Hank Marvin, Guitar Player tour,
live at Preston Guildhall, May 29th 2002
(Words by Les Collinson, Photos by Dave Dixon)

Hank Marvin - lead guitar
Ben Marvin – guitars
Warren Bennett – keyboards & guitars
Mark Griffiths – 5-string bass
Fergus Gerrand – drums & percussion

This is advertised as the final tour, and, if that really is the case, Hank is going out in a blaze of glory! What a great show this was. My comments when I got home were that, on this occasion, I felt Hank was at least as good as either Nokie Edwards or Gerry McGee at their best.

I felt he was somehow looser and freer than I have heard him before. There is a fixation in Shadows circles to play everything precisely, note-for-note, with no room for expression or individuality. I know some guitarists closet themselves away with backing CDs until they can play certain Shadows classics indistinguishably from the original. Hank, I am delighted to say, didn’t sound at all like that! He played with verve, flair, and (shock, horror!) a degree of freshness that bordered on improvisation in places. That’s not to say that everything wasn’t extremely well-rehearsed, but there was a lot of FUN in the playing, a tremendous amount of power and some incredible sounds. We got things Clapton would have been happy to own, canyon-deep twang which would have drawn applause from Duane Eddy, and…and this was the best bit, I suspect…a mastery of the acoustic guitar which was reminiscent of Django Reinhardt in full flow.

So, what did they play? The show opened with number they used last time to open the second set…The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. This is a brilliant number anyway, but Hank has made it his own, with Warren’s arrangement being just a little different. In no time flat we were treated to that deep, deep tone and I just wanted time to stand still.

The Frightened City and Atlantis followed in swift succession, taking us back to the sixties. Yet, these were more than mere "golden oldies" as Hank injected new energy into them.

Next up was a real treat: Sacha, from Hank’s first solo album, and a big hit down under. Out came the "guitar-on-a-stand" to allow Hank to play the melody on acoustic, before seamlessly slipping into the electric middle phase of the song. Wow! He didn’t miss a beat! I can’t understand why this super Jerry Lordan composition never hit the British charts...a reminder that chart success and quality have never necessarily gone hand-in-hand.

Then it was back to the last concert tour, and "Marvin At The Movies", with Hank’s version of Simon and Garfunkel’s first hit: Sound Of Silence. No surprises here, but a great atmosphere with a somewhat quieter song.

Then it was back to "a bit of welly" for one of my all-time Shads favourites, The Savage. This number has got even better over the last few years as Hank has injected the odd surf run (a la Chantays…sorry, fellow Ventures fans…a la "Tiki Tiki San", Don Wilson). This is an incredibly exciting version of an already exciting song. Sheer magic!

Hank then sat down at the front of the stage with an acoustic guitar, and asked Ben and Mark to join him. When I say "acoustic", I don’t mean an amplified acoustic, such as Ben is playing…I mean un-amplified. A convenient microphone is positioned in front of Hank and the sound is magnificent. We were treated to three of the songs from the latest album, "Guitar Player". Now, I have to say I had some reservations about this album at first, but bravo to Hank for doing something different. However, the studio versions are firmly put in the shade by what Hank does live.

This little unplugged session started with Petite Fleur – a clarinet piece originally by Sidney Bechet. The Spotnicks recorded this in 1977 on the album of re-recorded oldies on the Air label, but with the acoustic guitars, you could have been transported back in time to a little jazz club in Paris in the years before the war. A distinctive reading of Ray Davies’ Sunny Afternoon followed, and then the wonderful Benny's Toon with Fergus playing an old guitar case. These three numbers drew a huge response from an already enthusiastic crowd. Hank was really enjoying himself and the only word I think of to describe these acoustic items is "joyous".

Then followed another "Marvin At The Movies" track, like we got in 2000: The James Bond Theme followed by Live And Let Die, a firm favourite at concerts over recent years with its changes in tempo.

It was back to The Shadows for the rest of this first set. Cavatina is not one of my favourite Shads tracks. I suppose I prefer songs with a bit more "oomph" and "String Of Hits" was, in my humble, opinion much inferior to the largely under-appreciated "Tasty", which I thought was utterly brilliant…the best Shadows album of the 70s…indeed, still one of my favourite albums. However, Cavatina is a crowd-pleaser and no doubt there would be many disappointed fans if Hank omitted this hit. Needless to say, the playing was faultless.

However, part one was concluded with an awesome medley of, as Hank put it, "a number one hit, a couple of tracks from a number one album, one from a number one extended play, and some other hits" (or words to that effect!). In 2000, half the audience nearly wet themselves with delight when Hank played Mustang and Find Me A Golden Street (plus Gonzales, which comes later) and this year we were treated to a medley of seven more-or-less full-length versions of: Find Me A Golden Street - Mustang - Kon-Tiki - Sleepwalk - The Stranger - Dance On – Shazam! What can I say, except what a way to end the first half!

