Reviews

Brian Robson Rankin of Newcastle-upon-Tyne moved to London while still a teenager, armed with a guitar and a dream.  He adopted the name Hank Marvin, melding his childhood nickname of “Hank” with the first name of American country singer Marvin Rainwater, and put on a pair of glasses inspired by Buddy Holly’s.  His school friend Bruce Welch joined him, and before long, the pair had met Cliff Richard’s manager. In 1959, Richard’s band then known as The Drifters became The Shadows, and Richard, Marvin, Welch, and Brian Bennett (who replaced drummer Tony Meehan in 1961) entered the history books.  Outside of that band’s long history, Marvin enjoyed a solo career which began in 1969 and continues to this day.  Edsel has revisited one chapter of Marvin’s discography with a recently-released 5CD, 71-track box set, The Studio Album Collection 1982-1995.

Marvin’s recognizable tone on the electric guitar made him one of the most widely influential guitarists in rock history as well as an in-demand guest.  He’s played on albums from Roger Daltrey (One of the Boys), Wings (Back to the Egg), Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (the original Evita concept album), Leo Sayer (Have You Ever Been in Love), Peter Frampton (Fingerprints), and others; this collection begins with his solo signing to Polydor in the early 1980s.

Words and Music (1982), produced by engineer Peter Vince, was Marvin’s third solo LP following a 1969 set of pop tunes and movie themes for Columbia (U.K.) and a 1977 EMI release by “The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate” of similarly varied pop covers.  Words and Music, as the title indicated, would be different.  A vocal-oriented album, it featured Hank’s Shadows bandmate Brian Bennett on drums and a cache of original songs mainly written by Hank with collaborators including his brother Joseph Rankin, Bennett, and Olivia Newton-John’s frequent collaborator (and onetime Shadows member), John Farrar.  Intending to place Marvin’s voice and guitar in a contemporary pop-rock setting, the album yielded a moderate hit single with Sue Shifrin and Terry Britten’s gleaming, uptempo “Don’t Talk” (No. 49 U.K.).  Marvin’s follow-up All Alone with Friends (1983) was helmed by Christopher Neil (Sheena Easton, Shakin’ Stevens, Celine Dion, Mike + The Mechanics).  Hank was supported by Bennett’s percussion, Peter Van Hooke’s drums (including electronic ones), and Andy Brown’s bass on a set including lead single “The Hawk and the Dove” (so named for the DC Comics superhero duo) and “Where Do You Go When You Dream,” previously recorded by Canadian chanteuse Anne Murray.  This time out, Hank only contributed two original songs, both co-written with Paul Ferris (who’d supplied The Shadows with “Maroc 7” in 1967): “Leila (Danny’s Got a Song)” and “99 Days,” both with a pulsating new wave sheen.

Marvin’s next solo LP didn’t arrive for nearly another decade.  1992’s Into the Light, co-produced by Brian Bennett and featuring guest spots from guitar heroes Brian May and Duane Eddy, found Marvin eschewing original material in favor of reinterpreting familiar classics including Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise.”  Marvin and Eddy channeled the spirit of The Shadows on their energetic cover of The Chantays’ hit “Pipeline,” and May (who counted Marvin as an early influence) delivered the pyrotechnics on “We Are the Champions.”  Other tracks leaned towards the tasteful, elegant end of the spectrum such as Tom Snow, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil’s lovely “Don’t Know Much” (a hit duet for Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville).  Four Marvin originals rounded out the LP including the atmospheric “Tailspin” and mellow “Moontalk.”  Certainly, the album’s MOR-with-a-touch-of-jazz feel had more to do with the guitarist’s earliest solo LPs than his stab at ’80s pop stardom, but as always, Marvin brought his musicianship to the fore.

1993’s Heartbeat took a similar approach to its predecessor, featuring the likes of Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” and Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die” among its selections.  Notably, Cliff Richard dropped by to add his distinctive, burnished vocals to a quartet of songs including Paul Simon’s “Mrs. Robinson,” Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” and David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”  Mark Knopfler appeared on the sparkling, Shadows-evoking “Wonderful Land,” and this edition has one bonus track: the non-LP single “Nivram,” also featuring Knopfler.  Jeff Lynne lent his production skills to “Wonderful Land” and easygoing “Nivram,” bridging the old and the new with his familiar style.  Marvin, Bennett, Lynne, and Knopfler all donated their royalties for the tunes to the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre.

