Hank Marvin - ...and on guitar (2007)

Brian Robson Rankin, known professionally as Hank B Harvin, was born on 28 October 1941 in Newcastle upon Tyne, and as a child he played banjo and piano, but 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, being an amalgamation of his childhood nickname Hank, which he used to differentiate himself from friends also named Brian, and the first name of Marvin Rainwater, the country and rockabilly singer. When he was 16 Marvin and his Rutherford Grammar School friend, Bruce Welch, met Johnny Foster, who was Cliff Richard's manager, and who was looking for a guitarist for Richard's UK tour. He was considering Tony Sheridan, but instead he offered Marvin the position, which he accepted on condition that Welch could join as well, and so both became members of The Drifters, as Richard's group was then known. To avoid confusion with the American vocal group of the same name, The Drifters changed theirs to The Shadows, and both with and without Richard they ruled the UK charts throughout the 60's. In 1970, Marvin and Welch formed Marvin, Welch & Farrar with John Farrar, being a vocal-harmony trio which failed to appeal to either Shadows or contemporary music fans. After Welch left they then became 'Marvin & Farrar' for a vocal album in 1973 and they then reverted to the Shadows in late 1973 for the superlative instrumental 'Rockin' With Curly Leads' album. During the 60's Marvin wrote a number of songs, including 'Driftin'', 'Geronimo', and 'Spider Juice' for the Shadows, and 'The Day I Met Marie' for Richard, and this carried on after he left the band, writing and playing on 'Work's Nice – If You Can Get It' by Spaghetti Junction in 1972. In 1976 he was asked by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to add his distinctive guitar to their 'Evita' album, and that seems to have given him a taste for guest spots, appearing on albums by Tracey Ullman, Roger Daltry, Wings, Dennis Waterman and Leo Sayer over the next few years. He co-wrote Olivia Newton-John's 1977 hit 'Sam' with John Farrar and Don Black, and produced albums for the British showman Des O'Connor, while in 1988 he collaborated with French keyboardist and composer Jean Michel Jarre on the track 'London Kid', and he is the only artist to appear on two volumes of the 'Guitar Speak' series. In 2005 he was immortalised on Richard Hawley's 'I'm Absolutely Hank Marvin', on which he also played, as his name has become the rhyming slang for "starving" (Marvin-starvin'), but obviously it will be as one of the best UK guitarist of all time, and a major influence on a host of young musicians of the 60's and 70's, that he will primarily be remembered. 

Track listing

01 Work's Nice – If You Can Get It (single by Spaghetti Junction 1972)
02 Buenos Aires (from 'Evita' 1976)
03 Another Whiskey Sour (from 'Waterman' by Dennis Waterman 1977) 
04 Parade (from 'One Of One Boys' by Roger Daltry 1977)
05 So Glad to See You Here (from 'Back To The Egg' by Wings 1979)
06 You Broke My Heart in 17 Places (from 'You Broke My Heart In 17 Places' by 

                                                                                                                Tracey Ullman 1983)
07 Don't Wait Until Tomorrow (from 'Have You Ever Been In Love' by Leo Sayer 1983)
08 Teardrops (single by Shakin' Stevens 1984)
09 London Kid (from 'Revolutions' by Jean Michel Jarre 1988) 
10 Captain Zlogg (from 'Guitar Speak' by Various Artists 1988)
11 All Alone With Friends (from 'Guitar Speak II' by Various Artists 1990)
12 You're My World (single by Jane McDonald 1998)
13 I'm Absolutely Hank Marvin (b-side of 'Coles Corner' by Richard Hawley 2005)
14 My Cup Of Tea (from 'Fingerprints' by Peter Frampton 2007)

Mick Ronson - ...and on guitar (1979)