After a brief 20 minute break, Hank was back, with a track from "Hank Plays Cliff": Wired For Sound which was good without being too exceptional, then into a duet with Ben on Jessica. By now we were feeling punch-drunk with the sheer quality of what was being played. There was something for everyone, from most stages of Hank’s long career. Only the Marvin, Welch and Farrar period was missing, and at least Bruce was mentioned several times, seemingly quite fondly. It goes without saying that the only thing which would have improved this concert would have been Bruce on guitar and Brian on drums. We all wonder if we will ever see this again…

Whatever, there followed more Shadows nostalgia: Man Of Mystery, in which Hank really let rip and, believe it or not, I am sure I heard at least one fluffed note. Bless the man, he was really enjoying playing these old numbers, rather than trying to give a clinical and lifeless note-perfect rendition, and good luck to him! Then it was Gonzales again, another all-time favourite of mine, played with feeling and gusto. With these oldies, I felt again that it’s a shame Hank hasn’t done an album of old instro favourites…no ballads, just plenty of strong melodies and a solid beat. I don’t mean re-treading the Shads songbook, either…there are lots of good things which could be given the Hank touch, without a too-fancy arrangement, just straight rock. Is it too late, Hank?

Killing Me Softly and Midnight At The Oasis followed, back down to the front with the acoustic and Ben and Mark in attendance. I have long known Hank loves jazz, what with "Barney’s Blues" on a well-known CD of dubious legality, and, of course, Nivram (missing from this year’s menu), but I really feel Hank could hold his own in any company. Move over Kenny Burrell and George Benson!

One of the highlights of the 2000 concerts was an amazing piece of Irish pastiche, which could have come from Riverdance. It was titled: A tall A tall Dark Stranger. At the time it was unrecorded, but that was remedied with "Guitar Player", and now here we were with another live rendition. Marvin’s fingers flew across the strings like a jet-propelled Leprechaun! And let’s be fair, young Ben is no slouch either.

It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, another of last time’s high-spots, saw the reappearance of the guitar-on-a-stand and some more nifty changing of guitars in mid-stream. I realise that Hank is not the only guy to do this, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. As Hank would say…at no time does his hand leave his arm!

Then it was time for the vocal spot, ably supported at the mike by Mark and Warren. This is usually a rock’n’roll spot and tonight was no different. Hank proved "No Cliff? No problem!" Move It/Ready Teddy/Mystery Train showed what a capable vocalist Hank has always been, plus some pretty uninhibited lead work…a long way from the genteel picture some folks have when they think of Hank. Very satisfying!

My favourite Shadows’ hit from the 70s was Don't Cry For Me Argentina and Hank did justice to this lovely song, before moving into an all-Shadows finale. The next songs were really obligatory: Foot Tapper, Wonderful Land and the usual pre-encore ending FBI. (No high kicks these days!)

There followed the usual interval of several minutes when the audience went berserk…clapping, shouting, whistling and generally making it clear the show ain’t over. Hank reappeared for the two songs we hadn’t heard and expected as sure as night follows day. The Rise and Fall Of Flingel Bunt was one of the Shadows’ less polite moments, which won them some new friends, many moons ago. It has been played with many variations over the years, but now it’s "freak out" time! This is where Ben shows us that the classical guitar lessons of his youth were not wasted. In a sort of call-and-response sequence, Hank plays a phrase and Ben replies. Hank isn’t exactly being all that sedate, with his Strat screaming gladly, but Ben then demonstrates some of the finer points of heavy metal axemanship. Wondrous!

Finally, all too soon (have we REALLY been there just short of THREE hours???), it’s time for Apache. Hank uses this to demonstrate just how much you can swing on the tremolo unit of a Strat without breaking it or several strings, or both! I wonder how many times this is that Hank has played Apache? Much as I love The Ventures (and for those of you who think that "they only recorded a couple of things several centuries ago, and they were out of tune"…they are still in business and better than ever each year), there is only one Apache and that requires Hank to be on lead. It would have been improved by having Jet, Bruce and Tony, but you can’t have everything.

Then, suddenly, it’s time to try to get out, find a loo, find the car and go home…happy to have seen the best concert we can remember, on or off record, but rather saddened to think that we will not see another concert tour from Hank. I know that a Shadows reunion tour…just one last time…would be a huge sell-out and would produce a best-selling album, but maybe that’s just a dream? In the meantime, if Hank’s record company has any gumption, THIS concert tour would also make a magnificent double album. How about it? "Hank Marvellous in Concert"!

Les Collinson

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