News

The Shadows will relive glory days

By Sonya Vartabedian
staff writeR
Published: July 30, 2009

NEWBURYPORT — They were going to be the next Beatles. Or perhaps give the Rolling Stones some competition.

They were certainly making their classmates at Newburyport High School stand up and cheer.

"We were just kids right at the beginning of the British Invasion," lead guitarist John "Shorty" Hill said. "As far as I knew, we were Newburyport's very first vocal rock band."

They called themselves The Shadows and played dances in Newburyport at the high school, Immaculate Conception School and the Masonic Temple. Their first paying gig in the late fall of 1964 was at the People's United Methodist Church. They earned $8.

"We didn't do it for the money," Hill said. "We were doing it for fame."

But that was back in the 1960s. A lot has changed since then. They've gotten married and had children, and some of their children have had children. They've enjoyed successful careers that include jobs in export management, industrial maintenance and as a mechanic. While some continued playing music after high school, others never picked up their instruments again.

In 2001, Rick Eck, one of the band members who had relocated to Florida, was back in Newburyport for a summer visit when The Shadows decided to get together and reminisce about old times. They showed up at Hill's house on Erie Avenue in Newburyport one night. Little did they know that Hill, who had continued to play in such bands as Shorty Hill & the Longhaulers and on his own, had dragged out instruments and set them up in his basement.

"I hadn't played in more than 30 years," said Teddy Stanwood, The Shadows' drummer, who lives in Salisbury. "It was a little tough getting back into it. But it was fun doing it."

John Lowell of Amesbury and Brian Chase, who has since passed away, joined Stanwood, Eck and Hill in messing around with the music that night in the basement. They had so much fun that they have continued to get together and play every summer since whenever Eck returns home. They've managed to get some gigs, playing their Newburyport High class reunions, as well making a regular appearance at a summer concert series in Hampton Falls, N.H. They even recorded a new CD.

This morning, The Shadows make their first Yankee Homecoming appearance in 40 years. The band will play a two-hour show in Market Landing Park on the Newburyport waterfront starting at 10 a.m.

They'll play a lot of the same music they did back in the 1960s — Beach Boys, Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Animals, with an occasional cover from the 1950s, '70s and '80s, too. They'll also offer up a couple of Shadows' originals.

"People who come to see us would hear songs they hadn't heard for the past 30 or so years," Hill said.

Next week, Eck will return home to Florida, and Hill, Stanwood and Chase will attempt to get together every week to rehearse for The Shadows' return to the stage next summer.

"We shoot for once a week, but we're lucky if we do it a couple times a month," said Hill, who these days divides his time between Newburyport and Costa Rica. "We enjoy getting together and playing. There's not any professional aspiration there anymore. We're just having a good time."