Hank Brian Marvin, also known as Hank B. Marvin, is an English musician, a multi-instrumentalist,
as well as a vocalist best known as lead guitarist for the Shadows.
The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was a backing band for Cliff Richard.
Marvin has a distinctive guitar sound and appearance, primarily using a clean sound
with distinctive echo and vibrato giving a dreamy effect.
Personal life He was born Brian Robson Rankin in Newcastle
upon Tyne, England.
As a child, he played banjo and piano.
After hearing Buddy Holly, he decided to learn the guitar.
He chose the name Hank Marvin while launching his career.
The name is an amalgamation of his childhood nickname, Hank, which he used to differentiate
himself from friends also named Brian, and Marvin Rainwater, a country and western singer.
When Marvin was 16, he travelled with his Rutherford Grammar School friend, Bruce Welch,
to London, where he met Johnny Foster, Cliff Richard's manager, at The 2i's Coffee Bar
in Soho.
Foster was looking for a guitarist for Richard's tour of the UK, and Marvin joined provided
there was a place for Welch.
Foster had been looking for guitarist Tony Sheridan at the 2i's, but he encountered Marvin.
Marvin and Welch joined The Drifters, as Richard's group was then known.
Marvin met Richard for the first time at a nearby Soho tailor's shop, where Richard was
having a fitting for a pink stage jacket.
The Drifters had their first rehearsal with Richard at the Webb family home in Cheshunt,
Hertfordshire.
His first wife was Beryl, with whom he had four children; Dean(born 1962) Twins Peter
and Paul(born 1963) and Thailia(born 1966) Dean died from Pneumonia in 1997.
He is currently married to Carole, with whom he had two children; Thailia(born 1973) and
Ben(born 1975).
Since 1986, Marvin has lived in Perth, Western Australia.
He has made impromptu appearances on stage when musician friends visit the area, such
as in February 2013 when Richard held a concert at Sandalford Winery.
He is a Jehovah's Witness.
Marvin runs a recording studio, Nivram studios, part of Sh-Boom studios in Tiverton Street,
Perth, owned by Trevor Spencer and Gary Taylor.
In London, Hank Marvin is cockney rhyming slang for "starvin".
This slang was referenced in a 2012 television advertisement for Mattessons meat company.
Influence Marvin influenced many guitarists, including
George Harrison, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Brian May, Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton,
Steve Howe, Roy Wood, Tony Iommi, Pete Townshend, Ritchie Blackmore and Jeff Beck.
In Canada, Cliff and The Shadows had top 10 hits, especially from 1961 to 1965.
Canadian guitarists Randy Bachman and Neil Young credit Marvin as influential.
Solo career Marvin also had a solo career.
His first critically lauded self-titled solo album of instrumentals, which featured guitar
set to orchestrated backing, was released in 1969 following the first disbanding of
The Shadows in late 1968.
The single 'Sacha' taken from this topped the singles chart in New South Wales, Australia.
His solo career was then suspended due to Shadows reunions, first for a Far East tour
and 'live' album in 1969, then a studio album in 1970 and again in the early seventies.
He has experimented with styles and material, doing some purely instrumental albums, some
with mostly vocals, one with only acoustic guitars and one with a guitar orchestra.
In 1970, Marvin and Welch formed Marvin, Welch & Farrar, a vocal-harmony trio which failed
to appeal to Shadows fans or to contemporary music fans.
They became 'Marvin & Farrar' for a vocal album in 1973 and then reverted to The Shadows
in late 1973, for the instrumental Rockin' with Curly Leads album.
The Shadows came second for the United Kingdom in the 1975 Eurovision song contes .
Marvin wrote "Driftin'", "Geronimo", "Spider Juice", "I Want You to Want Me" for The Shadows,
and "The Day I Met Marie".
He co-wrote Richard's 1960 hit; 'Gee Whizz It's You' with Ian Samwell, With Welch, Brian
Bennett, and John Rostill, he wrote hits for Richard, including; "On The Beach", "I Could
Easily Fall in Love with You", " Time Drags By", and "In the Country".
In 1969 and 1970 he teamed with Richard for two 'Cliff & Hank' hit singles, his own song;'Throw
Down A Line', and 'The Joy of Living', while Richard also had a hit with his ecology song,
'Silvery Rain'.
In 1977, Marvin played lead guitar on Roger Daltrey's third solo album, One of the Boys,
on the tracks Parade and Leon.
He co-wrote Olivia Newton John's 1977 hit 'Sam' with John Farrar and Don Black, and
produced albums for the British personality Des O'Connor.
In 1988, Marvin collaborated with French keyboardist and composer Jean Michel Jarre on the track
"London Kid", on Jarre's Revolutions album and was a guest in the Jarre's Destination
Docklands concert at London's Royal Victoria Dock.
Jarre said The Shadows' success had influenced him and led to his decision to devote his
career to instrumental music.
In 1992, Duane Eddy guested on Marvin's album Into the Light on the track "Pipeline".
Marvin and The Shadows reformed for a 2004 Final Tour, and a 2005 European tour was also
organised.
Marvin dueted twice with French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel – on his 2007 and 2010
albums, both top-ten hits and certified gold.
Their two singles hit the iTunes charts in France, Norway, Finland and Germany.
