The band grew out of an earlier skiffle group formed by McNally, with his friends Brian Dolan (guitar) and Tony West (bass). When the other two members lost interst McNally was joined by his guitarist neighbour Mike Prendergast. They soon recruited Tony Jackson with his home-made bass guitar and amplifier and styled themselves Tony and the Searchers with Joe Kelly on drums. Kelly soon left to be replaced by Norman McGarry and it is this line-up—McNally, Pender (as he soon became known), Jackson and McGarry—that is usually cited as the original foursome.
McGarry did not stay long, however, and in 1960 his place was taken by Chris Crummey (who later changed his name to Curtis). Later that year Big Ron had a successful audition with Mecca and became a ballroom singer. He was replaced by Billy Beck, who changed his name to Johnny Sandon. The band had regular bookings at Liverpool's Iron Door Club as Johnny Sandon and the Searchers.
Sandon left the band in late 1961 to join The Remo Four in February 1962. The group settled into a quartet sharing the vocal lead and billed simply as The Searchers. They continued to play at the Iron Door, The Cavern, and other Liverpool clubs. Like many similar acts they would do as many as three shows at different venues in one night. They negotiated a contract with the Star-Club in the St. Pauli district Hamburg for 128 days, with three one-hour performances a night, starting in July 1962.
The band returned to a residence, at the Iron Door Club and it was there that they tape recorded the sessions that led to a recording contract with Pye Records with Tony Hatch as producer.
Hatch played piano on some recordings and wrote "Sugar and Spice"—the band’s second number one record—under the pseudonym Fred Nightingale; a secret he kept from the band at the time.
After scoring their monumental hit "Needles and Pins", bassist Tony Jackson went solo and was replaced by Hamburg pal Frank Allen of Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.
Chris Curtis left the band in 1966 and was replaced by the Needles and Pins-influenced John Blunt, who in turn was replaced by Billy Adamson in 1970.
As musical styles evolved, the Searchers could not keep up and as a result, the hits ran out and while they continued to record for Liberty Records and RCA Records, ended up on the British "Chicken in a Basket" circuit although they did score a minor US hit in 1971 with "Desdemona".
The group continued to tour through the 1970s and were rewarded in 1979 when Sire Records signed the band to a multi-record deal. Two albums were released by them, The Searchers and Play for Today (retitled Love's Melodies outside the UK). Both records garnered great critical acclaim but did not break into the charts. They did however revitalize the group's career. According to John McNally, the band were ready to head into the studio to record a third album for Sire when they were informed that due to label reorganization, their contract had been dropped.
In 1981, the band signed to PRT Records (formerly Pye, their original label) and began recording an album but only one single, "I Don't Want To Be The One" backed with "Hollywood", saw the light of day at that time. The rest of the tracks would be released as part of 2004's 40th Anniversary collection.
Soon after the PRT release, Mike Pender left the group amidst great acrimony and now tours as Hollywood. McNally and Allan recruited former First Class vocalist Spencer James to fill Pender's shoes.
In 1988, Coconut Records signed The Searchers and the album Hungry Hearts was the result. A very contemporary sounding release, it featured modern sounding remakes of "Needles and Pins" and "Sweets For My Sweets". While the album was not a major hit, it did keep the group in the public eye.
The band continues to tour with Eddie Rothe replacing Adamson on drums and is considered to be one of the most popular 1960s bands on the UK concert circuit.
for more info see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Searchers_%28band%29
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
The Searchers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone for husbands everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the husbands gone, long time passing?
Where have all the husbands gone, long time ago?
Where have all the husbands gone?
Gone for soldiers everyone
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
The Searchers' song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a beautiful yet haunting ballad that explores the cyclical nature of war and the tragic consequences it has on humanity. The song opens with the line "Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?" which sets the tone for the remainder of the song. The singer is questioning the disappearance of the flowers, and as the verses progress, we see the flowers as a symbol for innocence, youth, life, and death.
Line by Line Meaning
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
What happened to all the flowers that used to bloom here? It's been a long time and they're nowhere to be seen.
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where did all the flowers go? I remember seeing them a long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
What happened to all the flowers? They're nowhere to be found.
Young girls have picked them everyone.
The flowers were all picked by young girls and there are none left.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
It's sad that this keeps happening. When will people learn to take care of the world around them?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where did all the young girls who used to pick the flowers go? It's been a long time.
Where have all the young girls gone, long time ago?
I remember seeing young girls picking flowers a long time ago. What happened to them?
Where have all the young girls gone?
There are no young girls around to pick the flowers anymore. What happened to them?
Gone for husbands everyone.
All the young girls got married and left to start their own families.
Where have all the husbands gone, long time passing?
Where did all the husbands of the young girls go? It's been a long time.
Where have all the husbands gone, long time ago?
I remember the husbands of the young girls leaving a long time ago. Where did they go?
Where have all the husbands gone?
All the husbands of the young girls are gone. Where did they go?
Gone for soldiers everyone.
All the husbands went to fight in wars as soldiers.
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where did all the soldiers who left to fight in wars go? It's been a long time.
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
I remember soldiers leaving to fight in wars a long time ago. Where did they go?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
All the soldiers who left to fight in wars are gone. Where did they go?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
All the soldiers who went to fight in wars died and are buried in graveyards.
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing?
Where did all the graveyards come from? It's been a long time since the soldiers died.
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago?
I remember graveyards being around a long time ago. Where did they all go?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Where are all the graveyards located? They're not around here anymore.
Gone to flowers, everyone.
The graveyards are now covered in flowers.
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
The flowers that were picked by the young girls are now gone. It's been a long time.
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
I remember seeing flowers a long time ago, but they're not here anymore. What happened to them?
Where have all the flowers gone?
What happened to all the flowers that used to be here? They're gone now.
Young girls have picked them everyone.
The flowers were all picked by young girls, and none are left.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
It's sad that this keeps happening. When will people learn to take care of the world around them?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
It's sad that this keeps happening. When will people learn to take care of the world around them?
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Peter Seeger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Susan
LYRICS
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Foza Younis
Fantastic songs and great times not to be forgotten.
kevgish
Superb group love the harmony's of Tony Jackson & Mike Pender classic.
Thomas Pick
A Pete Seeger classic? I love the Searchers. Great harmony. The rhythm guitarist was precise, in a good pocket. I liked the drummer’s appropriate playing. His high harmonies were wonderful. Too bad the drummer had the conflict with the original bassist, Tony.
Jorge Estomba
One of the greatest ever !!
Nothing but musical talent extraordinaire!!
Even their name was special !!
Henryk
Dzięki serdeczne Panie Henryku(mój imienniku) za to ponadczasowe dzieło. Piękna wersja. Pozdrawiam serdecznie.
Staniskaw Bracha
THE SEARCHERS -- ten zespół muzyczny przypomina mi młode lata. (Gdzie są chłopcy z tamtych lat.)
Юлія Горбарчук
Вони вже не хлопці нажаль
CHUCK NOLEN
Great harmonies!
Tonetwisters
Yeh, their vocals were really good. But take it from a guitarist of 59 years, their guitar tones and talents were really special.
geo2301able
Too "upbeat"...Great harmony, but doesn't capture the "soul" of this classic anti war dong. Check Marlene Duetrich or ,Polish singer's version!