Anyone know who is playing lead guitar on Beatles' "CRY FOR A SHADOW"?

Here’s a live cut. Sounds like George to me on both live and studio:

 

Sorry but that’s a fake.

 

I figured a Beatles expert would chime in if it wasn’t kosher. I’m nowhere near as cognizant of the early years as I am the latter.

 

It is not a merely a solo. It’s a theme, and that is a huge difference. I am pretty sure John would not have written that. If John wrote the thene he would have played it. It sounds like Georges work because it is. It is full of George signature licks despite it being a theme.

 

Yeppers, this solves the mystery that has plagued fans for decades!



It's definitely Jimmy Page..... ripping off Tony Sheridan, of course.

 

I know this much...

- Harrison should have gotten a songwriting credit

- McCartney sang the “Ah ah ah’s”

 

Yeah I agree, I think George played it.

 

I'm inclined to believe that George played his Grazioso Futurama during those sessions, which had a totally different sound than the Gretsch Duo-Jet. In the Anthology book, he said it had a great sound that he really loved, but it "played like a dog". It was basically an attempt at a Stratocaster copy, so it would make sense for the Shadows homage. He also could've used Tony Sheridan's Gibson ES-175, though (interestingly, it was that guitar that inspired John and George to order two Gibson "jumbos" under the impression that the ES-175 fell under that category, only to receive their J-160Es instead).

As for amps, he may or may not have been using a Gibson GA-40. John had a tweed Fender Tremolux, amazing amps but probably not the best match for the Rickenbacker "toaster top" pickups, which need the Vox jangle and upper-mid focus.

Anyhow, I used to think it was the Duo-Jet, but the tone sounds drastically different from both the Decca and EMI audition recordings. And I think the Kaempfurt sessions might have been prior to his purchasing of the Duo-Jet.

 

I don't see the point Sheridan playing lead guitar in 'Shadow'. It's two guitars in this recording.
Would George make a tea break while the other lads are performing this or what?

 

Pretty sure it’s the Futurama. I think George got the Gretch later.

 

...my pictured scenario..John and George were sitting around just fooling around on their guitars. One of them started playing that very simple chord sequence-maybe John-and George began improvising with that very fitting two, three note sequence. They thought it sounded pretty cool and went from there.

 

Wonder when and where exactly it was written.
Just days before the Polydor session? Or before they came (back) to Hamburg?
And did they perform it (at least once) somewhere in a concert, too?

 

I'm kind of thinking they came up with it during the Tony Sheridan period while recording with Bert Kaempfert.

 

They had it for quite a while. It was called Beatle Bop.

 

LOL!...ah ha ha and not a single thought about SHtv! ah, to be innocent...

 

As noted by another poster, I was confusing this for a different song ha.

 

thanks Steve.

 

Thanks!

 

yea I did... I edited my post but not soon enough! LOL. It was great...I enjoyed it...and played along! LOL...

 

I can't see what George's input was if not the lead theme. If it's played well, and in a style at all, I would think it was George early in his evolution, when he was probably copping lots of stuff from records, learning a lot, and playing hour after hour long sets.

 

Hi - when the mailing service makes it possible again to send out parcels worldwide my book on Beatles & Hamburg will be published at www.apcor.net (please register via contact for the newsletter).
For this book I had the complete Tony Sheridan sessions analyzed by a German sound expert, remasterer and record producer who is remastering an awful lot of back catalogues of all kinds of bands for the labels for the last 30+ years. He is a master in his field.

I can tell you that there is NO edit in My Bonnie at the mentioned place as someone wrote here. The exlanation is simple. But there is an edit in another song... The story of who played what instrument on which song and who played Cry For A Shadow will be explained there en detail. Many other details about the recording process, mix etc will be explained there, too, for the very first time. Some details will surprise most readers as the books have most of the story wrong.

I am sorry, but you have to wait until then... (The script is ready for nearly half a year but everything is on hold because of Covid19)

thorsten