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THE SHADOWS AT EMI - THE VINYL LEGACY

EXTRACTS: 'IT'LL BE ME' & 'THE BOYS'


August 1962
#58
Cliff Richard and The Shadows
  • Single, Columbia 45-DB 4886: 'It'll Be Me' / 'Since I Lost You'

    • SHADOWS PERSONNEL
    Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, and (side A) Brian Locking, Brian Bennett; (side B) Jet Harris, Tony Meehan

    UK CHART PERFORMANCE

    Date of first chart entry:6 September 1962
    Highest position in chart:2
    Weeks in chart:12
    Weeks in Top Twenty:9 (6 September-1 November):
    17. 7. 3. 2. 3. 6. 9. 11. 15

    A dynamic remake of Jack Clement’s ‘It’ll Be Me’, which had been the flipside of Jerry Lee Lewis’ notorious ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ ...’ back in 19571, gave Cliff and The Shadows another notable success; it would resurface shortly on the 32 Minutes ... LP [#61]. It was at its strongest in chart terms for the three week period 20 September-4 October: again (cf. under #52 above), the problem was Elvis Presley, this time with ‘She’s Not You’; it took ‘Telstar’ to dislodge him (on 4 October).

    CD ISSUES

  • ‘It’ll Be Me’: see on #61
  • ‘Since I Lost You’: Rock ’n’ Roll BOX 3/18 (Stereo, with count-in)


    • October 1962
    #59
    The Shadows
  • EP The Boys, Columbia SEG 8193 Mono / ESG 7881 Stereo

    • [EP 7] THEME FROM THE BOYS / [EP 8] THE GIRLS / [EP 9] SWEET DREAMS / [EP 10] THE BOYS

    PERSONNEL
    Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Brian Locking, Brian Bennett; with Norrie Paramor (orch; & female chorus) on THEME FROM THE BOYS

    DISTRIBUTION
    UK, and Australia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain

    UK CHART PERFORMANCE

    Date of first chart entry:11 October 1962
    Highest position in chart:1
    Weeks in chart / at 1 / in Top Ten:46 / 3 / 35

    The Shadows were back in contention in the EP market with a collection of fresh material, commissioned for the Galaworld film "The Boys", and they earned themselves a chart-topper in the process. Three of the four numbers were penned by group members, with jazz pianist Bill McGuffie2 contributing the exquisite SWEET DREAMS. If the film has not stood the test of time3, the music certainly has, THE BOYS in particular, which is the most commonly encountered EP track on CD compilations4: "a great slab of pure rock instrumental music" as Rob Bradford5 has aptly termed it. Though not as popular over the years, the matching THEME FROM THE BOYS, provided with orchestral and choral overdubs under Norrie Paramor’s skilful direction, is no less accomplished a piece.

    By 25 October The Boys had climbed to 2, with Elvis’ Follow That Dream in its twentieth week at the top! The next week Elvis was overtaken, and The Shadows held their ground for two more weeks with Elvis’ Kid Galahad pressing them hard. On 22 November the latter moved past them, and the same 1/2 persisted for three more weeks. After a two-week dip to 3 then 4 prior to New Year, Kid Galahad/ The Boys appeared at 1/2 on 3/10/24 January, The Shadows having been pushed from 2 to 3 on 17 January by The Sounds Of The Tornados, a sequence that recurred on 31 January. The Boys would climb to 3 once more, behind Kid Galahad and Frank Ifield’s Hits, on 7 March. It paid a final visit to the Top Ten on 20 June.

    COMPOSERS
    THEME FROM THE BOYS, THE BOYS Brian Bennett/ Bruce Welch/ Hank Marvin - THE GIRLS Bruce Welch/ Hank Marvin - SWEET DREAMS Bill McGuffie

    VINYL RECORDS

  • Singles
    All tracks appeared on Singles, as follows:
    • THE BOYS / SWEET DREAMSDenmark Norway 1962
    THE BOYS / THE GIRLSAustralia 1962; Turkey
    THEME FROM THE BOYS/ THE BOYSItaly 1962
    APACHE / THE BOYSNew Zealand 1962
    DANCE ON! / THE BOYSNew Zealand 1962
    MUSTANG / THE BOYSFrance 1962

  • EPs
    The EP was later put out on a 12" in Holland in 1982, The Boys, EP Collection Vol. 6. As for individual tracks, THE BOYS and THEME FROM THE BOYS appeared on Dance On! (2) (Italy 1963), THE BOYS and SWEET DREAMS on Dance On With The Shadows (2) (France 1963/1965), THE BOYS alone on Cliff Richard & The Shadows (9) (Australia 1986), and SWEET DREAMS alone on Geronimo (1) (Denmark Sweden 1964).

