Cliff Richard, a guitarist and lead singer, was one of the founding members of The Drifters (not to be confused with the American group of the same name). At the suggestion of a manager, who thought it would be good to have someone's name out front, they became Cliff Richard and the Drifters and later Cliff Richard and the Shadows.
Cliff (not the group) gained a contract with EMI in the summer of 1958 and went into Abbey Road Studios to record his first record on July 24. The producer, Norrie Paramor, had little faith in the Drifters and consequently brought in two experienced session men, Ernie Shear & Frank Clarke, to provide critical backing on lead guitar and bass. This marked a major point in Cliff's career. From now on, he would be a solo star rather than merely member of a group. For instance, Cliff and the Drifters (subsequently the Shadows) would be contractually separate entities and the group would not receive any performer royalties for the records they made backing Cliff. However, they were not a backing group just like any other. Within a short period, they won an EMI recording contract of their own and were making major instrumental hits by the middle of 1960. They continued to appear and record with Cliff and wrote many of his hits. In the early 60s, Cliff and the Shadows were virtually inseparable as the biggest concert draw in Britain. Typically, the Shadows closed the first-half with a 30 minute set of their own and then backed Cliff on his show-closing 45 minute stint.
But back to the first record in 1958. Norrie Paramor provided a rather bland number called 'Schoolboy Crush', a cover of an American record by Bobby Helms. But Cliff was allowed to record one of their own for the B-side. This was "Move It", written by Ian "Sammy" Samwell, who was at the time a new member of the group. There are a number of stories about why the A-side song was replaced by the B-side. One story says that their producer Norrie Paramor, played the record to his daughter, and she raved about the B-side instead of the A-side. Another possible reason for the flip was that influential TV producer Jack Good, who grabbed the act for his TV show "Oh Boy!", said the song to be sung on his show had to be "Move It!" The single was flipped and went to number 2 in the charts.
The Drifters didn't back Cliff on record until his third release, Livin' Lovin' Doll (not to be confused with the subsequent smash Living Doll). By that time, the band's line up had changed. As Jet Harris, Tony Meehan, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch joined, some very significant 'lucky events' happened, for the band, and also for the world. Popular music could have been totally changed if certain events did not happen, especially in one single day in Soho. On that day, Cliff's manager, John Foster, was looking for a new lead guitarist. He went back to the '2 I's club, a popular hangout for musicians.
The man being looked for was Tony Sheridan, who the Drifters knew, and who later recorded in Hamburg with The Beatles as his backing band, which led them to getting a recording contract in Britain. Tony wasn't there when Foster arrived, and Foster was in a hurry and couldn't wait long. Foster was then told of a guy who was a brilliant guitarist, and so Foster met Hank Marvin. Hank then said he teamed with Bruce Welch, and so Foster on that day brought in two new members to the Drifters. If Sheridan had been in the club that day, The Beatles may have never been heard from.
Tony Meehan and Jet Harris eventually left the group and teamed up very successfully in the charts. One member of Jet and Tony's band was John Paul Jones, later a member of Led Zeppelin, and Jimmy Page also recorded with them.
A serious accident halted Jet's success, but he later re-emerged with Jeff Beck (Yardbirds), Ron Wood (Rolling Stones), and Rod Stewart as The Faces; however this group didn't last long.
The Shadows had a few more bass players and also took in Brian Bennett on drums.
In the period between 1958 and 1963, Cliff Richard and the Shadows stood as the biggest thing in Britain. They toured the United States and most often stole the show from the accompanying American acts of the time. The problem was that the record company didn't get behind them strongly enough with distributing albums etc and so the chances were lost. It was the same with their appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show (which was responsible for much of the Beatles success, but didn't really help Cliff and the Shadows). Cliff and the Shadows basically re-wrote convention in British recording companies and opened EMI up to the importance and strength of rock n roll. It was due to them that Parlophone were looking for a 'second' Cliff and the Shadows, and eventually took the Beatles.
Most well known groups of the 1960s and 1970s started off as imitators of Cliff and the Shadows, singing and playing only Cliff and the Shadows' material, and groups were trained by following how they did things. The Beatles were taken to Cliff and the Shadows concerts and instructed about clothes, stage presence and various other things, and being of the same fold at Abbey Road, were good friends with the band. encyclopedia.lockergnome.com/s/b/Cliff_Richard_and_the_Shadows#Brief_biography