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 You Been
The Searchers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
A long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone?
A long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
A long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone to young men everyone
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone?
A long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
A long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone to soldiers everyone
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
A long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
A long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards everyone
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
A long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
A long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers everyone
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
The Searchers' song "Where Have You Been" is a poignant commentary on war, human nature, and the cyclical nature of history. The opening stanza sets the somber tone as the lyrics ask, "Where have all the flowers gone?" This is followed by the repetition of the question, with added emphasis on the length of time that has passed since the flowers disappeared. The lyrics then imply that young girls picked the flowers, and the question "when will they ever learn?" suggests that perhaps they did not realize the fragility and preciousness of life, symbolized by the flowers.
The second and third stanzas follow a similar pattern, with the question "where have all the young girls/young men gone?" and the answer that they have gone to other people. The repetition of "when will they ever learn?" in these stanzas highlights the idea that people are doomed to repeat history and make the same mistakes over and over again. The fourth and fifth stanzas introduce soldiers as a new group that has gone somewhere, and the final stanza brings it all full circle with the question "where have all the graveyards gone?" followed by the answer that they have gone back to flowers.
Overall, the song suggests that violence and war are destructive forces that destroy not only human lives, but also the beauty and joy that life can offer. The repeated question of "when will they ever learn?" implies that perhaps humanity is incapable of learning from its mistakes, and that the cycles of life and death, growth and destruction, will continue endlessly.
Line by Line Meaning
Where have all the flowers gone?
Asking where all the beauty in the world has disappeared to.
A long time passing
It has been a significant amount of time since anyone has seen those beautiful flowers.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Posing the same question as before in a poetic and yearning way.
A long time ago
The absence of the flowers has been felt for an extended period.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Questioning what has caused the disappearance of these cherished blooms.
Young girls picked them every one
The flowers were all taken by the young and innocent girls.
When will they ever learn?
Asking why these young girls can't understand the value of leaving the flowers where they are.
When will they ever learn?
Repeating the question with a sense of desperation.
Where have all the young girls gone?
Wondering where those young girls who picked the flowers are now.
A long time passing
Realizing it has been quite some time since those young girls were around.
Where have all the young girls gone?
Missing the pure souls that could appreciate the beauty of the flowers.
A long time ago
It feels like it has been an eternity since those innocent girls disappeared.
Where have all the young girls gone?
Expressing the same sentiment from earlier in the song.
Gone to young men everyone
The young girls left the flowers to be with the young men.
When will they ever learn?
Questioning why the young men don't realize their actions' impact on the world around them.
When will they ever learn?
Asking this question again, hoping for change soon.
Where have all the young men gone?
Thinking about where all the young men have disappeared to.
A long time passing
Feeling like it's been too long since the young men were seen.
Where have all the young men gone?
Hoping they haven't disappeared for good.
A long time ago
The young men's absence has been felt for a while now.
Where have all the young men gone?
Posing this poignant question once more.
Gone to soldiers everyone
All those young men became soldiers.
When will they ever learn?
Wondering why wars continue to happen even though they bring so much destruction.
When will they ever learn?
Hoping that the world will eventually realize the futility of warfare.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Thinking about where all the soldiers have gone.
A long time passing
It's been a while since anyone has seen a soldier.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Expressing the same sentiment more emotionally.
Gone to graveyards everyone
All the soldiers have died and been buried.
When will they ever learn?
Expressing regret that humans never learn from history's mistakes.
When will they ever learn?
Questioning why it feels like the world will never progress beyond the same cycles of war and violence.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Wondering where the graveyards have all disappeared to.
A long time passing
Realizing that it's been ages since anyone has visited a gravesite.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Expressing the same question, this time more poignantly.
Gone to flowers everyone
All those graveyards have now been covered with beautiful flowers.
When will they ever learn?
Wishing that people could understand the importance of peace and the damage that war causes.
When will they ever learn?
Stressing the urgency of change, hoping that people will learn before it's too late.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GUNTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Paul Maney
Along with the Beatles and the Hollies the Searchers were definitely the greatest singing group of the whole British Invasion. There ain't no damn thing as the supposed "Rock & Roll H.O.F" if the Searchers aren't in there!
Oswin Towns
My favourite searchers track well covered by the beat groups including the Beatles at the time this to me is the DEFINITIVE version better than the Arthur Alexander original
elvisleeboy
This is my favourite version, but only because The Beatles version is a poor quality recording - Performance wise, particularly Lennon's vocals, The Beatles version knock the socks off this one.
Mark Artuso
Respectfully disagree. Alexander nails the feeling of the song much more.
Oswin Towns
My favourite searchers song from there 3rd album Its the Searchers great vocals from Chris curtis and Mike pender originally a Arthur Alexander song but this is THE DEFINITIVE VERSION should have been a single
Steven Wells
New Zealand band, Ray Columbus and The Invaders, had a hit with this in NZ and Australia in 1965 but they called the song "Till We Kissed"
Oswin Towns
To add to my previous comments there must be 2 versions of this songs with different introductions
Mika Solanti
Great! Greetings from the Finland.
がくがくマン
1:45
ここから「恋するカレン」になってるような…
guitar1067 Sports: Classic NFL NBA
Those repeating maracas (?) really detract from the song.