The final album in the box is 1995’s Hank Plays Cliff, once again reuniting him with his old Shadows pal.  Richard appears on four tracks: “Carrie,” “Move It,” “I Could Easily Fall (In Love with You),” and “In the Country.”  (Richard would continue to enjoy periodic reunions with The Shadows, leading up to final tour dates in 2009 and 2010.)  Marvin played on the original versions of eleven of the album’s sixteen songs, and while he seemingly relished the opportunity to revisit and rearrange them with years of experience under his belt, it’s more interesting to hear Marvin’s takes on later Richard hits such as “Devil Woman” and “We Don’t Talk Anymore.”

The Studio Album Collection 1982-1995 is housed in 7″ Deluxe packaging, with a glued-in 12-page booklet featuring liner notes by Mike Read as well as photos and credits.  Phil Kinrade has mastered the audio.  The ten-panel digipak features the original cover artwork for each album.  Although the 5CD set only chronicles one part of a story that happily still isn’t over, it’s a fine tribute to one of Britain’s most beloved guitar heroes.

The box set is available now at the links below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Hank Marvin, The Studio Album Collection 1982-1995 (Edsel (U.K.), 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Words and Music (released as Polydor POLD 5054 (U.K.), 1982)

1. Don’t Talk
2. Slow Down
3. Bad Cop
4. Tahlia Take Your Time
5. China Town
6. Captain Zlogg
7. The Trouble with Me is You
8. Oh Suzie
9. Night Nurse
10. Go Jimmy
11. Then I Found Love
12. Life Line

Disc 2: All Alone with Friends (released as Polydor POLD 5104 (U.K.), 1983)

1. Just Another Heartbreak
2. The Hawk and the Dove
3. Invisible Man
4. Leila (Danny’s Got a Song)
5. Where Do You Go When You Dream
6. Don’t Answer
7. Stardom
8. Rainy Day Goodbye
9. 99 Days
10. All Alone with Friends

Disc 3: Into the Light (released as PolyGram TV 517 148-2 (U.K.), 1992)

1. Another Day in Paradise
2. Everybody Wants to Rule the World
3. Sylvia
4. Don’t Know Much
5. Road Train
6. Pipeline (feat. Duane Eddy)
7. Sumiko
8. Into the Light
9. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
10. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
11. Scirocco
12. Jessica
13. Moontalk
14. Tailspin
15. Steel Wheel
16. We Are the Champions (feat. Brian May)

Disc 4: Heartbeat (released as PolyGram TV 521 232-2 (U.K.), 1993)

1. Heartbeat (feat. Cliff Richard)
2. Oxygene (Part IV)
3. Mrs Robinson (feat. Cliff Richard)
4. Space Oddity (feat. Cliff Richard)
5. Achy Breaky Heart
6. I Will Always Love You (feat. Cliff Richard)
7. The Crying Game
8. Cable Beach
9. Wonderful Land (feat. Mark Knopfler)
10. Hot Rox
11. Rocket Man
12. Take Five
13. Wichita Lineman
14. Live and Let Die
15. Crying
16. Limited Slip
17. Nivram (feat. Mark Knopfler) (released on “Wonderful Land” U.K. CD single – PolyGram TV PZCD 297, 1993)

Disc 5: Hank Plays Cliff (released as PolyGram TV 529 426-2, 1995)

1. Living Doll
2. Wired for Sound
3. When the Girl in Your Arms is the Girl in Your Heart
4. Travellin’ Light
5. The Twelfth of Never
6. The Young Ones
7. Carrie (feat. Cliff Richard)
8. It’s All in the Game
9. Move It (feat. Cliff Richard)
10. The Day I Met Marie
11. Devil Woman
12. The Next Time
13. I Could Easily Fall (in Love with You) (feat. Cliff Richard)
14. Summer Holiday
15. In the Country (feat. Cliff Richard)
16. We Don’t Talk Anymore