Mick Ronson initially wanted to be a cellist, but moved to guitar upon discovering the music of Duane Eddy, whose sound on the bass notes of his guitar sounded to Ronson similar to that of the cello. He played with a number of small bands in the 60's including The Mariners, The Crestas, The Voice,  The Wanted, and then Hull's top local band, The Rats. In 1967 The Rats recorded the one-off psychedelic track, 'The Rise and Fall of Bernie Gripplestone' at Fairview Studios in Willerby, Yorkshire, which can be heard on the 2008 release 'Front Room Masters – Fairview Studios 1966–1973'. When John Cambridge left The Rats to join his former Hullaballoos bandmate Mick Wayne in Junior's Eyes, he was replaced by Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey, and in early 1970, Cambridge came back to Hull in search of Ronson, intent upon recruiting him for David Bowie's new backing band The Hype, along with drummer Woodmansey. He found Ronson marking out a rugby pitch, one of his duties as a Parks Department gardener for Hull City Council, and although initially reluctant, he eventually agreed to accompany Cambridge to a meeting with Bowie. Two days later, on 5 February, Ronson made his debut with Bowie on John Peel's national BBC Radio 1 show, and from that point on his future was assured. 
Within a few years his reputation had grown so much that he was often asked to contribute to other artist's albums, and later even to produce them. His first post-Bowie guest spot was actually on the recommendation of his employer, who was producing Lou Reed's 'Transformer' album, and he invited Ronson to play guitar on it. The same year he was asked to contribute to The Pure Prairie League's second album 'Bustin' Out', and I've included his superlative work on 'Angel No. 9' as an example of his contribution to the record, and Ronson was so taken with this song that he included a cover of it on his second solo album 'Play Don't Worry'. In 1974 Mott The Hoople were recording their last single before Ian Hunter left and the rest of the group reformed as simply Mott. During the recording of 'The Saturday Gigs' guitarist Ariel Bender was replaced by Ronson, marking his only official appearance on a Mott the Hoople release, and Ronson's image was used in the middle of the band's line-up on the single's cover. After Ian Hunter left Mott The Hoople he embarked on a long and successful solo career, starting which what I still consider his best album 'Ian Hunter', and 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy' shows Ronson at his very best. 
In 1976 Ronson contributed guitar to the title track of David Cassidy's 'Getting It In The Street' album, giving the former bubblegum pop star a bit of street cred. The same year he was a surprise addition to Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review tour, and concert recordings were eventually released as the 'Hard Rain' album, from which I've included the rocking 'Maggie's Farm'. Roger Daltrey employed Ronson's guitar on his 1977 solo release 'One Of The Boys', for which Paul McCartney wrote a new song 'Giddy', and Ronson was joined by Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton and Alvin Lee on a great fun recording. Also that year Ronson and Ian Hunter produced and played on Ellen Foley's debut album 'Nightout', with Ronson suggesting that she record two songs by Phil Rambow, one of which is included here. The most surprising track on this album, though, is a 1970 recording for Elton John's 'Tumbleweed Connection' album, where Ronson played guitar on the track 'Madman Across the Water'. This version of the song was not included in the original release of the album of the same name two years later, although it was eventually included on deluxe re-issues, and you wonder how this outstanding near-nine minute take could ever have been dropped from the record. Ronson collaborated with many more artists throughout the rest of his career, but I think this collection of his work from the 70's shows him at his best, and also the variety of artists who held him in high enough esteem to want him added to their records.   

Track listing

01 Vicious (from 'Transformer' by Lou Reed 1972)
02 Madman Across The Water (original version with Elton John 1970)
03 Angel No. 9 (from 'Bustin' Out' by The Pure Prairie League 1972)
04 The Saturday Gigs (single by Mott The Hoople 1974)
05 Once Bitten, Twice Shy (from 'Ian Hunter' by Ian Hunter 1975)
06 Gettin' It In The Streets (from 'Gettin' It In The Streets' by David Cassidy 1976)
07 Maggie's Farm (from 'Hard Rain' by Bob Dylan 1976)
08 Giddy (from 'One Of The Boys' by Roger Daltrey 1977)
09 Night Out (from 'Nightout' by Ellen Foley 1979)