Hank Marvin Albums in Order: 36 Studio Albums Across 56 Years
The Hank Marvin albums in order run to 36 studio records across 56 years, 21 with the Shadows and 15 solo, from The Shadows in 1961 to Without a Word in 2017. I braided both catalogues into one route on my Hank Marvin discography art print, each album a station and each of the 84 credited musicians a line.
Most listings split him in two, a Shadows column and a solo column. I built this one the other way round, because the two halves overlap for thirty years and the overlap is the interesting part.
The 36 Hank Marvin and Shadows Studio Albums, 1961 to 2017
- The Shadows (1961)
- Out of the Shadows (1962)
- Dance with the Shadows (1964)
- The Sound of the Shadows (1965)
- Shadow Music (1966)
- Jigsaw (1967)
- From Hank, Bruce, Brian and John (1967)
- Hank Marvin (1969)
- Shades of Rock (1970)
- Rockin' with Curly Leads (1973)
- Specs Appeal (1975)
- Tasty (1977)
- The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate (1977)
- String of Hits (1979)
- Change of Address (1980)
- Hits Right Up Your Street (1981)
- Words and Music (1982)
- Life in the Jungle (1982)
- All Alone with Friends (1983)
- XXV (1983)
- Guardian Angel (1984)
- Moonlight Shadows (1986)
- Simply Shadows (1987)
- Steppin' to the Shadows (1989)
- Reflection (1990)
- Into the Light (1992)
- Heartbeat (1993)
- Hank Plays Cliff (1995)
- Hank Plays Holly (1996)
- Hank Marvin and the Shadows Play the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (1997)
- Marvin at the Movies (2000)
- Guitar Player (2002)
- Guitar Man (2007)
- Django's Castle (2013)
- Hank (2014)
- Without a Word (2017)
Studio records only. Live albums, compilations and the Cliff Richard records the Shadows backed are not stations on this map, and the line stops at 2017.
Two Careers, One Route, Sorted by Date
The decision on this map was not about who to include. It was about the order in which to put them. Drawn as two parallel routes it would be tidier, and it would hide the only thing that matters here: the solo albums do not start after the Shadows finish. Hank Marvin arrives in 1969 while the band is still going, and The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate lands in 1977 between two Shadows records.
So the print alternates. Seven Shadows albums, then a solo one, then four more Shadows, then another solo one. You can see him working both sides of it for thirty years, which two neat parallel lines would have flattened into nothing.
Hank Marvin Discography Map
Thirty-six studio albums across 56 years, the Shadows and the solo years drawn as one transit network.
Hank Marvin Discography Art PrintThe Shadows Stop in 1990 and Hank Keeps Going for Twenty-Seven Years
Reflection in 1990 is the last Shadows album on the map. Bruce Welch's line ends there, at twenty albums, and so does Brian Bennett's, at twenty-two. Bennett is the only musician other than Marvin himself whose line crosses more than twenty stations.
The two who hold the back line through the 1980s both stop a station earlier than that. Alan Jones plays bass on nine albums and Cliff Hall keyboards on nine, and both of them finish at Steppin' to the Shadows in 1989 rather than carrying on to Reflection.
Everything after 1990 is solo. Eleven albums in a row, from Into the Light in 1992 to Without a Word in 2017, and the right-hand third of the print has one line running the whole way through it: a thick braided section that suddenly thins to a single thread and stays that way for twenty-seven years. That is the most legible thing on this map from across a room.
Thirteen Names at One Station, Including the Man Who Played the James Bond Riff
The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate in 1977 is the widest station on the print and the strangest record in either catalogue. It is a solo album that gathers nine guitar players around Marvin on a single record, and eleven of the names at that station appear nowhere else on the map.
Vic Flick is one of them. He is the guitarist who played the riff on the James Bond theme, which makes his one appearance here the most-heard few seconds of anybody's work on this map.
Alongside him are Alan Parker, Colin Green, Kevin Peek, Les Thatcher, Paul Keogh, Rickie Hitchcock, Chris Rae and Alan Sparks, with Clem Cattini on drums, Herbie Flowers on bass and Frank Ricotti on percussion. Thirteen names at one station, and then almost all of them leave and never come back.
Brian May, Duane Eddy and Mark Knopfler Are All on Here
The solo years bring in a guest list nobody expects from an instrumental guitar catalogue. These are the ones that stop people.
| Guest | Album | Better known for |
|---|---|---|
| Olivia Newton-John | From Hank, Bruce, Brian and John (1967) | Guest vocals on "The Day I Met Marie", before Grease |
| Vic Flick | The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate (1977) | The guitar on the James Bond theme |
| Brian May | Into the Light (1992) | Queen |
| Duane Eddy | Into the Light (1992) | The other great twang guitarist, same album |
| Mark Knopfler | Heartbeat (1993) | Dire Straits |
| Cliff Richard | Heartbeat (1993) and Hank Plays Cliff (1995) | Two stations, one an album of his own songs |
| Norrie Paramor | Four albums, 1962 to 1977 | Producing, and the orchestral parts he played |
| John Farrar | Three albums, 1973 to 1977 | Later writing "You're the One That I Want" |
| Herbie Flowers | Two albums, 1970 and 1977 | The bass on "Walk on the Wild Side" |
Brian May and Duane Eddy on the same record is the pairing I would put in front of anybody who thinks this is a nostalgia catalogue.