Marvin also participated on one of his DVDs and wrote the foreword for Danel's book about
the Fender Stratocaster.
While Welch and Bennett became the Officers of the Order of the British Empire in the
2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to music, Marvin declined for "personal reasons".
Early career groups 1956 – Riverside Skiffle group → Crescent
City Skiffle Group Marvin, John Tate, Derek Johnson, Joe Rankin,
Mal Malarky, and Howard Muir 1956–1957 – The Railroaders
Marvin, Welch, George Williams, Jim 1956–1957 – The Railroaders
Marvin, Welch, Eddie Silver, George Williams, and Jim ?
1958 – The Vipers live concert
Wally Whyton, Johnny Booker, Hank Marvin, J. Harris, and Johnny Pilgrim
1958 – The Five Chesternuts 7" single –
Gerry Hurst, Marvin, Welch, Neil Johnson, and Pete Chester
UK solo tours 1994 – w/Brian Bennett, Ben Marvin, Warren
Bennett, Mark Griffiths 1995 – w/Ben Marvin, Warren Bennett, Mark
Griffiths, Matthew Letley 1997 – w/Ben Marvin, Warren Bennett, Mark
Griffiths, Matthew Letley 1998 – w/Ben Marvin, Warren Bennett, Mark
Griffiths, Matthew Letley 2000 - w/Ben Marvin, Warren Bennett, Mark
Griffiths, Peter May 2002 – w/Ben Marvin, Warren Bennett, Mark
Griffiths, Fergus Gerrand Production credits
Spaghetti Junction Work's Nice – If you can get it/Step right Up Columbia DB 8935
Des O'Connor – Another Side Des O'Connor – LP – NSPL 18559.
Flair – Stop look & listen – LP – MLP 15611.
Flair – Fair – LP – CC 227324 Flair – Fair play – LP – CC 327224
Duets and guest appearances 1972: Spaghetti Junction Work's Nice – If
you can get it/Step right Up Columbia DB 8935 1976: Evita: guitar on "Buenos Aires"
1977: Dennis Waterman Waterman album 1977: Roger Daltrey One of The Boys album
– guitar on "Parade" and "Leon" 1978: Des O'Connor Another Side of Des O'Connor
album 1979: Wings Back to the Egg album – "Rockestra
Theme" and "So Glad To See You Here" 1982: British Electric Foundation Music of
Quality and Distinction volume 1 guitar on "Anyone Who Had A Heart" with Sandie
Shaw and "It's Over" with Billy MacKenzie 1983: Tracey Ullman You Broke My Heart in
17 Places album: guitar on "Move Over Darling" and "You Broke My Heart in 17 Places"
1983: Leo Sayer Have You Ever Been in Love album: guitar on "Don't Wait Until Tomorrow"
1984: Shakin' Stevens "Teardrops" single 1985: Dire Straits plays "Going Home", with
the band, as a special guest at Live at Wembley 1986: Cliff Richard and The Young Ones "Living
Doll" 1988: Jean Michel Jarre Revolutions guitar
on "London Kid" 1989: Jean Michel Jarre Destination Docklands:
guitar on "London Kid" and "Rendez-Vous IV" 1995: Alan Jones A Shadow in Time album: guest
on title track "A Shadow In Time" 1998: Jane McDonald "You're My World" single
2004: The Strat Pack: guitar on "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt," "Sleep Walk" and
"Apache" 2005: Richard Hawley "I'm Absolutely Hank
Marvin", b-side of "Coles Corner" single 2007: Peter Frampton "Fingerprints" album:
guitar on My Cup of Tea 2007 Jean-Pierre Danel "Nivram" + Blues jam
session on DVD 2008 Jason Donovan "Let It Be Me" on Dreamboats
and Petticoats album 2008 Le QuecumBar Patrons "Stars of Gypsy
Swing" 2010 Jean-Pierre Danel "M Appeal"
In addition to the above, Marvin also plays guitar on the following tracks of library
music recorded for Bruton Music: "Fighter Plane" on Top of the Range
"Conquest of Space" on Grandiose Impressive Panoramic
"Human Desert" on Human Desert Discography
Singles (V) – Vocal
Studio and live albums 1969 Hank Marvin No. 14
1977 Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate 1982 Words and Music No. 66
1983 All alone with friends 1992 Into the light No. 18
1993 Heartbeat No. 17 1995 Hank plays Cliff No. 33
1996 Hank plays Holly No. 34 1997 Hank plays Live No. 71
1997 Plays the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber No. 41
2000 Marvin at the Movies No. 17 2002 Guitar Player No. 10
2007 Guitar Man No. 6 2013 Django's Castle
2014 Hank No. 8 Compilation albums
1987 Would You Believe It...Plus 1994 The Best of Hank Marvin & The Shadows
No. 19 1995 Handpicked
1997 The Very Best of Hank Marvin & The Shadows The First 40 Years No. 56
1998 Another Side of Hank Marvin 2001 The Singles Collection 'The 80's & 90's'
Hank Marvin & The Shadows 2004 Shadowing The Hits
2004 Guitar Ballads 2007 Hank Marvin & The Shadows Play The 60's
2008 The Solid Gold Collection See also
List of guitarists List of people from Newcastle upon Tyne
References
External links Hank Marvin at AllMusic