  • LPs
    All four tracks were included on the LP The Shadows At The Movies (UK 1978 etc., #180), all but SWEET DREAMS on Mary Anne (Japan 1967), and all but THEME FROM THE BOYS on Brilliant Shadows, Brilliant Songs (Germany 1963 etc.). THEME FROM THE BOYS and THE BOYS were paired on The EP Collection Vol. 2 (UK 1990, = #203), while THE GIRLS and SWEET DREAMS may be found together on Round And Round (Italy 1964).
    Individual tracks:

  • THEME FROM THE BOYS
    • RaritiesUK 1976 etc. see #174
  • SWEET DREAMS
    • Thunderbirds Are Go! (1)Japan 1966/ Taiwan
    The Shadows (6)UK 1970 etc. see #159
    Mustang (2)France 1974 etc.
    The Shadows (10)France 1977 etc. =
    The Best Of The Shadows (6)Belgium 1977
  • THE BOYS

    • Pretty common on LP, as one would expect. UK compilations: see in addition to The Shadows At The Movies and The EP Collection Vol. 2 already mentioned: #75/166, 193, 201, 202.
    In addition:

    Hurrah! For The Shadows (1)France 1963 etc.
    Hits All The WaySouth Africa 1963
    Greatest Hits (2)Japan 1964 =
    Early Hits Of The ShadowsJapan 1968
    The Shadows Greatest (2)Malaysia 1965
    The Shadows (3)Brazil 1965 =
    The Shadows Vol. 1: Arquivo PopBrazil 1975
    The Fantastic Shadows Vol. 1Greece 1967
    Four Sides Of The ShadowsSweden Belgium 1972
    Their 20 Greatest HitsNew Zealand 1975
    ShadoogieFrance 1976 etc. =
    De Mooiste Shadows HitsHolland 1985
    20 Golden Greats Vol. 2New Zealand 1983 + 2
    Rock On With The Shadows Vol. 2New Zealand 1984 =
    id. Vol. 1Malaysia 1985
    Lo Mejor De Lo MejorMexico 1984 =
    Pioneros Del RockSpain 1985
    The Shadows FavouritesAustralia 1985
    The Definitive Live AlbumHolland 1989
    Dance On! With The Shadows (3)France 1990

    CD ISSUES
    CD Guide pp.: 231 (THEME FROM THE BOYS), 163 (THE GIRLS), 227 (SWEET DREAMS), 137 (THE BOYS) - Recommended: for all four: Early Years 3/3-6; THE BOYS, SWEET DREAMS: Hurrah! For The Shadows 2, 15 (France 1998); THEME FROM THE BOYS, THE GIRLS: Out Of The Shadows 15, 14 (France 1999); THEME FROM THE BOYS: Strings 7

  • Note An undubbed version (in Mono) of THEME FROM THE BOYS was released on the 1997 CD The Shadows At Abbey Road, track 5. See CD Guide pp. 231-2, 278


    • 1 Pumping piano in this new version courtesy of Hank Marvin presumably (so John Tobler, 25 Years p. 69) rather than producer Norrie Paramor.
    2 On McGuffie see Trev Faull, 60s ... Instrumentals p. 11. Much interesting background information on SWEET DREAMS itself has been assembled in successive issues of Shadsfax: 14 (1997) p. 14; 15 (1998) p. 12; 16 (1998) p. 14; esp. 18 (1998) p. 15.
    3 It is hard to disagree with the verdict reached in Halliwell’s Film Guide: "Elaborate courtroom drama with ... about forty minutes too much footage".
    4 See CD Guide p. 286.
    5 Liner notes to CD The EP Collection Vol. 2 (UK 1990) p. 3.


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