"Geronimo" is an instrumental by British group

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

, released as a single in November 1963. It peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart.

Release and reception

"Geronimo" was written by the Shadows' Hank Marvin and was released with the B-side " Shazam", originally recorded by

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...

in 1960. "Geronimo" was recorded at

EMI Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music compan ...

(later renamed Abbey Road) in December 1962; "Shazam" was recorded at the Jubilee Theatre in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in August 1963 whilst the group were on tour. Reviewed in ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'', "Geronimo" was described as having "an "

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

" beat in the background, and the whole thing moves along smoothly. Maybe not up to the standard of some of their previous hits, but cleverly played, and with a driving beat.

Norrie Paramor Norman William "Norrie" Paramor (15 May 1913 – 9 September 1979) was a British record producer, composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader, and orchestral conductor. He is best known for his work with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, both togethe ...

string and choral backing. But we don't reckon this'll do so well as most of theirs". For '' Disc'',

Don Nicholl Donald Nicholl (August 9, 1925 – July 5, 1980) was an English screenwriter and producer who later worked in the United States. Early life Nicholl was born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, England. He worked as a journalist, columnis ...

wrote that it "gallops along well in the spirit of its Red Indian title" and that it is "a good production that ought to do at least as well as " Shindig".

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 7163 # "Geronimo" – 2:19 # " Shazam" – 2:18

Personnel

Hank Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows. Early life and career Marvin was born as Brian Robson Rankin at ...

– electric lead guitar, multi-tracked electric lead guitar *

Bruce Welch Bruce Cripps (born 2 November 1941), known professionally as Bruce Welch, is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows. Early life Bruce Welch was born in Bognor Regis in ...

– acoustic rhythm guitar * Brian "Licorice" Locking – electric bass guitar *

Brian Bennett Brian Laurence Bennett (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band memb ...

– drums * Norrie Paramor Strings – all other instrumentation

Charts

References

{{authority control 1963 singles The Shadows songs Songs written by Hank Marvin 1960s instrumentals 1963 songs Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor Rock instrumentals