''The Shadows'' is an EP by

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, released in January 1961. The EP is a

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

and released in

mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

with the catalogue number Columbia SEG 8061 and in stereo with the catalogue number Columbia ESG 7834. ''The Shadows'' was the UK number-one EP for 20 weeks, having two separate stints at the top of the chart from January to June 1961. The cover photograph was taken by

Angus McBean Angus Rowland McBean (8 June 1904 – 9 June 1990) was a Welsh photographer, set designer and cult figure associated with surrealism. Early life Angus Rowland McBean was born in Newbridge, Monmouthshire, Wales on 8 June 1904, elder child and o ...

. The original picture showed Cliff together with the Shadows, however the layout for the EP was adapted and Cliff was replaced by yellow triangles.

Track listing

;Side A #"Mustang" (

Jerry Lordan Jerry Lordan (born Jeremiah Patrick Lordan, 30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He achieved 3 hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting c ...

, Tom Mould) #"Theme from ''

Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name) Shane is mainly a masculine g ...

''" (

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

) ;Side B #

"Shotgun" (Hank Marvin, Jet Harris, Bruce Welch)

#"Theme from ''

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

''" ( Paul Francis Webster,

Dimitri Tiomkin Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (, ; May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York City ...

)

Background

Hank Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...

Jet Harris Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus ...

Bruce Welch Bruce Welch (born 2 November 1941 as Bruce Cripps) is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows. Biography Welch's parents (Stan Cripps and Grace Welch) moved him to 15 B ...

, and

Tony Meehan Daniel Joseph Anthony Meehan (2 March 1943 – 28 November 2005), professionally known as Tony Meehan, was a founder member of the British group the Drifters, with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, which would evolve into the Shadows. ...

rose to fame as

, the backing band for

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

. They went on to achieve individual success with " Apache" and in 1961 released their first EP consisting of "four new offerings". None of the tracks were released as singles in the UK. All the tracks featured on the 1961 South African album ''Rockin' Guitars'', and the 1963 French album ''Hurrah! For The Shadows''. However, the tracks did not feature on a UK album until ''Mustang'' was released under the Music for Pleasure label in 1971. They also all featured on their album ''The EP Collection'' released under the

See for Miles Records See for Miles Records (SFM) was a British record label which was one of the first British re-issue specialists predating the emergence of compact discs. See for Miles reissued most of the records of many labels including Dandelion Records on C ...

in 1988.

Chart performance

Beginning in 1960s, in addition to publishing a long play (LP) chart, ''Record Retailer'' also ran an EP chart. ''The Shadows'' was released in January 1961 and became a number-one EP on 28 January 1961. Replacing

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...

's '' Adam's Hit Parade'' it stayed at the top for 17 weeks before being displaced by Faith's EP again in May for one week before reclaiming the top spot on 3 June for a further 3 weeks. Their eponymous EP was replaced their second EP, '' The Shadows to the Fore'', which broke the record for consecutive weeks at number one (23 weeks). In total, ''The Shadows'' EP amassed 20 weeks at the top of the EP chart.

Personnel

– lead guitar *

– rhythm guitar *

– bass guitar *

– drums

References

;Footnotes ;Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shadows (Ep), The 1961 debut EPs The Shadows EPs EMI Columbia Records EPs