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| The Searchers
At
one time second only to The Beatles in
popularity in Liverpool, The
Searchers’ sound was among the most distinctive of the mid-sixties, and in
many ways ahead of their time. Founded
in 1957 by John McNally they were originally one of the many skiffle groups
inspired by Lonnie Donegan. Michael Pender joined McNally in 1959 and later in
the year Tony Jackson was recruited as lead vocalist. Chris Crummy (later
renamed Chris Curtis) joined as drummer and as Tony Jackson built and learned to
play a customized bass guitar, a fifth member, Johnny Sandon was brought
in as lead vocalist. The
Searchers took their name from the classic John Wayne film of the same name. Johnny
Sandon and the Searchers lasted from 1960 through February 1962 and were
extremely poplar on the dance hall and club circuit in Liverpool.
Like other "Merseybeat" groups, they built up an extensive repertoire
of obscure American R&B and rock 'n' roll songs, many learned from records
brought home sailors who worked on the transatlantic liners that then docked in
Liverpool. The Searchers were
also among those groups which perfected their stagecraft in the clubs of
Hamburg. They developed a highly
distinctive harmony style, together with their twangy guitar sound, became their
trademark. Sandon
left early in 1962 to join another Liverpool group, The Remo Four. Now
a quartet with Tony Jackson as lead single once again the group was signed by
Tony Hatch to Pye in 1963. They reached No. 1 with their first
single, a cover of The Drifters' US hit Sweets For My Sweet making them
the first Liverpool group from outside the Brian Epstein stable to become major
stars. It was with the release of their third single, Needles And Pins that
the band achieved their real breakthrough. The record featured a fuller
production, tight harmonies and the famous jangly guitar sound that foreshadowed
The Byrds. In
April 1964 the group toured the United States. Their TV appearance on the Ed
Sullivan Show was even grudgingly praised by jazz critic Nat Hentoff for whom
"the initial impression was more favourable musically than had been the
case with the Beatles or the Dave Clark Five". At
the height of their success, Jackson, disgruntled by the new gentle sound, left
the group for a solo career. He was replaced by Frank Allen from Cliff
Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, and The Searchers continued in a
folk-rock vein. Their hits included Jackie DeShannon's When You Walk In The
Room, P.F. Sloan's Take Me For What I'm Worth and Malvina Reynolds'
What Have They Done to the Rain. The
Searchers released a number of highly acclaimed EPs. Their first, Ain’t Gonna Kiss Ya in 19653 topped the
EP charts for four weeks. Sweets
for My Sweet, Hungry for Love and Searchers Play the System all did
well in 1964, and the 1965 EP Bumble Bee was their biggest hit in this
format. It only topped the EP
charts for two weeks in the middle of the No1 residence of the Beatles For
Sale EP, it also made the singles chart. On the album front, their first LP Meet
The Searchers reached No.2. It was only kept off the top spot by the
all-conquering Beatles, but remained in the album chart for an impressive 44
weeks. The follow-up, Sugar and
Spice, peaked at No. 5 three months later. From
1965 on, their singles, although of a consistently high standard, began to lose
some of their magic and met with decreasing enthusiasm by the public. Curtis
quit the band at this point, claiming to be exhausted from the constant touring,
and was replaced by John Blunt. They only had one more minor hit Have
You Ever Loved Somebody, but remained very popular on the club/cabaret
circuit. At
the end of the 1970s their recording fortunes revived once again when they
signed a two album deal with Sire Records. The subsequent albums, The
Searchers and Love's Melodies, were arguably the best work the group
ever did. Those albums were followed by a series of tracks recorded for their
original label, Pye Records, in the early 1980s before Pender and McNally split
in 1985 having placed together for a quarter of a century: they continued to
tour with rival bands. For
more information on The Searchers visit their website at: http://www.the-searchers.co.uk/ See The Searchers perform Love Potion No.9 Check out Frank Allen interview |
