Searchers, Byrds and Dusty Springfield

[beatbyrd]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but.... I've recently rediscovered Dusty Springfield in the last couple of months - three performance DVDs and a 2 CD set of her 'A & B sides'. They are all terrific and showcase an exceptional talent that left us way too early. I fell in love with her during the British Invasion days. After watching the DVDs and listening to the CDs, it's easy to see and hear why. What a talented lady....... Tom

[TimWilde]

Any source claiming that my version of Popcorn Double Feature was the first recording and release of the song is absolutely wrong. The writers, Scott English and Larry Weiss, who were personal friends of my manager Bob Reno, personally gave me a copy of The Searchers recording of the song for me to learn it. My recording was the second release of the song.

[admin]

Here is an image of the promo 45 that I found online of Tim Wilde's version followed by the Searchers on PYE..

[admin]

Here is a link to an old discussion of Popcorn Double Feature which we had here. Not the same Artie referenced in this thread, by the way. It will be interesting to find out more about the demo the Searchers received.

[royclough]

I am given to understand for those interested that Searchers may have been given the demo by Tony Hatch but are not certain who dem was by, however Frank Allen recalls Scott English visting his house around that time so they believe the demo may have been by him.

Also Tim refers to lyrics,which were printed from a lyrics site I assuem, Searchers version actually says "Blind man is Your teacher"

Here is a version I uploaded that Searchers did for BBC radio I actually prefer this version love the guitar break

[admin]

Thanks Roy. Definitely blind man in this BBC recording.

[einar]

Haha Peter,

but blind men often excel in music!

[TimWilde]

As was customary, whenever a song-writer or music publisher sent a song to any artist for their consideration to record it, they would send a recorded demo plus a lead sheet. Thereby you could quickly learn the tune from the demo and clearly get the words from the lead sheet. Since I learned the tune from The Searchers recording, I must assume that the lead sheet given to me by Scott and Larry must have read “Come let me be your teacher.” I would not have taken the liberty to change it. The question is, did The Searchers take the liberty to sing “Blind man is your teacher” on their recording, or did Scott and Larry change it on the original lead sheet from “Blind man is your teacher” to “Come let me be your teacher” before giving it to me? As a song-writer, I have often made changes in my songs at different stages; just before and during recording sessions, and even after they've been recorded.

[einar]

Hahaha again,

I thought Peter's Blind man comment referred to the picture, with McNally in rather over the top dark shades!!

[admin]

Einar: I is good that you have maintained a good sense of humor over the years. Time for us to pop some more corn.

[einar]

Double it!

[TimWilde]

My apologies...

I'm sorry to say that In an effort to set things right, the information I entered in my posts is not correct. After just listening to The Searchers' version of Popcorn Double Feature, I realized that it is not the recording which was given to me by Scott English and Larry Weiss after all, and all this time I've been erroneously under the impression that it was The Searchers' recording. Actually,the tempo of the demo was approxinately the same as on my recording. Whereas the tempo on The Searchers' recording is much faster. Its arrangement is also different than the demo. This means that my recording of Popcorn Double Feature is definitely the original release of the song, and The Searchers' version was released after mine.

[admin]

Tim: No apologies are in order. Thanks for the clarification of a demo that you first heard more than four decades ago. I can't tell you what I did last week. That you had the first recording of this number is just excellent. This has been a marvelous thread and I thank you for the information. The Searchers are breathing a sigh of relieve as well. I do hope that they will contact you as some point. By the way, don't you think its about time that you gave your answer to Needles and Pins?

[royclough]

confusing need to re-do my posts on the subject actually as to original I think it depends on what we call original some say first version recorded I always tend to side with first version released .

Can Tim clarify when his version was released because having checked and double checked it may have been after The Searchers version was was released in January 67