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Like several other of Britain's first rock and roll artists, Cliff Richard's professional career started at the 2 ' I 's Coffee bar in London. After a brief spell as a skiffler he began to model himself on his idol, Elvis Presley. With his group, the 'Drifters', a recording opportunity arose with Norrie Paramor- a producer at EMI. Paramor decided to use the young singer's talents to produce a version of the American teen ballad 'Schoolboy Crush'. Fortunately, it was the other side of this disc that caught the attention of disc jockeys and the rock and roll entreprenuer Jack Good. The record, 'Move It', reached #2 in the UK chart and is now widely regarded as one of the finest examples of early UK rock and roll ever made. It had been written by one of the Drifters, Ian Samwell although the single used session musicians and not the group. Jack Good promoted the new star on his groundbreaking TV show 'Oh Boy!' alongside the UK's, hitherto, top rock and roller 'Marty Wilde'. The Drifters changed their name to the 'Shadows' to avoid confusion with the American group of the same name. At this time Cliff Richard was following the 'Elvis' model very closely - hairstyle, curled lip and gyrating hips. It would be a year or two before he gradually readjusted to the clean cut image that he has long since portrayed. |
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The EP illustrated on the left was issued to correspond with the release of Cliff's movie "Expresso Bongo" in which the singer played the part of singer/ bongo player 'Bongo Herbert'. Cliff is not renowned for his skill as an instrumentalist and he is seldom portrayed in a pose where he is playing any instrument. However, in this case the picture does not lie, because Cliff really could (can) play the bongos well. In fact, he has even done so on record- he really did assist the Shadows launch their instrumental careers by playing bongos at the studio session that created their legendary "Apache". |
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Following the success of 'Move It' came a long string of hits including the consecutive number 1's of 'Living Doll' and 'Travelling Light' . At this time his single releases usually had a rock and roll number on one side and a ballad on the other. They consequently had wide appeal and the quality was always good. So it was of little surprise that he became recognised as Britain's top recording artist within the space of a few months. He made a number of successful musical movies including 'Summer Holiday' which was probably responsible for setting the seal on his long term image. Despite the 'Beat boom' and the advent of the Beatles, Cliff Richard managed to sustain his career, but gradually shifted his material to suit the growing maturity of his audience. He even managed to survive coming runner-up in the Eurovision song contest with 'Congratulations'. With chart hits in every decade since he first began professionally, Sir Cliff Richard must rate as one the most enduring artists ever to begin with rock and roll. |
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