Tambourine Man

royclough · Post by **royclough** » Fri May 25, 2001 10:17 am

Finally , last friday night, 18/5, I got to hear The Searchers do "Tambourine Man", "Live". John played a Rickembacker on this song and actually stuck with that guitar most of the evening, as he seemed to be unhappy with the fender. He was note perfect in my view on the guitar part, the only crticism I would have and I know it's minor, the number went into the audience participation part again, you know the we sing this verse, you sing that verse, so sort of thing.
The show was in Nantwich in Cheshire and whilst billed as part of the Concert Tour, I suspect The Band themselves were surprised to find that the venue had been done out in a cabaret type format, i.e. tables and chairs. Also a large area at front of stage was set aside for "Dancing", slightly infuriating when you've paid good money to see them and end up watching middle aged John Travolta's. The Searchers know their audience though and clearly adapted their set to suit the venue, which regretfully meant a lot of the acoustic numbers were dropped for the Fast numbers.
Still I have Leeds to look forward to, which is definately a concert venue.

By the way, in case anyone asks about Rock This Land, a new number in the set, it is a upbeat number original title Rock This Planet and done by Achy Braky Himself, Billy Ray Cyrus originally.
John sings lead and the gist of the lyrics are apt for the Band.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat May 26, 2001 2:31 am

Roy: I wish I could have been there to hear Mr. Tambourine Man. It is great to hear he used the Rickenbacker 12 string. A marvelous instrument in good hands. Please do send in your report of the performance at Leeds.

alancheshire · Post by **alancheshire** » Sat May 26, 2001 12:08 pm

I had hoped to go to the Nantwich concert myself as I only live about 20 minutes away and work about 1/4 mile from the venue! Shame I couldn't get to it, although they almost always set out the seating in a cabaret format for most things there.

david · Post by **david** » Mon Nov 05, 2001 6:01 pm

I also saw the Searchers do a nice live performance of "Tambourine Man" at their recent Croydon show,this time they did the song straight through without audience participation!But my observation is that there are some songs in the Byrds early repertoire that would suit the Searchers particularly well.My pics -"So You Want to be A Rock and Roll Star",the record's trademark screams and cheers would go well with a live performance,also "Feel A Whole Lot Better".The Gene Clark vocal is close to the Searchers own vocal quality.

jjr · Post by **jjr** » Mon Nov 05, 2001 7:01 pm

"Feel a Whole Lot Better" would be an interesting choice, since the guitar riffs (but not the solo) are an almost note for note ripoff of "Needles and Pins" (without acknowledgement or credit, I might add). Would have been Mike/Chris?, Mike/Frank?, Mike alone? Wonder how it would have sounded if Tony had still been aboard?

admin · Post by **admin** » Tue Nov 06, 2001 5:14 pm

John: This discussion has come up on a number of occasions. You may find it of interest to read the following quote which was brought to my attention by Tomcat on the Byrds' Forum.

Dan Harmon interviewed Roger McGuinn over the period September 27 to Oct 4, 1996.
Quote:
DH: What other groups, if any, were using 12-string electric guitars at that time? Was that your idea? Who were your influences in 12-string acoustic and 12-string electric - or did you essentially work out your own style with the electric, based on previous acoustic explorations with guitar and banjo?

ROGER: The Seekers and The Searchers had put out records with a 12-string-like sound. I think they were actually using overdubbed 6-string guitars. Needles and Pins was a big influence on the 12-string sound. I used the pattern for "Feel A Whole Lot Better."

jjr · Post by **jjr** » Wed Nov 07, 2001 7:07 pm

Peter,

Perhaps you can ask some of the folks at the Byrds forum why McGuinn and crew (as well as Tom Petty, etc)don't try to push the Searchers for induction to the Hall (McCartney would be a big help,too), since they are finally acknowledging the MAJOR influence the Searchers had on their sound.

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Nov 08, 2001 3:22 am

John: To be honest, I am not sure how artists get inducted into the RnR Hall of Fame to begin with. Do you think endorsements from Paul McCartney, McGuinn and Tom Petty would guarantee their induction? I just want to know because it would then be a simple matter for us to call them up. Ha. OK just a little joke. Really I am not confident that endorsement from these great artists would do the trick. If there is a formula for success wherein fans could make the difference, let me know and I will work with you.

jjr · Post by **jjr** » Thu Nov 08, 2001 6:16 pm

Pete,

I checked this out last year, and it was the first topic I proposed to the Forum. The nominating and election process is TOTALLY in the hands of the music business (No All Star ballots here!). I wrote to the nominating office (which is in N.Y)-No answer. The ONLY shot the band has is if people in the business, the Hall, or both, get behind it, and push it.

david · Post by **david** » Thu Nov 08, 2001 8:34 pm

How about approaching Rickenbacker to sponsor an "Evening With the Searchers" at a classy New York venue.Would this get the attention of the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame?