The Time I Cried At A Hank Marvin Show

by - October 18, 2022

Photo courtesy of Dana Gorab


It was 28 May 2002 at the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. I couldn’t believe the great Hank Marvin himself was going to be playing in our sassy little town...

Years earlier, at some tender age or other, I heard and saw on television a band full of guitars (and one drum set). Flashy red guitars they were. I was only little, and those men with those gorgeous red guitars were kind of doing a shuffle dance as they played. How didn’t they trip over? It was just a guitar sound, mind - no singing. They called themselves The Shadows. They did have someone who sang with them sometimes though and when he did, I turned it off. His name was Cliff Richard and was obviously trying to copy the King, Elvis Presley.

That guitar sound just stuck into my head and I desperately wanted one of those beautiful red guitars, especially the one Hank used with the lever that had a white knob at the end. I thought he used that to pick the strings with and didn’t realise that when he wobbled it, the notes quavered somewhat.

Then I heard more similar music from some guys called Jet Harris and Tony Meehan. Their “Diamonds” and “Scarlet O’Hara” were added to my music collection, along with “Dance On”, “Wonderful Land” and “Foot Tapper” (the latter three from The Shadows). It wasn’t until much later on that I found out Jet Harris and Tony Meehan used to be in The Shadows and even later on than that, Jet Harris was actually playing ‘lead bass’ for “Diamonds” and “Scarlet O’Hara”, not a Stratocaster! Needless to say, The Shadows and in particular, Hank Marvin, was my first love of music before the advent of The Beatles, then Led Zeppelin, then Dire Straits and so on.

Today my love of music is broader and less prejudiced by genre. Hank inspired me, like thousands of others, to take up learning the guitar. So when I went to the Royal Spa Centre in May 2002, it was emotional to say the least. My favourite song of The Shadows has always been “Wonderful Land” - it was written by Jerry Lordan (who also wrote all the above songs) and it has a wonderful (pun intended) chord progression. When Hank started this song in the Royal Spa Centre, of course, tears came straight into my eyes. There before me was the man and song; in other words, the seed that had been planted all those years ago and inspired me to be where I was.

I can’t believe now that I didn’t try and meet him after the shows. Normally, most acts meet up with the audience after performing, but perhaps there were just one too many tears in my eyes!

- Steve Skidmore, Skidders

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