Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

While there are many special memories that come to mind regarding The Searchers, perhaps the most memorable for me is the first time I heard "Needles and Pins" during the early years of the British Invasion. To this very day I can recall most vividly the PYE label turing round and round, drum roll introduction and squeaky bass drum pedal and the jangly guitars of Pender and McNally. Add to these signature sounds, the beautiful harmonies and you have a magic moment. So what was your most memorable Searchers' moment?

Peter, my most memorable Searchers moment probably occurred sometime last July or August. As a young lad who happened to be into "the oldies," I noticed that I had three versions of "Needles and Pins" in my personal collection--and none of them was The Searchers' version!

Thinking that I did not and would not like The Searchers, I can remember picking up an old "Golden Hour" LP for a few dollars, just to have "Needles" for reference and to learn a bit more about The Searchers as well. I played the LP. The first few songs were nice in my opinion, but not the sort of stuff I usually listened to. In other words, I still wasn't sold. Then, the fourth track on the album opened.........otherworldy arpeggiation followed by a piercing, menacing riff........pounding tom-toms.....rich, layered harmonies......and the simple-but-true lyrics: "Sometimes a man might wanna cry, sometimes a man might wanna die........it's cause he's got no love....."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

In the fall of 1964 I attended my first high school dance, a real rite of passage for an eigth grader in suburban Philadelphia. The host of the weekly dance was(and still is) a local TV/radio personality named Wee Willie Webber and at one point he played the new Searchers single, What Have They Done To The Rain. Well...this was the first time I had heard it and I was mesmerized by the song. The chiming guitar chord intro.....the harmonies.....it had everything I loved about the Searchers and the great British Invasion bands. Unfortunately, the Bandstand wannabes didnt think it was danceable enough and kept pestering Wee Willie to pull it and play something a bit more upbeat. Halfway through the song, he did. I forget what he played next but I'd bet a slice of pizza and a Coke that whoever it was is either long forgotten or long retired. The next day, a Saturday, I got my dad to take me to the local Woolworth's and sure enough, What Have They Done To The Rain was in stock. I plopped down my 69 cents and left Woolworth's feeling I was holding not just a piece of black vinyl, but a true treasure. I dont think 13 year olds feel that way anymore when buying music.
What Have They Done To The Rain didnt make much of an impression on the Philly market. It was played a few times by the DJ's and basically disappeared. But it WAS a great piece of work
(still is!) and arguably the true template for what would become the "folk rock" style.

Jim: Great story. Quite a shame to hear that this magnificent record did not catch on in my fair city. As for the dance, "What Have They Done To The Rain" strikes me as an odd choice to play at a high-school dance, which says to me that Mr. Webber was very impressed with it and wanted to promote it. Well, he did his best! When the kids complained, he should have flipped it over and played "This Feeling Inside." That way, they'd have had something to dance to and it still would have been a Searchers song!

Yes a great story Jim and to top it all off, even more pertinent today than yesterday.

What Have They Done To The Rain?

(Malvina Reynolds)

Just a little rain falling all around
The grass lifts its head to the heavenly sound
Just a little rain, just a little rain
What have they done to the rain?

Just a little boy standing in the rain
The gentle rain that falls for years
And the grass is gone and the boy disappears
And the rain keeps falling like helpless tears
And what have they done to the rain?

Just a little breeze out of the sky
The leaves nod their heads as the breeze blows by
Just a little breeze with some smoke in its eye
And what have they done to the rain?


Copyright Schroder Music Co.

_I COULD SAY IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I HEARD

NEEDLES AND PINS ON THE BARN RADIO IN 1967 ,

PLAYED AS AN OLDIE . BUT IT CAME LATER THAN THAT .

_I HAD BOUGHT "SEARCHERS #4" (KAPP) FOR 50 CENTS

IN 1971 AND IT WAS GOOD . NEXT I BOUGHT "MEET THE

SEARCHERS" (KAPP) . I PLAYED IT ON MY CHEAP G.E.

STERIO . I HEARD THE HARMONIES ON "SATURDAY NIGHT

OUT" . I WAS IMPRESSED ! I RESOLVED TO GET THE

REST OF THEIR STUFF AND IT HASN'T ENDED .