced many later guitarists, and Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Mark Knopfler and Andy Powell are among many who acknowledge his influence. Although neither Marvin nor the Shadows were ever well known in the United States, despite several appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
In Canada, Cliff Richard and the Shadows met with success, especially 1961-1965 when they enjoyed several top 10 hits. Canadian guitarists Randy Bachman and Neil Young have credited Marvin's guitar work as being influences. Carlos Santana's nickname in his formative years was Apache because it was one of the earliest pieces he learned to play.
Marvin and the Shadows reformed for a 2004 Final Tour, which was so successful that a 2005 European tour was also organised.
In 2007, Marvin duetted with French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel on his hit album "Guitar Connection 2" for a new version of the Shadows' standard "Nivram". The single hits the French charts at #14.
Hank Marvin's name is also used in cockney slang to signify hunger: 'I am Hank Marvin' - 'I am starvin
Marvin with his favourite guitar, the Fender Stratocaster
Marvin lived in the hills above Perth, Western Australia from 1986 but has since relocated to a luxury apartment in East Perth. He is a committed Jehovah's Witness
