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Taken from the booklet:
In many respects, the final show heard here is the most intriguing
as 1967 is a largely undocumented period in The Searchers history. They
issued Western Union penultimate Pye single, in April 1967. By then, it had
been over a year since their last album, December 1965's Take Me For What I
'm Worth, Their last top 50 entry was October 1966 'Have You Ever Loved
Somebody'. Chris Curtis had gone and his replacement John Blunt is heard
here. Curtis' role as the band's announcer and cheer leader was taken over
by Frank Allen, who does what he can to get a response from me reticent
Swedish audience.
Of the three shows, the 1967 set boasts the most unified sound - and seems
to be recorded a studio rather than a theatre. The first five songs are all
dominated by a bright-sounding guitar which fits the folk rock template. The
band appear ill at ease when they launch into 'When You Walk In The Room’
with Blunt’s heavy-handed drumming giving the performance a stilted feel.
Yet the version of 'Needles And Pins' sounds confident and together.
Although 1967 was the year in which improvisation became the norm in popular
music, The Searchers played it straight.
‘Have You Ever Loved Somebody’ sticks close to the single version - as does
'Western Union'. As they had with their two previous Swedish radio shows,
The Searchers close their set with a rocking finale, in this case a version
of Mitch Ryder's 'See See Rider' / 'Jenny Take A Ride' medley. |
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