Legacy

As a direct result of using the very first (imported from the USA by Cliff Richard) Fender Stratocaster (Fiesta Red) guitar in the UK in 1959, The Shadows are (/Hank Marvin is) still considered by virtually every major British, European (eg Focus) and Australian (eg AC/DC) rock guitarist to be the most influential, significant and important British lead guitarist of the 20th century as a result of his pioneering work 'Before-Beatles' during 1958-63 despite the fact that the Shadows had no commercial success in the USA due to (i) lack of touring North America after 1959 and (ii) EMI records non-existent promotion of The Shadows' original version of the Apache single (qv not Jorgen Ingmann's questionable stab at Apache, a USA-hit) in the USA and Canada in 1960.

As a direct result of the pioneering and catalytic career of The Shadows, all major British lead guitarists are thus influenced by The Shadows (qv Hank Marvin) have themselves gone on to have major commercial success in the USA and Canada in their own right eg Paul McCartney of The Beatles, Jimmy Page of Led Zepellin, Jeff Beck of The Yardbirds, Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend of The Who, Brian May of Queen, to name but a few.

Additionally several notable legendary American guitarists have also cited The Shadows as a primary influence in their music career choice eg Carlos Santana, Neil Young, Randy Bachman to name but a few as a result of two early 1960s special USA made compilation vinyl-albums: "The Shadows Know" (cat no:8097) and "Surf with The Shadows" (cat no: 8089) both on Atlantic records (qv USA made CD album "The Shadows are go!" (on Scamp / Caroline records).

As per the Ventures in the USA, The Shadows legacy is summed up in terms of words/phrases such as "pioneers", "catalyst", "originators", and "prototype" etc in terms of the rock group entity. In the succeeding years into the 21st century most other groups have taken the original 4 piece instrument format line up and modified it to suit their own needs and aspirations eg Peter Green's original Fleetwood Mac line-up with 3 guitarists plus bass and drums.

Virtually every British heavy metal rock band, eg Motorhead, who began their careers in the 1960/70s recognize The Shadows as being a massively important 'influence' (as distinct from the term 'commercial success') in terms of a career choice in rock music. In terms of influence alone, not withstanding the commercial success of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones during 1963-70, The Shadows still remain the most influential rock (instrumental) British band of all time with their choice of American made Fender guitars being copied ad-nauseum by numerous British rock/metal bands eg Def Leppard.

Moreover, such was the influence on the embryonic British music scene during 1958-62 that The Beatles (deliberately slimmed down in 1961 to a 4-piece from an original 3 guitar/5-piece band) and The Rolling Stones (formed in 1962) both chose to copy the Shadows or the Cliff Richard and The Shadows' original line-up format as it gave both groups the optimal ratio of sound vs personnel for their own brand of Brit-rock.