| The Shadows | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | The Shadows |
| Cover: | Shadows-same-61.jpg |
| Released: | September 1961 |
| Recorded: | October 1960 – June 1961 |
| Studio: | EMI Abbey Road |
| Genre: | Instrumental rock |
| Label: | Columbia (EMI) SX1374 (mono); SCX3414 (stereo) (UK) |
| Producer: | Norrie Paramor |
| Next Title: | Out of the Shadows |
| Next Year: | 1962 |
The Shadows is the debut studio album by British instrumental rock group The Shadows, released in September 1961. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart.
The sleeve notes were written by Cliff Richard.
The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios (Studio 2) between 26 October 1960 and 21 June 1961. It was recorded on entirely analogue equipment in real time, with each track recorded on a one-track-per-day basis with no overdubs or edits on a 2 track recording machine. Rather than having a stereo mix being mixed down into a mono version, both stereo and mono mixes were recorded simultaneously but separately within the same session. Mistakes made during recording necessitated immediate retakes, and for that reason, multiple versions for some (if not all) tracks exist in EMI's tape vaults.
All of the tracks were recorded in several sessions over an eight-month period (nine session-days), during which singles were also recorded, including "Kon-Tiki", "She Wears Red Feathers" (unissued), "The Frightened City", "Wonderful Land", "36-24-36", "March of the Shadows" (unissued), "Peace Pipe", "The Savage", "Blues From an Unfurnished Flat" (unissued), "Happy Birthday to You" (unissued except in an overdubbed form on 21 Today), an LP by Cliff Richard.
The songs from the album were recorded in this order:
Some of the songs were rereleased on The Shadows No. 2 and The Shadows No. 3 EPs.
Only Shadoogie, Nivram, All My Sorrows and Sleepwalk were used "live on stage" to promote this album in 1961-2. Nivram has been used as 1st choice Shadows bass solo for live concerts from 1962 right through to 2010. The track Gonzales was played live on a radio performance (late 1960) but never on stage until belatedly included on the final tour live set in 2004.