The Longest Line That Is Not a Band Member Belongs to Alan Hawkshaw
Alan Hawkshaw was never in the Shadows, and his line still runs across seven albums and twenty-six years, from From Hank, Bruce, Brian and John in 1967 to Heartbeat in 1993: organ in 1967, piano and electric piano on Shades of Rock, the String of Hits arrangements in 1979, single tracks of XXV and Moonlight Shadows, then both early solo records of the 1990s. On the print that reads as a dashed presence rather than a run, which is what a hired keyboard player's career looks like when you draw it instead of listing it.
The Bass Chair Changes Hands Six Times Before 1980
Jet Harris plays bass on the first two albums and stops. Brian "Licorice" Locking covers albums two and three, overlapping him by one. John Rostill took over on Dance with the Shadows in 1964 and ran to Shades of Rock in 1970. After that it fragments: Dave Richmond, Herbie Flowers, Brian Odgers and Alan Tarney all take turns across the mid-seventies records, sometimes two of them on the same album, splitting it track by track, before Alan Jones arrives at the end of the decade and holds the chair for nine albums.
Tony Meehan, meanwhile, drums on the debut and nothing else, because Brian Bennett arrives for the second album and stays for twenty-two. One short line at the very start, then a long steady one beside it, right at the left-hand edge of the print.
Two of His Children Are on the Later Albums
Ben Marvin is credited on eight of the solo records and Tahlia Marvin on five, both of them across the stretch from Marvin at the Movies onwards.
So the thin end of the map, where the Shadows' lines have all stopped, is where the family lines start. Thirteen names at a station in 1977, and two of his children at the last one.
Which Size Holds 36 Stations
A3 at 420 x 297 mm comes unframed or in a black wood frame. It holds the shape of the thing, the braid and the thinning after 1990, but 36 stations is a lot of type for that sheet. A2 at 594 x 420 mm comes unframed or in a black wood frame, and carries all thirty-six stations with the braid reading clearly.
A1 at 841 x 594 mm comes unframed or framed, and it is the one I would take here. Thirty-six stations are at the busy end for A2, and the Guitar Syndicate crowd needs room, otherwise Vic Flick and Kevin Peek become part of a cluster instead of names you can read. Three inch formats are sold alongside the A sizes rather than as conversions of them: 16 x 12 in, 24 x 18 in and 36 x 24 in.
Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium fine art paper, textured matte, archival and acid-free, supplied unframed or ready to hang in a black wood frame. The full detail is on the print and frame specification page.
Questions People Ask About This Map
How many studio albums did Hank Marvin make?
Thirty-six studio albums appear on this map, 21 with the Shadows and 15 under his own name, spanning 1961 to 2017.
What are the Hank Marvin albums in order?
They run from The Shadows in 1961 to Without a Word in 2017, with the Shadows and solo records interleaved by release date rather than separated. The numbered list above is the order the map draws them in.
How many musicians are on the Hank Marvin map?
Eighty-four credited musicians are drawn as lines, from Marvin himself across all thirty-six stations to the eleven guitar players who appear once each in 1977.
Are Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett on it?
Yes. Bruce Welch runs to twenty albums and Brian Bennett to twenty-two, and both lines end at Reflection in 1990.
What is not on the Hank Marvin map?
Live albums, compilations and the Cliff Richard records the Shadows played on are all left off, because the map is drawn from studio records only. Anything released after Without a Word in 2017 postdates the artwork and is not on it either.
Does it show who played what on each track?
No. Each line tells you which albums the musician appears on. Track-level roles appear only on my Rolling Stones Goats Head Soup album map.
Related Music Maps
Brian May's appearance on Into the Light connects this one to the Queen albums in order map, and Mark Knopfler on Heartbeat connects it to the Dire Straits albums in order map. The oddest link crosses out of music altogether: Vic Flick played the guitar on the James Bond theme, which ties the 1977 Guitar Syndicate station to my James Bond films in order map.
The wider era sits in the 1960s bands collection, and the full range is in the music art print collection.
Getting Hold of the Print
The Hank Marvin discography art print comes in A3, A2 and A1, plus the three inch formats, unframed or in a black wood frame. If it is a present and you would rather let them pick the map themselves, there is a gift card for music fans.
