Bernie Marsden interview

[drakula63]

Great interview with former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden here:

https://www.loudersound.com/features/be ... -coverdale

Who was the first guitarist to really capture your imagination?
I loved Hank Marvin in The Shadows as a kid, but Eric Clapton was the first guitar player I really adored, because I was old enough to relate to it. George Harrison comes into this as well, then it was Peter Green.

[Hank2k]

Ive met him! Great guy

[Stu's Dad]

Which one Steve?

My first guitar hero was undoubtedly Buddy Holly.

Then a feller called somebody Marvin...........

Len

[Hank2k]

Bernie Marsden! He was doing a clinic at Peach Guitars in Colchester a couple of years back and Paul Reed Smith of PRS guitars was there too.

Bernie had a great sound and when he finished i walked up to his setup to find out what he was using and it was just his PRS guitar in to a PRS amplifier that was it, no pedals etc but the sound and playing was to die for! Of course very different to Hank but well worth checking out

[Moderne]

Who was the first guitarist to really capture your imagination?
I loved Hank Marvin in The Shadows as a kid....

I'm sure Bernie Marsden is a lovely bloke etc. etc. but I do have a slight problem with people who pay tribute to Hank and The Shadows but then imply that it's something they were into when they were really young...and then they grew out of it - like Dinky Toys and Enid Blyton. I'm 56 and I'd rather listen to Hank Marvin than Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck etc. Then again, I'm not an internationally renowned rock star...

[drakula63]

Who was the first guitarist to really capture your imagination?
I loved Hank Marvin in The Shadows as a kid....

I'm sure Bernie Marsden is a lovely bloke etc. etc. but I do have a slight problem with people who pay tribute to Hank and The Shadows but then imply that it's something they were into when they were really young...and then they grew out of it - like Dinky Toys and Enid Blyton. I'm 56 and I'd rather listen to Hank Marvin than Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck etc. Then again, I'm not an internationally renowned rock star...

To be fair, I think this is just due to his age at the time... he was genuinely a kid when he first heard Hank. Also, in Bernie's defence; did you know that in the late 1980s he almost joined Cliff Richard's band? I gather he was genuinely excited about this and would have been the new band leader. He rehearsed with the band a few times and says it was a great thrill to play the solo to 'Livin' Doll'. In the end, of course, it didn't happen, because Cliff felt that the direction Bernie wanted to take the band in was a bit too heavy for his fans. Probably true. Mind you, if it had happened ten years earlier, who knows. I get the feeling that Bernie is genuine in his regard for Hank and is just telling it like it is.

[Gruntfuttock]

I loved The Shadows in my early teens. My first “LP” was The Shadows. My first LP in STEREO in fact. I’ve appreciated Hank even more in my later years. The guitarist that made me almost “Tingle” was Django Reinhardt. I had a guitar teacher in Bristol (Jack Toogood) who had some slots on the Beeb - he played some Django numbers - and I was hooked.
Dave