THE SEARCHERS - “Sweets For My Sweet”
(10th August 1963)
There’s a weird discrepancy in this song between the verses, which Tony Jackson sings as if he’s keen to get them over with, and the chorus, which the group attack with a lot more enthusiasm. I suppose the band knew a hook when they heard one - the rest of the record is just travelling from A back to A again. The other thing that sticks out is Mike Pender’s 12-string guitar, the high summer sound which has launched and tracked a thousand hopeless crushes (generally in later and other hands than Pender’s, though). Beyond that, it’s flimsy. 4
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bramble on September 8th, 2006
The Searchers jingly guitar sound certainly influenced the Byrds and later country-rock groups but I dont think the 12-string sound was on Sweets for my Sweet but came later. Unique amongst their contemporaries, the Searchers came out many years later in 1979 with a cracker of a record of new songs on the Sire label containing some of their best work ever. Unfortunately it didnt sell that well and they reverted to doing their old hits on the cabaret circuit.
wichita lineman on June 8th, 2008
The high summer sound of the backing vocals on the verses make up for any flimsiness in the melody. Even more than The Beatles, The Searchers were clearly influenced by the Girl Group sound that dominated the US charts in 1963. Also, the breakneck speed of the recording reflects both the group’s workrate (their first three hits each had its own accompanying album - can anyone match this?) and drummer/leader Chris Curtis’s taste in pills.
FT's SteveIson on July 22nd, 2008
This has got a strange magic for me..I LOVE the verses with their yearning melody and brilliant falsetto harmonies,the echoey guitar riff..Great atmospheric pop 7