Jet Harris was actually the bassist for . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaSGYJgnsb4. . . who first called themselves the Drifters without a clue about the American R&B quintet who
already had the name. (The Drifters of the U.S. hadn't yet had their records issued in England
when the eventual Shadows first banded up under the name.) The guitarist/singer who joined
the original lineup in 1958 decided his given name (Harry Webb) wasn't sharp enough for a
singer and he changed it to Cliff Richard. After a few personnel changes including bringing
Harris into the group, the group learned the hard way about the actual Drifters, whose records
began being released in England in 1959-60, and changed the name to the Shadows. Richard
dropped his guitar to concentrate on singing, becoming England's number one rock draw from
1960-63, and the Shadows became stars in their own right with a bunch of instrumental
records separate from their work with Richard---until the Beatles arrived and plowed them
(and everyone else) under.
(The Beatles-to-be hated when Cliff Richard turned from pure rock to mainstream pop, but they admired
the Shadows as instrumentalists; part of their legend includes the story of John Lennon and Paul
McCartney huddled up by the television when Richard and the Shadows had a spot and were
planning to play "Move It"---the two future Beatles wanted to see how Hank Marvin, the Shadows'
lead guitarist, played the song's clever introduction. When the Beatles first got to record, in
Germany, backing British singer Tony Sheridan, they were given a shot at cutting two numbers
on their own. One of them was an instrumental John Lennon and George Harrison came up with
that was both a tribute and a send-up of the Shadows' style, "Cry For a Shadow." Ah, the ironies:
when Cliff Richard needed to revamp the Shadows-to-be after early defections, his manager
found two key replacements in Liverpool---where he'd gone hoping also to find Tony Sheridan
and lure him to London. He didn't get Sheridan, but he did find guitarists Hank Marvin and Bruce
Welch and convinced them to come down and join up with Richard. For those who might still
be wondering, Hank Marvin is the lanky Buddy Holly lookalike, big glasses included.)
