KIMI TO ITSUMADEMO
This and three further pieces ([30] [35] [36]) were served up by The Shadows on a Japan-only LP in November 1967; the background to all four are discussed at length in Pocket Guide 199-204. They were beaten to the post with two of the three Japanese-sourced items, though only just in the case of 'Gin-Iro No Michi' ([30]), which was put on sale on a Ventures LP in Japan the very month The Shadows were touring there. The demos that came subsequently to EMI’s UK HQ (The Shadows recorded these numbers in the second half of July) may well have been the same as those used by The Ventures, cf. on 'Bombay Duck' at [29]. An automatic choice for The Ventures, 'Kimi To Itsumademo' was a composition of Ventures addict and promoter Yuzo Kayama (aka Kosaku Dan), in Japan itself a mega-hit vocal by him in 1965 and into 1966. For many perhaps this would count as Hank Marvin’s most effective performance in the little ‘Japanese’ set, as he caresses his way with little or no embellishment through a captivating melody, attracting spare and elegant support from Bruce, John and Brian. The Ventures’ earlier version has a much more pronounced lilt (also in evidence on the earliest concert version, issued on the January 1967 Japanese LP On Stage Encore!), while the organ accompaniment lends a breezy spaciousness to the soundstage. The stereo version listed above allows the rich textures to shine through even more radiantly, and a female vocal chorus provides a bit of extra colour. The organ is dispensed with in a cosier-sounding and somehow less involving revisit in 1981 on the LP (Japan) Tokyo Callin’. Hear this Ventures Single on:
The stereo Version with chorus on:
And the earliest stage version on:
Hear The Shadows' version on:
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