Cliff Richard 1995— Sir Cliff
 Beginning as a member of an obscure skiffle group, Harry Webb soon became the lead singer of the rock and roll group the Drifters (not to be confused with the American group of the same name). Before their first large scale appearance, at the Regal Ballroom in Ripley in 1958, they adopted the name Cliff Richard and the Drifters. The four members of the band were Webb, Ian Sammy Samwell on guitar, Terry Smart on drums and Norman Mitham on guitar. None of the other three played with the later and better known Shadows, although several would write songs for Richard's later career.
In the summer of 1958 Richard obtained a recording contract with EMI's Columbia label for himself only, leaving the band behind. He remained with EMI until signing with Decca in 2004. Richard recorded his first single on 24 July 1958 with the (pre-Marvin/Welch) Drifters. However, producer Norrie Paramor had little faith in the band and brought in two experienced session men, Ernie Shear and Frank Clarke, to provide backing on lead guitar and bass.
For his debut session, Paramor provided Richard with a song called Schoolboy Crush, a cover of an American record by Bobby Helms. Richard was permitted to record one of his own songs for the B-side; this was Move It, written by the Drifters' Samwell (famously on a number 715 Green Line Bus on the way to Cliff's house for a rehearsal).
There are a number of stories about why the A-side song was replaced by the intended B-side. One is that Norrie Paramor's young daughter raved about the B-side and not the A-side. Another possible reason for the flip was that influential TV producer Jack Good, who used the act for his TV show Oh Boy!, wanted the only song on his show to be Move It.
In any event, the single was flipped and went to #2 on the UK charts. Music critics Roy Carr and Tony Tyler would later write that it was the first genuine British rock classic (to be followed by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates's Shakin' All Over) before the Beatles' hit I Saw Her Standing There. John Lennon was also once quoted as saying that Move It was the first English rock record.
In the early days, Cliff Richard was marketed as the British equivalent to Elvis Presley. As did previous British rockers such as Marty Wilde, Richard adopted a Presley-like dress and hairstyle. In performance he struck a pose of rock attitude, rarely smiling or looking directly at the audience or camera. His late 1958 and early 1959 follow-up singles, High Class Baby, Lionel Bart's Living Doll were followed by Mean Streak which carried a rocker's sense of speed and passion. It was on Living Doll that the Drifters began to back Richard on record. By that time the band's lineup had changed with the arrival of Jet Harris, Tony Meehan, Hank Marvin, and Bruce Welch. The group was obliged to change its name to The Shadows after legal complications arose with the U.S. Drifters.
The Shadows were not a typical backing group. They would become contractually separate entities from Richard, and the group would not receive any performer royalties for the records they made backing the singer. In 1959, The Shadows (then still known as the Drifters) landed an EMI recording contract of their own, for independent recordings without Richard. That year, they released three singles, two of which featured double-sided vocals and one of which had instrumental A and B sides. In 1960, they recorded and released Apache, which augured the birth of British rock guitar instrumental music. Hitting the top of the charts in more than one country, the single set the Shadows on a path of their own. They thereafter had several major hits of their own, including five UK #1s. The band also continued to appear and record with Richard and wrote many of his hits. On more than one occasion, a Shadows instrumental replaced a Richard song atop the British charts.
Richard's fifth single Living Doll triggered a change of focus with a softer, more relaxed, sound. Subsequent hits, the #1s Travellin' Light and I Love You and also A Voice in The Wilderness and Theme for a Dream cemented Richard's status as a mainstream pop entertainer (along with a few contemporaries such as Adam Faith and Billy Fury). Throughout the early sixties his hits were consistently in the top five.
Typically, The Shadows closed the first half of the show with a 30-minute set of their own, and then backed Richard on his show-closing 45-minute stint. Tony Meehan and Jet Harris eventually left the group, in 1961 and 1962 respectively, and later had their own chart successes. The Shadows added a few more bass players, and also took on Brian Bennett on drums.
In the early days, Cliff Richard sometimes recorded without The Shadows, mainly to cater to other styles. Even after the Beatles invasion he continued to achieve hits, although more often without the Shadows but with an orchestra: a revival of It's All In The Game and Constantly. A session under the direction of Billy Sherrill in Nashville yielded two more top two hits: The Minute You're Gone and Wind Me Up in 1965.
Cliff Richard and The Shadows were unable to parlay their UK stardom into hit status in the United States. In 1960 they toured the U.S. and were fairly well-received. However, lacklustre support and distribution from the record company proved costly, and the chance was lost. The band made appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was a crucial outlet for the Beatles' success, but these performances did not really help Cliff and the Shadows. As a result, Cliff Richard remained obscure in America. In England, however, Cliff and the Shadows were key in calling EMI's attention to the importance and strength of rock n' roll music. It was due to their popularity that Parlophone were looking for a second Cliff and the Shadows, eventually signing the Beatles.
Cliff and The Shadows appeared in a number of films, most notably in The Young Ones, (the title song being his biggest hit up to Mistletoe and Wine); Summer Holiday (which featured a slimmed-down Richard with visible dancing skills), Wonderful Life and Finders Keepers. These movies created their own genre known as the Cliff Richard musical and led to Cliff being named the number one cinema box office attraction in Britain for both 1962 and 1963. The irreverent 1980s TV sitcom The Young Ones took its name from Richard's 1962 movie, and also made references to the singer.
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