Tony Jackson had the perfect bluesy voice for "Saints and Searchers" which was performed by the Searchers in the key of E. A simple three chord blues number, the song begins with John McNally intoducing a most interesting rhythm pattern. The thin treble tonality, a salient feature of his Hofner Club 60 model, is ideal for this performance and is the prefect background for Jackson's vocal rendition.

For a detailed review of this Hofner electric guitar the reader is referred to the article "Liverpool's Fastest Guitar." McNally's masterful but understated rhythm keeps the song going and becomes the foundation for the tasteful instrumentation of the track. It would seemthat Jackson's Epiphone Rivoli semi-acoustic bass guitar can be heard on this track but is more subdued in comparison to his usual booming style, allowing his voice to take center stage here. This is, in part, due to the fact that he was playing while he sang and, in the days of four track technology, there appears to have been little option for adding an additional bass line later.

McNally is playing E7 on the fifth fret, using the first fret conventional fingering of the C7 chord. This is a favourite position for playing an E7 chord and has an unmistakeable sound which allows for its identification. This chord configuration has been used by many artists, John Lennon. being a noteable example. Jackson's distinctive voice softly begins the first verse pushed on by the steady beat of Chris Curtis on drums -

"Well when the saints, go marchin' in
Yeah when the saints, go marchin'in
I tell you something gonna be
Hey I'm gonna be in that number
Yeah, when the saints go marchin' in"

In the background, Mike Pender is playing soft blues riffs on his Gibson ES345. This added texture is subtle but fits in very nicely with the instrumentation of Jackson and McNally. Jackson begins to emphasize his vocal lines ever so slightly in the second verse. Chris Curtis, makes changes to the percussion and changes the sound by making effective use of his tom tom. The reference to "bands go swinging in" is most appropriate here even though it referred to marching bands originally. Jackson continues to swing, however, reminding the listener where he stands on the subject -

"And when those bands go swingin' in
Yeah when the band goes swingin' in
I tell you something gonna be
Hey I'm gonna be in that number
Yeah, when the band goes swingin' in"

John McNally begins to add some timely rapid rhythm strumming which he learned from George McGie, a pub performer in Liverpool. This technique is most effective and adds extra texture to the performance at this point. Curtis becomes more forceful on the traps and Jackson begins to turn up the heat adding vocal edge in the third verse, which is a repeat of the first verse -

"Well when the saints, go marchin' in
Yeah when the saints, go marchin' in
I tell you something gonna be
Hey I'm gonna be in that number
Yeah, when the saints go marchin' in, Aaall Right!"

Jackson uses his range at the end of the verse and in his most distinctive style offers an "All Right" which beckons Mike Pender to join in on the march with his first lead break. This is were the Gibson ES345 "begins to shine" and the added reverb allows a very nice break to cut through the mix adding an essential blues tone. Jackson pickups up the bass and Curtis accentuates the beat. As sure is the sun shines through adversity Jackson reminds us that he is going to be in that number.

"Well, when the sun begins to shine
Hey when the sun, begins to shine
I tell you something gonna be
Hey I'm gonna be in that number
Aaah when the sun begins to shine Aaaah yeah!"

At the end the verse shouts an "Aaaah heah!" once again signalling Pender to take the floor and pull out all the stops for another lead break. This break pushes his amplifier offering just a tad of tube distortion sending the break further than the previous one. In live performances this is a show stopper selection and is a real attention grabber. It is reminiscent of the blues riffs of the days so commonly heard in association with songs by Chuck Berry. George Harrison of The Beatles played in a similar style.

In a technique borrowed from gospel performances, Jackson lowers his voice at the beginning of the fifth verse offering a more reflective tone. As sure as the sun is going to shine, he is "gonna be in that number." Through the lowering of his voice, the gentle but persistent cadence of McNally's rhythm guitar becomes more apparent. As Jackson begins to sing verse 5, simply a repeat of verse four, McNally performs more rhythm magic with a accented strums. but still restrained so that the lead vocal isin the forefront. In his softer tone now Jackson begins makes an impression with gentle "Ooos" and "Aaahs" -

"Ooo, when the sun, Aaah gonna shine
Hey when the sun, Aaah gonna shine
I tell you something gonna be
Hey I'm gonna be in that number
Hey when the sun begins to shine"

Jackson's voice builds again for the finale and McNally, Curtis and Pender oblidge adding to this effect.

"Aaah when the saints go marchin' in
Yeah when the saints go marchin in
I tell you something gonna be
Hey I'm gonna be in that number
Aaah when the saints go marchin' in"

The song ends cold after the last "Saint's go marchin' in" which is all very fitting as that's all there is anyway!

Just in passing, a couple of words about another version this song. While in France in 1964, The Searchers recorded "Saints and Searchers" in French which was entitled "Ils Chantaient il y a Longtemps." For this recording, Chris Curtis would sing lead, presumably because he was more fluent in the French language. The tone of the English and French versions is substantially different - the former uplifting, the latter almost inducing somnolence. A translation of the French title is "They Sang A Long Time Ago." The theme of the first verse is loosely translated as "It's a song my parents used to sing when they would go in the big wooden wagon." Certainly a long way from "When the Saints go marchin' in." The Tony Jackson version conjures up an image him in step with a marching band and on a mission. In contrast, the vision of Chris Curtis could easily be one in which he is saundering along the Seine with no particular place to go. While the instrumentation is essentially the same for both recordings, Jackson's vocal is vibrant and captivating while Curtis' performance approaches the mediocre.