Second Take: The Complete RCA/UK Recordings

Searchers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Taragon
• ASIN: B00000J6CL
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,952 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sugar and Spice

2. Don't Throw Your Love Away

3. Farmer John

4. Come on Back to Me

5. When You Walk in the Room

6. Needles and Pins

7. Desdemona

8. Goodbye My Love

9. Love Potion No. 9

10. Sweets for My Sweets

11. Take Me for What I'm Worth

12. What Have They Done to the Rain

13. The World Is Waiting for Tomorrow

14. Love Is Everywhere

15. And a Button

16. Sing Singer Sing

17. Vahevala

18. Madman

19. Solitaire

20. Spicks and Specks

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SEARCHERS EARLY 70s MATERIAL A REVELATION, September 19, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Take: The Complete RCA/UK Recordings (Audio CD)

The British Invasion's most underrated act, The Searchers signed to RCA Victor in the early 70s, primarily in order for the label to squeeze some easy dough out of the band by redoing their Pye(UK)/Kapp (US) hits. What the label failed to comprehend was that the band was on an upswing with its own material, writing some really fine stuff with obvious commercial potential. But the powers that be at RCA couldn't (or wouldn't) see the forest thru the trees. Yes, The Searchers still were recording some covers, such as "Solitaire" (before anyone else had), but self-penned songs such as "And a Button", "Sing Singer Sing" (a #1 in Malaysia; should have been #1 everywhere else, too), and "The World is Waiting for Tommorrow" showed that their songwriting skills were something to be reckoned with. But the label, sadly, didn't have confidence in the band, and they were dropped prematurely. This is evident in the number of unreleased tracks here, all of which are high caliber. Buy this for them, not for the re-recordings, which are OK but mostly lack the punch of the originals. Their hearts really weren't in re-visiting their past. They were forging ahead in fine form. It's a pity their record company could only look backwards.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what you think....., June 14, 2000

By 

Dave (Eden Prairie, MN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Take: The Complete RCA/UK Recordings (Audio CD)

If you are expecting good copies of some of their classic hits, you need to go elsewhere. If you are a real fan of the band, some of the unreleased recordings and orignal recordings are worth the listen. A precursor to their Sire recordings which showed that the group still desire to stretch and grow when not laden with redoing old hits.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Frustrating but Exciting Chapter in Searchers History!, March 31, 2005

By 

Morten Vindberg (Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Second Take: The Complete RCA/UK Recordings (Audio CD)

In 1971 the Searchers signed with the new British division of RCA along with another of the great bands of the sixties, the Kinks.

After their period with hits for Pye records had dried up around 1966, they changed to Liberty records, which did not help their career back on the right track. The Searchers still had ambitions to much more than just being a sixties revival band; unfortunately this was the idea RCA had with the band. The company wanted them to re-record their old Pye hit-songs. The Searchers did this in hope it would give them opportunities to record new material as well.

These re-recordings was released on a 1972 album called "Needles and Pins", often referred to as "Second Take". Though the re-recordings were quite well done, they did not have the magic of the originals. Fortunately two new songs also found way to the album. The great single Desdemona( a minor hits in the States ) and their own "Come on Back to Me".

These two tracks and most of the bonus-tracks make this CD a fine investment; and it certainly documents that RCA did a very poor job in re-lauching the Searchers.

The Searchers still wrote and recorded great material, but only few people noticed. "The World is Still Waiting for Tomorrow", the B-side to "Desdemona" is another fine example of this.

They also recorded a fine version of "Solitaire" for a 1973 single. The five last songs are previously unreleased, and were probably recorded for an aborted second RCA album. A big shame because "Bite it Deep" and "Don't Shut Me Out" are the Searchers at their very best; and quite close to the sound they found with their two Sire albums that were to come.

Conclusion; this is a frustrating chapter in Searchers history, but still an important and exciting one.