- Bruce Welch
Infobox Musician
Name =Bruce Welch
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Background =solo_singer
Birth_name =Bruce Cripps
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Born =birth date and age|1941|11|2Bognor Regis ,England
Died =
Origin =Newcastle upon Tyne ,England
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Years_active =late 1950s - present
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Associated_acts =Cliff Richard ,The Shadows
URL = [http://www.brucewelchtribute.com/ brucewelchtribute.com]
Notable_instruments =Bruce Welch (born Bruce Cripps,
2 November 1941 inBognor Regis ,Sussex ,England ) is an Englishguitarist ,songwriter , producer andsinger , best known as a member ofThe Shadows .Welch grew up with his Aunt Sadie in
Chester le Street ,County Durham . After learning to play theguitar , he formed aTyneside skiffle band called The Railroaders when he was fourteencite web
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url= http://www.adherents.com/people/pm/Hank_Marvin.html
title= The Religious Affiliation of Guitarist Hank Marvin
quote= When his Crescent City Skiffle Group won a South Shields Jazz Club talent contest, he was asked to join Bruce Welch's Railroaders. On moving to London, Marvin and Welch operated briefly as the Geordie Boys before enlisting in an outfit called the Drifters, which evolved into the Shadows. While backing and, later, composing songs (such as The Day I Met Marie) for Cliff Richard, the quartet recorded independently and became generally acknowledged as Britain's top instrumental act.
date =2005-07-24
accessdate=2008-01-13] . His Rutherford Grammar School friend Brian Rankin (later to be known asHank Marvin , joined the group and they travelled toLondon in 1958 for the final of a talent competition. Although they did not win, they joined with members of other entrant bands and formed The Five Chesternuts with Pete Chester (born 1942), son of comedianCharlie Chester on drums.On moving to London Bruce and
Hank Marvin briefly operated as theGeordie Boys before enlisting in an outfit called The Drifters.In September 1958 Welch and Marvin joined The Drifters, later to become The Shadows, as
Cliff Richard 's backing band. As well as success with The Shadows, Welch also acted as producer for (among others) Cliff Richard and songwriter for his ex-fiancée,Olivia Newton-John . He also released a solo single "Please, Mr Please", which was not commercially successful, even though thesong has been covered by severalrecording artist s.Welch wrote several #1 hit singles for Cliff and for The Shadows. Among songs written or co-written by Welch are the Shadows' hits "
Foot Tapper " and "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt ", Marvin Welch & Farrar's "Faithful" and "My Home Town", and Cliff Richard hits ""Please Don't Tease ",In the Country ", "Summer Holiday", "I Love You" and "I Could Easily Fall (In Love With You) ".He was the musical consultant for the West End musical "
Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story ".Welch plays occasionally with his second band, The Moonlight Shadows, a Shadows-style band with
Phil Kelly taking Hank Marvin's place onlead guitar .He was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to music.
ee also
* List of bands/musicians from North East England
References
External links
* [http://www.brucewelchtribute.com/ Bruce Welch Tribute by Rune Moe]
The Shadows
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