The Shads version, by all rights, should have been on American radio playlists first, but lackadaisical production and weak promo caused unforgivable delays, which allowed Ingmann’s version to get to America first, and therefore become the US hit, the definitive version of the song to U.S. audiences. As a long-time guitarist, who loves the song “Apache”, and all versions I’ve heard, I have to say that I consider Hank’s treatment to be the absolute strongest and most unique of the bunch. After decades of playing Apache ala Jorgen Ingmann and The Ventures, once I heard the song played by The Shadows, it was like having an epiphany – and from that day forward, I have played it Hank Marvin style, and will be playing it that way until they pry the guitar out of my cold dead hands.

The Shadows are, without a doubt, one of the most under-rated rock acts of all time. I also, like most of the other commenters, absolutely LOVE the Beatles, and consider them the most important Rock & Roll band of all time, but I do think it is significant that the Queen saw fit to bestow knighthood on Sir Hank, just as she did on Sirs John, Paul, George and Ringo! GOOD JOB THAT!

I am a HUGE fan of BOTH bands.

I happen to be old enough and remember as a 9 year old the sound of Apache while at summer camp and nobody had ever heard a guitar sound that way, not even from America. Indeed Hank Marvin has admitted he got that sound by mistake and happenstance as he got the Stratocaster which was fitted with heavy strings and had trouble bending them with his left hand and figured that American players and there better diet meant they had stronger hands, remember they had no videos to watch as we do today.He WANTED to sound like them and couldn’t and ended up in a different place. Add that an echo box that did something he liked and he, to use his own words as I remember it, “stumbled” across this sound. It was not later that he realised that the Americans use lighter gauge banjo strings, easy to bend. It was all a terrible but wonderful mistake. But that sound also led to a technique that we see copied by Young, Beck, Gilmour and many others, the sound of bending the notes using the whammy bar and not just the left hand and often doing both during the same song, and they have all recognised publicly on many occasions where it started. Now many guitar players do it and don’t know where it started as they see later guitar players doing it.

The point is simple, All the British guitar players at that time was looking ‘blindly’ at the US and wanted to sound like them. But in the end they came up with something new, a progression. Even The Beatles were.

BTW, after the Beatles hit the Big Time, the Shadows did a cheeky number on the Beatles mersey sound, listen to “Rhythm and Greens” and the video has the Shadows wearing long hair and all. This is a very raunchy Hank on the lead. Note that “Cry For A Shadow” was at a time when The Shadows were the Big Band and when The Shadows did “Rhythm and Greens”, at that time The Beatles were the Big Band. Nice payback but all of it was just a cheeky backhander and good fun. But Marvin doing a Harrison beats Harrison doing Marvin, but a little unfair to Harrison considering the age difference and the level of experience.

BOTH bands shared Abbey Road and Hank was later quoted as saying “We hung out with those guys” and “we knew they were going to be big” and that there was no silly animosity and just friendly rivalry, and in fact some of the Shad guys helped out The Beatles on the technical side (my late Father was a recording engineer in those days).

I loved The Shadows as a kid when they came out, I loved The Beatles when they came out and I consider them to be the greatest band of all time – no question about it. But I know in my guts that it started with The Shads and grew on to become the British Invasion, and not just of America.

Just to set the record straight re Apache, it was written by Jerry Lordan who tried to get it recorded and was disappointed with Bert Weedon’s effort and canned it. He took it to Jet Harris and hence The Shadows – and that is history.

What is lesser known is that the main riff/lick in Apache was all Hank Marvin and every cover includes it.

Why is that important? It proves The Shadows version was the original. Even The Beatles copied it, so did The Ventures. Marvin gets no credit for inventing what may arguably be the single greatest phrase on a guitar up to that time and instantly recognisable anywhere in the world. THAT is called influence.

Jorgen Ingman had the big hit in the US and likewise used the Marvin riff (my Father recorded Ingman on a number of occasions and even did live TV stuff with him), and the Ventures later in their cover used the Marvin riff, and that makes it obvious what is the original and what is not.

But there is no doubt in my mind that when discussing the roots of The Beatles, the greatest band of all time, just as you cannot explain where Beethoven came from without discussing Mozart, the same applies here.

So many of the above comments are uncalled for – think of all the positive stuff, there is very little in the negative column to consider.