Herman's Hermits "I'm Henry The VIII, I Am" on Ed Sullivan. Pretty silly!

Had the pleasure of meeting Peter when he came to Calgary in the early summer, 1988 for a private concert with Johnny Rivers and Roy Orbison. (It was a great show.)

Peter was very nice. As he was autographing a couple of my old Hermits LPs, I pointed to one that said "Includes full size poster of Herman." I jokingly asked him who Herman was. He told me his British passport says Peter Noone, aka Herman. He then signed that LP "To Chris, from Herman".

He also tipped me off on buying the EMI U.K. hits CD instead of the U.S. ABCKO. Said the U.K. was better mastering.

Peter Noone is coming to Calgary via the casino circuit next month. I'm hoping to catch the show.

 

On the trailer for the DVD we've been talking about, Peter Noone specifically singles out Lek for the lead part he devised for "Henry," and also praises Barry Whitwam's drumming on the track (a generous thing to say, since he and Barry aren't exactly on good terms!).

Lek Leckenby has always been acknowledged as a very good guitarist, and live performance footage certainly bears this out. I can't imagine why Peter would have any reason to deliberately lie about this at this late date.

 

Herman's Hermits were marketed differently in the U.K. and Europe by EMI. "Mrs. Brown..." for example I don't think was issued as a single there. The band had a more rock and roll persona back home.

Check out this live cover of "Jezebel" from German TV, c. 1966. The band is rocking pretty good. Not a lip-sync.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSd2Wx7eKTI

Note Peter is not flashing that big cheesy grin at the camera. No screaming girls.

 

What you don;t see in the trailer is when Barry talks about how they all left Lek in the studio to finish the solo. Again all you have to do is see our DVD "Herman's Hermits: Listen People 1964 - 1969" and you will see what a great live band they were and more importantly it will show the sceptics that they played on most of their records.

 

You are right that they did play on most of their recordings.

 

Can someone verify that Page and John Paul Jones played on some of their tracks? Back then, they were heavy session players.

 

There was a spell before Katina when Peter Noone was coming down at least once a year. I usually had a lot of stuff to be signed. Started with the CD's. After a while, he joked with me asking if I bought "everything". I smiled and told him, next time I see ya, I'll grab my albums! Always nice to have a laugh with an artist so down to earth with the fans.

Lately, he's been signing things Herman or Peter Noone. I prefer Peter Noone.

 

It's interesting that the exact song title wasn't consistent!

I'm Henry VIII, I Am
I'm Henery the Eighth I Am
I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am

 

Peter Noone has confirmed it on numerous occasions, although he's only specified 2 songs that featured Page on guitar ("Silhouettes" and "Wonderful World").

John Paul Jones was musical director for most of their 1966-68 recordings, including the entire Blaze and Mrs. Brown albums. He may not have played on every track -- although he did briefly join the band for a 1967 tour of Germany.

 

The DVD looks great, looking forward to it!

 

Not to mention the Japanese language title with the numerical digit "8"!

 

Herman und zie Hermits

Great clip and a good rockin' version.

 

Thanks Henry! I'm sure you will enjoy it. I'm very proud of the way it turned out not only because of the great full length perfromances we have on the disc (22) but the fact that we had interviews from all four surviving members of the group. Most directors would have just interviewed Peter and left it there but I felt that all the members needed to be heard and they gave us great matgerial which you'll see on the DVD. There's a great bonus section where Barry Whitwam & Peter talks about the US tour of 1967 where the Who opened for them and it's really eye opening.

Thanks,

David

 

It is good, but I new little about other bands at the time.

 

Mine, too!

Applejacks, Animals, Zombies, Peter & Gordon, Dave Clark 5, Freddie and the Dreamers, Gerry and the Pacemakers - it was music heaven!

 

RE: Lead vocal on The Searchers' "Needles and Pins"

How about if someone else who was at the session, John McNally, is heard from?

This is from an extensive interview in the book Then Play On by Mike Ober. McNally does not say anything about Jackson singing on the recorded version of "Needles and Pins" -- and frankly, I don't hear him myself.

 

Re: Lead vocal on The Searchers' "Needles and Pins"

Here is what Chris Curtis has to say in Spencer Leigh's book Twist and Shout: Mereseybeat, The Cavern, The Star Club and The Beatles. Leigh introduces the subject...

 

But that's not how it happened, is it? Tony Jackson was in the band long enough to not only record Needles and Pins and the follow-up, Don't Throw Your Love Away, but also appear on TV and radio singing them, appear on the Ed Sullivan show in the US and at the NME Pollwinners concert. So what Chris Crummy says there is a distillation of events, not literally true.
The question of who would sing lead on needles and Pins was the point at which machinations began to oust Jackson but it wasn't as dramatic as some say, and he was 'demoted' from lead singer to 'shadowing' Pender with that session. But, as per my original post, he does sing on it.

 

He doesn't say Jackson doesn't sing on it, he says he doesn't sing lead. As Tony was their lead singer at that point, but as McNally hints, Chris was arranging for him to be deposed, that is quite a change, and the point of his story.

 

And you offer what as proof of your last statement? Please be specific.

I offer quotes from two individuals present at the recording session who certainly, one thinks, would have mentioned that Jackson sings on "Needles and Pins" -- and they emphatically do not.

How do you figure that what Chris Curtis (I'm aware of what his real name is, thank you...do you routinely refer to Ringo Starr as Richard Starkey?) says with regard to the recording session is "not literally true"? Please explain.

 

Well, I've never said I'm not the lead singer of U2, so I guess that means there's a chance I am!

If you're singing along in unison with someone on a song, that means you are singing lead...or at minimum, co-lead.

As neither Curtis nor McNally says this about Jackson (and Curtis quotes himself as saying to Jackson "You're not singing on 'Needles and Pins'") -- this would indicate to a reasonable person that Jackson does not sing on the song...period.

 

Here's another anecdote ... During a concert in the Philippines at the height of British Invasion, Chris (Crummy - haha!) grabbed a Philippine girl and kissed her on stage when she was giving him a lei. That didn't sit well. The crowd, being predominantly Catholic and their women a shy lot, booed and branded him rude and arrogant.

 

OK

OK, so before they released Needes and Pins, indeed before they recorded it according to this account, Chris Crummy had sacked Jackson?
Well, it's not true is it?
Jackson is on Needles and Pins and the next single.
He SINGS Needles and Pins on stage, on radio, on TV, and, if you listen carefully, on the record- he's not 'lead singer' anymore, but he is singing- as you know. So WHY is he singing onstage, on radio and on TV if he didn't sing on the record? Could it be that he was on the record?
In fact, all the accounts you have presented do not preclude Jackson from singing on the record, just from being lead singer, which I have already agreed, many times, he is not.
I call the drummer Chris Crummy becasue that's what I've always called him. And I have never found anything he said to be literally true anyway.

 

There's a slightly longer version of that TV clip where the German TV presenter interviews Peter Noone. It goes back and forth from English to German. Pretty funny. The TV presenter calls Peter "Herman". Then Peter introduces the band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUq1dhfgssw

It rocks a bit harder than the studio version. IIRC, the studio version has a saxaphone in the mix.