"An Evening In Nivram" - The Music of the Shadows 1997

Even as the overcrowded field of tribute albums go, this is a pretty goofy and arcane take on the concept…
upstr...The Shadows were a popular band in Britain and much of the rest of the world, but never made a dent in the United States. Yet all of the 18 artists on this compilation, released three decades after the Shadows had passed their prime, are American. That in itself says something about just how wide niche collector fanaticism for early rock music had gotten by the end of the 20th century. Aside from Davie Allan & the Arrows and James Mankey of Concrete Blonde, none of the performers have much name recognition, though some have albums and cult reputations in the indie world, like Teisco del Rey, the Boss Martians, and the Aqua Velvets. But all sociological hand-wringing aside, this is actually a pretty decent collection of Shadows covers, mixing some of their biggest British hits ("Apache," "Atlantis," "Man of Mystery," "The Savage," "Theme for Young Lovers," "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt") with cuts taken from Shadows B-sides, EPs, and LPs (and in one case, even a rare solo release by Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin). That works to the compilers' advantage, since a problem inherent to so many tribute anthologies is the inevitable unfavorable comparison with the originals. In this case, you'd be very hard-pressed to find many Americans who even know the original hit versions, and there must be very very few Americans indeed who would be familiar with the originals of all of the songs here. To give you an idea of how un-clichéd some of the track selection is, just six of the tunes also appear on the only well-distributed American Shadows greatest-hits CD, the 23-cut Shadows Are Go! This makes it difficult to compare versions with the originals, yes, but even so, the music is enjoyably haunting, meticulous early- to mid-'60s-style instrumental rock, blending growling spy soundtrack music, surf, country & western, and Duane Eddy twang (with one vocal number, "Don't It Make You Feel Good," performed by the Boss Martians). Should a CD of the originals be available for side by side comparison, the Shadows' originals would naturally still be preferable. But this is a well done tribute, particularly considering that it really is hard (at least in the U.S.) to hear and collect the source material. - AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger
trax:
1. Main Theme - The Omega Men 2. Apache - The Falcons 3. Gonzales - The Huntington Cads 4. Atlantis - The Aqua Velvets 5. Man Of Mystery - The Fathoms 6. The Savage - The Space Cossacks 7. Don't It Make You Feel Good - The Boss Martians 8. The Lute Number - The Troubadours 9. Evening Comes - The Alohas 10. Tomorrow's Cancelled - The Tiki Tones 11. Tales Of A Raggy Tramline - Davie Allan & The Arrows 12. Maroc 7 - The Travelers Of Tyme 13. The Rise And Fall Of Flingel Bunt - Satan's Pilgrims 14. Zambesi - Deoras 15. Theme For Young Lovers - Teisco Del Rey 16. Back Home - Jim Mankey