I will always insist that a more "modern" producer could have helped them break free of their old musical stylings. Alas, 'twas not to be.
db
"Hidden gems"
Actually, aside from the occasional over-enthusiastic usage of reverb, there's really nothing wrong with the production...it's quite good especially from "Sounds Like Searchers" on. The guitar sounds are excellent, as Pender & McNally experiment with different tones & toggle settings, the lead vocals are recorded well & harmonies blend nicely, occasional piano, horns & strings are tasteful & don't dominate, the bass & drums are about on par for the era. It's state-of-the-art, at least for the UK in the 60's. Maybe not as good as George Martin's production, but a damn sight better than Kit Lamberts' or Andrew Loog-Oldham!
What the Searchers suffered from is lack of imagination on the part of management, who seemed to consider them little more than disposable, flash-in-the-pan product riding the wave of a marketing trend whose day would surely come. Nobody expected rock & roll to last nearly as long as half a century! Seems like they were rushed in & out of the studio as quickly as possible & packed off on yet another in an endless stream of package shows, trying to capitalize on the trend "while it lasted." Certainly they were never really encouraged to develop their own songwriting voice.
Thank goodness they had a self-starter like Chris Curtis, who did his homework & had a big hand in bringing in new ideas, sounds & songs, & helped broaden their appeal beyond the "Merseybeat" tag before it completely dried up, & into some different directions, like folk-rock, Spectorish wall-of-sound & Tamla-Motown influences, Bachrach/David, etc. That the records sound as good as they do & have as much diversity is amazing, given the above.
Had the Searchers been developed & nurtured with an eye toward longevity & "sustainable yield," I think it might have been a different story.
Of course, as always, your mileage may vary...
Buddy
bw
What the Searchers suffered from is lack of imagination on the part of management, who seemed to consider them little more than disposable, flash-in-the-pan product riding the wave of a marketing trend whose day would surely come. Nobody expected rock & roll to last nearly as long as half a century! Seems like they were rushed in & out of the studio as quickly as possible & packed off on yet another in an endless stream of package shows, trying to capitalize on the trend "while it lasted." Certainly they were never really encouraged to develop their own songwriting voice.
Thank goodness they had a self-starter like Chris Curtis, who did his homework & had a big hand in bringing in new ideas, sounds & songs, & helped broaden their appeal beyond the "Merseybeat" tag before it completely dried up, & into some different directions, like folk-rock, Spectorish wall-of-sound & Tamla-Motown influences, Bachrach/David, etc. That the records sound as good as they do & have as much diversity is amazing, given the above.
Had the Searchers been developed & nurtured with an eye toward longevity & "sustainable yield," I think it might have been a different story.
Of course, as always, your mileage may vary...
Buddy
bw
"The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face."
Nicely put Buddy! Seems like a general trouble of all young&sweet pop musicians - "get as much as possible from them while they're hot, squeeze the berries and then throw the peel away". The biggest problem here is, however, that sometimes what they managers consider to be a peel, may contain lots of juice left... (forgive my Ruglish, cannot actually put it better).
Nothing will get you dead quicker than being deadly serious about yourself.