Customer Reviews

Both Sides of Herman's Hermits

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one great disc! The artwork and booklet are first rate. The disc contains the entire Both Sides of Herman's Hermits 1966 US release save for the track This Door Swings Both Ways however you are in for a surprise because it does contain the excellent Story Of My Life and Little Boy Sad which were only available on Herman's Hermits Best Of Vol. 2 in the USA as well as the outstanding Oo Ee Baby which is a real gem. Americans wouldn't have to search for their favorite HH LPs on CD if Allen Klein (who owns the rights to all the HH material in the US would re-release the 10 American LPs as two-fers the same way Capitol Records did with the 60s Beach Boys catalogue back in the early 90s. My advice to anyone into the HH sound is to buy the imports Both Sides and Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter (which is their first two MGM LPs on one CD} from Germany and the No Milk Today + 7 CD from France. Stay away from Herman's Hermits 16 Greatest Hits from Allan Kleins ABKCO label because the songs have been remastered in processed stereo and the sound is absolutely atrocious.

This German CD is based on the group's second album in the UK, «Both Sides Of», and comes lavishly packaged with a gatefold digipak cover reproduction of the original album cover design, as well as a nice, informative booklet. The ten bonus tracks are mostly added from the US 1966 LP by the same title, but with a slightly different track listing - mostly remakes of old music hall and pub songs that were considered unsuitable for the UK market and never released there. All done very tongue-in-cheek of course, but the group feared that the songs might ruin their rock `n' roll image, and they were right! The most interesting numbers on this CD are an agressive version of Johnny Burnette's «Little Boy Sad», a fine rendition of the Bacharac-David classic «Story Of My Life», Graham Gouldman's «Bus Stop» - recorded before the Hollies' hit version, and the pleasant «Oo-ee-Baby», the latter never released in the US. «Kansas City Loving» from their «Introducing» LP is also here, for the first time in CD format, as well as the rocker, «Got A Feeling», from the «Hold On!» soundtrack, sounding oddly like the Yardbirds and rumoured to feature Jimmy Page on guitar - but it was the Hermits' own sadly overlooked guitarist, Lek Leckenby, who played lead on that track and is to be credited. This CD gives you exactly what the title indicates - both sides of Herman's Hermits! Enjoy, enjoy!

I have the original album(different cover) and still enjoy it. I have always been disappointed at the lack of good remastered catalog from Hermins Hermits and the MGM label, especially in stereo. Its sad we must use imports, but maybe like "The Association" if we wait long enough it will happen.

This basically the original album plus selected singles and cuts, some from the movie "HOLD ON", which for some reason did not include its title track in Europe.

This is the time the Hermits were beginning to transition from blatant "cutism" to some finer songs, and were seeking writers who today we would well recognize, (Ray Davies of "The Kinks", Graham Gouldman of "10cc" among some.

Some choice cuts here, including "Listen People" , "Hold On", "Leaning on a Lamp Post", (Henry the Eight Returns), and one of the best songs under 2 minutes long, "A Must To Avoid". This was the golden age of AM radio, and these songs were well played in 66 and 67.

Other "flip side tracks" which are hard to get include "Man With the Cigar", "Got a Feeling", "Bus Stop" and "For Love".

For collectors, this a is a good completer set for rarities and songs we just can't get over here.

I guess the biggest reason I get CD's like this is that they almost NEVER play this stuff even on the oldies stations. They have a set playlist, and play "My Girl" 30 times a day. When was the last time anyone hear "A Must To Avoid" on the radio?

A three star CD, but for collectors a 4-5 star. I love watching peoples faces when I DJ and they hear "Hold On" for the first time in a long long while!

I pretty much agree with everything the first reviewer said. If all you know of HH are the chart hits, you're missing a full picture of the band as pretty fair rock-n-rollers. In retrospect, it's actually a shame some of their "music hall" records were such big hits as it established a lightweight perception of the band that they were never able to shake. Specific to this CD, the selections are well-chosen, the sound is great, and the booklet is terrific. A good value, too.

I have since "Mrs. Brown", "Leaning on a Lamp", and "Henry the VIIIth" been a huge fan of Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits. I remember going to a movie which was mostly a loosely connected string of their songs featuring "She's a Must to Avoid". The recording quality of this is quite poor, and I know they have been recorded very well on other discs. Can't wholehardedly recommend.

After suffering with the horrible ABKCO disc in American, I was very pleased to find the import copies from Germany. The sound quality is excellant and very clear. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is the lack of stereo product. I know most of Herman's Hermits recording were in mono, but I have heard stereo versions of "Hold On!" and "Leaning On A Lamp Post". so when I discovered that these are mono I was a little disappointed. However I would highly recommend all of the German imports to all Hermit fans out there and I look forward to earlier releases.