Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This one is for Jerry and all the rest of the US gang. There was a book put out some years ago called the Rock Family Tree. Can't remember the author, Peter might, thought the author might be a good one to do a biography on the Searchers. With the 40th anniversary upon us perhaps it is time to re release this book.
One other thing on the previous thread. Remember the Beatles were THE FIRST so they got the lions share of the publicity. The Searchers got heaps of publicity in the magazines like Fab so they should have been known as well as the Beatles, just a matter of who you liked best and most of the girls liked John and Paul not Tony Chris Mike and John

Pete Frame did the "Rock Family Trees" but I don't think he is an author in the accepted sense.

If you are looking for an author to do a biography of The Searchers then you could not do better than Spencer Leigh who is a noted chronicler of Merseybeat. He has a weekly local radio show on Merseyside called "On The Merseybeat" and he has penned articles for "Record Collector" magazine (he featured Chris Curtis in both formats).

Whether he could be persuaded to do it is another question though.......

Tim, you are spot on about Spencer Leigh being the author most likely to succeed in writing the definitive Searchers' history. Perhaps Frank Allen after retirement as well.

In the meantime, it is possible to do some meaningful work online in the "unofficial" sense. I see no reason why we couldn't write a history for all to see based on our discussions here. Yes it would be a slow process but fun nonetheless. So I propose the following, with the hope that others would add additional information or at least critique what is here.

One last point, I would like to write a history that is respectful of The Searchers' private lives. The focus would involve a history of the musical activities within the group, their travels and an interpretation of their recordings including those personalities and musical styles that influenced the group. I am interested in their music and not in their personal or family lives. It should include all those who performed with the group.

Timothy- is the "On The Merseybeat" radio show online? A local college station here has a weekly British Invasion show, but it's all music, not a lot of info (good enough!). And it's online as well as broadcast on radio, worldwide.

Peter- part of the fun of reading biographies (of musicians) is the look into the lives of the subjects- I feel it gives more insight into songs they wrote or chose to record, band frictions, personnel changes, etc. But I could see where it would be hard gaining access to an artist if he or she were intensely private. But I don't dislike the fabs after reading about any less than angelic behavior on any of their parts.

Pam- you're probably right, as a (ahem) toddler I skipped to my favorite groups in my sister's 16 magazines!

Man, I still feel someone missed the boat not capitalizing on the 40th!

Jerry: A fair point and I agree whole-heartedly that an understanding of the indivudal's personality and social development is central to their musical performance.

I am not suggesting that we close our minds to such information, but that the focus that I have taken thus far has been about band-related interactions and the creative aspects of their music. Every biography has its own particular slant and I feel that an interpretative approach to their music most closely articulates what I have written to date.

In any event, my comments are thus far moot as there has been little comment made on the historical information posted.

Of special interest to me at the present time is to find first-hand information from Chris Curtis and other Searchers' drummers who have, it seems, been written out of history through our willingness to let them fade away. Their insights into the music and performances of The Searchers should not be forgotten and I would dearly love to include them here.

Band's History written by the fans? Huh... interesting.
Peter: an interesting beginning, hungry for a follow-up.
Anyway, i have some other suggestion (as usually). The other possible ways to do it:
1) The "volunteers" take the part of History they are especially interested in and write a story. The story is put on-line and discussed, some points added, and the result is a chapter of the History. If there are two or more chapters on the same topic, they can be "mixed up".
2) The "volunteers" make their own stories about the topic given - from "first baby steps" till today. Somebody takes the pain of being a "stories collector"; the stories are put on-line under pseudonyms for voting. The one which collects more votes is used as a "template"; some corrections if needed and the most interesting bits of the other stories are added. The result is the same - a chapter of History.
Jerry: i'd rather agree with Peter McCormack that private should be private otherwise why do we call it private. Yes, personal experience might have reflections on the music, but mostly when it comes to songwriting. But a) the Searchers weren't primarily known for their songwriting and b) some songs are just the reflections of momentary "spontaneous combustions" and have nothing to do with anything but this particular moment; but "if it's a good song why not?"

Jerry - On the Merseybeat is not online or to be more correct it wan't last time I looked. It is an excellent show for us who like the sixties although it does not restrict itself to that era. Regretfully is not as you would say, making an assumption here, a syndicated show.

I only live 75 miles away from where it is broadcast but cannot receive it. The show's audience is restricted to probably a 50 mile radius of Liverpool.

As for a book on The Searchers of course I would welcome one, but reality is that there would not be a a big enough commercial market. Spencer Leigh who has been mentioned as a prospective author cannot always get his stuff published in the mainstream. There is a publisher called John Firminger who probaly would be interested however if someone did write it. Alan Clayson is another "pop" writer who could probably do a good job. Even some who conribute here could, but there is a difference between a handful of fans wanting such a project and a mass market.

Roy: You have hit the nail on the head here. If there was money in a venture such as this, it would have been done a very long time ago. Writing The Searchers' history is a labour of love which is why I consider a group of avids could do a decent job of it. If nothing else it is a fascinating study of the life of successful Lverpool musicians in the early to mid 1960s and beyond.

Roy: You have hit the nail on the head here. If there was money in a venture such as this, it would have been done a very long time ago. Writing The Searchers' history is a labour of love which is why I consider a group of avids could do a decent job of it. If nothing else it is a fascinating study of the life of successful Liverpool musicians in the early to mid 1960s and beyond.

This 'old girl' could probably do a paragraph or two on the 64 and 66 visits to Oz and Brisbane in particular. Thanks Tim I couldn't for the life of me remember Peter Frame (see the memory IS going) and yes Spencer Leigh would be the better choice. Perhaps we could all contribute with Spencer and Frank reviewing and adding some relevent bits. We might even get enough to make a decent book and lets face it authors have published their own works before today!!!