Hank Marvin

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Hank Marvin
Born	October 28 1941 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England)
Alias(es)	Brian Robson Rankin
Genre(s)	Rock
Affiliation(s)	The Shadows Cliff Richard
Notable guitars	Hank Marvin Signature Stratocaster
Years active	1956 - present

Hank B. Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, October 28 1941, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) is the lead guitarist of the (mainly) instrumental group The Shadows, formed initially as a backing band for Cliff Richard.

The Shadows inspired guitarists like Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Brian May, Tony Iommi, George Harrison, Mark Knopfler, Neil Young and Pete Townshend and are therefore considered to be Britain's most influential band before the era of The Beatles.

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 in recordings. At the age of 16, he travelled with his friend Bruce Welch to London, where he met Johnny Foster (Cliff Richard's manager) at the 2 I's Coffee Bar (pronounced: "two eyes") in Soho. Foster was looking for a guitarist for Richard's imminent tour of the UK, and Hank agreed to join as long as there was also a vacancy for his Newcastle band-mate, Bruce. Foster had actually been looking for guitarist Tony Sheridan at the Two Is and so had encountered the 16-yr-old Hank by the merest chance. Hank and Bruce both joined The Drifters (as Cliff's group was then known). This started their careers as professional guitar players. They actually met Cliff for the first time at a nearby Soho tailor's shop (Cliff was having a fitting for a pink stage jacket) and had their first rehearsal with him after travelling with him to his parents' home in Cheshunt, Herts, by Green Line bus.

Hank Marvin was the user of what is thought to have been the first Fender Stratocaster in the UK, serial number 34,346, finished in a Coral Pink shade of Fiesta Red, sometimes referred to as 'Salmon Pink' and this guitar with its tremolo arm contributed to the Shadows' distinctive sound. The guitar was imported from America by Cliff Richard for Hank to use.

Hank's original sound was achieved by the use of a Stratocaster, a Vox amplifier (AC15 and AC30 models) and a tape echo machine, his first being a MEAZZI ECHOMATIC echo. He later used a Vox and then a Binson (Drum) Echo Machine. Currently he is using "Echoes from the Past" (EFTP).

Back in 1959, Hank and Cliff Richard searched through a specially-ordered Fender catalogue to find the guitar played by James Burton, Ricky Nelson's lead guitarist. They assumed that it must be a Stratocaster because the most expensive instrument in the brochure was a gold-plated example of that model. Burton, however, played the Telecaster and the Stratocaster was a relatively new product. Although Hank used that original guitar between 1959 and 1961, it remained Cliff'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 new matching red guitars. The 1959 instrument is nowadays owned by Bruce Welch - a gift from Cliff Richard in the 1970s in gratitude for his production work on several of Cliff's hit albums.

In the early 1960s, Jennings named a range of guitar accessories (including plectra, a guitar strap and a Bigsby-styled tremolo unit) after Hank. They used the Hank Marvin signature tremolo unit on several of their own Vox guitars. More significantly, Hank also worked in conjunction 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 just 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 highly sought after. More recently, the revived Burns company made a limited reissue of 2004 signature 'Marvin' guitars with a certificate of authenticity for each, personally signed by Hank. Those instruments were promoted on the Shadows' 2004 Final Tour. Unfortunately, Hank's original Burns guitars had been stolen in 1972 and never appeared again.

Although neither Hank Marvin nor the Shadows were ever well known in the United States, despite several appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, Marvin is nonetheless listed by Frank Zappa as an early influence on the first Mothers of Invention album, and Afrikaa Bambaataa cited the group's first UK number one single "Apache" as a big influence. Canadian guitarists Randy Bachman and Neil Young have both credited Marvin's guitar work as being major influences on their careers.

As well as playing with The Shadows, Hank Marvin has enjoyed a successful solo career as a performer and a recording artist. He has been willing to experiment with styles and material, doing some purely instrumental albums, some with only vocals (e.g. "All Alone With Friends"), one with only acoustic guitars and one with a guitar orchestra ("The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate").

As a songwriter he was responsible for "Geronimo" for The Shadows and "The Day I Met Marie", and as co-writer with Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett and John Rostill he penned other hits mainly for Cliff Richard such as on "I Could Easily Fall in Love with You" and "In the Country".

In 1988 Hank Marvin had a guest role at a concert by Jean-Michel Jarre in front of the industrial backdrop of London's East End Docklands, in a concert entitled Destination Docklands.

Hank Marvin has lived in Perth, Western Australia since 1986. Hank became one of Jehovah's Witnesses and currently serves as an elder in a congregation in Australia.

After thirteen years away from the Shadows, Hank Marvin and the Shadows reformed for a 2004 Final Tour, which was so successful that a 2005 tour was also organised.

[edit] See also

The Shadows
Hank Marvin \| Bruce Welch \| Brian Bennett Jet Harris \| Tony Meehan \| Brian Locking \| John Rostill \| Ian Samwell \| Terry Smart
Production
Norrie Paramor \| Peter Vince \| Warren Bennett \| Abbey Road Studios
Related articles
Cliff Richard \| 1960s