However, neither the Shadows nor Weedon had any impact on North America. plus the beat.Īfter the Shadows version began its rise up the UK charts, Weedon's original climbed to No.

Really, it is the sound we had when we recorded 'Apache' – that kind of Hawaiian sounding lead guitar. What's the most distinctive sound of our group ? We often wondered what it is ourselves. Paramor changed his mind after his daughter preferred 'Apache.' It has been cited by a generation of guitarists as inspirational and is considered one of the most influential British rock 45s of the pre-Beatles era. Record producer Norrie Paramor preferred the flip side, an instrumental of the army song 'The Quartermaster's Stores,' now called 'The Quatermasster's Stores' after the TV series Quatermass. Bruce Welch borrowed an acoustic Gibson J200 guitar from Cliff Richard, the heavy melodic bass was by Jet Harris, percussion was by Tony Meehan and Cliff Richard, who played a Chinese drum at the beginning and end to provide an atmosphere of stereotypically Native American music. Singer-guitarist Joe Brown had bought an Italian-built guitar echo chamber that he did not like and gave it to Hank Marvin, who developed a distinctive sound using it and the tremolo arm of his Fender Stratocaster. The recording was done at the EMI Abbey Road Studio in London. Lordan figured the tune would fit the Shadows the band agreed. The band discovered 'Apache' when Lordan played it on a ukulele. In mid-1960 the Shadows were on tour with Lordan as a supporting act. It remained unreleased for several months. The original recording was by British guitarist Bert Weedon in early 1960. The title 'Apache' reflects the source of Lordan's inspiration: the 1954 American western film Apache. 96 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.Ĥ Incredible Bongo Band version (1973) 4.1 Notable samples 4.1.1 The Sugarhill Gang: 'Apache' (1981)Ĥ.2 Other songs that sample The Incredible Bongo Band's 'Apache'Įnglish songwriter and composer Jerry Lordan came up with the tune. In March 2005, Q magazine placed 'Apache' at No. Although this version was not a hit on release, its long percussion break has been sampled countless times on hip hop and dance tracks since the 1980s.

The track reached No.1 on Canada's CHUM Chart.Ī 1973 version by the Incredible Bongo Band has been called 'hip-hop’s national anthem'. In 1961, his cover version, credited to 'Jørgen Ingmann and His Guitar', made No.

In North America, the tune is identified with Jørgen Ingmann, a jazz guitarist from Denmark. It topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks. The original version was by the British group the Shadows, recorded in June 1960 and released the next month. 'Apache' is a much-recorded instrumental written by Jerry Lordan.

Apache song ventures