Hank Marvin

Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows.

Marvin was born as Brian Robson Rankin at 138 Stanhope Street in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. His father was an army officer. He played banjo and piano. After hearing Buddy Holly he decided to learn the guitar and also adopted Holly-style dark-rimmed glasses.

He chose his stage name while launching his career. It is an amalgamation of his childhood nickname, Hank, and the first name of American country singer Marvin Rainwater.

He moved to London in April 1958 after persuading his parents to let him do so in pursuit of a career in the music business. Sixteen-year-old Marvin and his Rutherford Grammar School friend, Bruce Welch, met Johnny Foster, Cliff Richard's manager, at The 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London. Foster was looking for a guitarist for Cliff Richard's UK tour and was considering Tony Sheridan. Instead he offered Marvin the position. Marvin agreed to join the Drifters, as Cliff Richard's group was then known, provided there was a place for Welch.

Marvin met Richard for the first time at a nearby Soho tailor's shop, where Richard was having a fitting for a stage jacket. The Drifters had their first rehearsal with Richard at the Webb family home (Cliff's parents) in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. After a threat of legal action by representatives of the American band of the same name, the Drifters became the Shadows in 1959.

The Shadows were known for their instrumental songs, mainly; "Apache" (1960), "F.B.I." (1961), "Wonderful Land" (1962), and "Foot Tapper" (1963), among many others. The band split up briefly between 1968 and 1973, but was reformed by Marvin, Welch and Bennett.

Marvin and the Shadows reformed for a 2004 Final Tour, and a 2005 European tour was also undertaken. Cliff Richard and the Shadows performed the final tour dates in 2009 and 2010.

Marvin's first critically lauded, eponymous 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" topped the singles chart in New South Wales, Australia, having been 'discovered' by two DJs at 2WG Wagga Wagga. Marvin has experimented with styles and material, releasing some instrumental albums, some with mostly vocals (e.g. Words and Music, All Alone With Friends), one with only acoustic guitars and one with a guitar orchestra (The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate).^{[citation needed]}