As Jim tells us in his post Seismic Music Shift today’s theme for Song Lyric Sunday is the British Invasion, suggested by, er, me. I think it must have been something I said when commenting on a previous post! But after last weekend’s invitation to play some British music you may be a little puzzled: isn’t this the same thing? Absolutely not! Last week’s theme applied to any era of music, whereas this one is much more specific. A quick look at Wikipedia will enlighten you: “The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom, and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising counterculture on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.” The article goes on to say that British acts had enjoyed limited success in the US charts prior to 1964 – even though The Beatles had been tearing up charts just about everywhere else throughout 1963 – but for the period from 1964 to around 1966 you guys more than made up for it. I’ve avoided the easy temptation to play Beatles songs for this, and am instead playing three by bands who were also part of the Invasion. The first one is this:
And as this is SLS, here are the lyrics:
Well, no one told me about her, the way she lied
Well, no one told me about her, how many people cried
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don’t bother tryin’ to find her
She’s not there
Well, let me tell you ’bout the way she looked
The way she’d act and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there
Well, no one told me about her, what could I do?
Well, no one told me about her, though they all knew
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don’t bother tryin’ to find her
She’s not there
Well, let me tell you ’bout the way she looked
The way she’d act and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don’t bother tryin’ to find her
She’s not there
Well, let me tell you ’bout the way she looked
The way she’d act and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Rodney Terence Argent
She’s Not There lyrics © Marquis Music Co. Ltd., Marquis Music Co Ltd
She’s Not There was the debut single by the Zombies, written by keyboard player Rod Argent. It reached #12 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1964, and #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the beginning of December 1964. It also reached #2 in Canada. The lead singer with that distinctive voice is Colin Blunstone, who went on to have a long solo career. After the Zombies Rod Argent formed his own band, simply called Argent: you may remember their big hit, Hold Your Head Up. The Zombies only had one other minor hit over here but were much more successful in the US, where they had a number of singles chart entries, including their biggie, Time Of The Season, which got to #1 in 1969 but didn’t even make the UK charts! It is outside the Invasion time frame, which is why I’m not playing it today – but it is a great song too. Carlos Santana covered She’s Not There in 1978 and actually did slightly better than the Zombies in the UK charts, peaking at #11, though he only made #27 in the US. I prefer the original, anyway!
The second Invasion song I’m playing today is from a band who had two huge hits in 1965. The first, For Your Love, reached #2 in the UK and #6 in the US. This is the second, which got to #3 in the UK and #9 in the US: I loved both of them then, and still do, but on balance I slightly prefer this one:
Lead guitar on For Your Love had been played by Eric Clapton, but he left the band because he didn’t like the musical direction it was taking. His replacement, who you can see in this video, was Jeff Beck, who died in January of this year so this is by way of tribute to one of the great guitarists of rock music. Beck only stayed with the band for about eighteen months, and their newly acquired rhythm guitarist stepped up to take lead: a chap called Jimmy Page. That is quite some set of alumni for one band!
I know I shouldn’t play too many songs in these posts, but we exported so much great music in such a short period that I can’t resist a third:
The Kinks released All Day And All Of The Night in October 1964 as the follow up to You Really Got Me, which had been a #1 here. This one got to #2 in the UK, and both songs made #7 in the US. That video may be a bit grainy from age, but you can still feel the raw power leaping out at you. Those were great times for those of us who were growing up here and beginning to develop our musical tastes. I know everyone thinks that the decade in which they grew up was the best ever for music. Unless, like me, that was during the Sixties, I think they are all wrong!
That’s it for this week. I could go on, and on, but I want to see what others are playing: there is more than enough great British Invasion music to go round!
See you on Tuesday 😊🎶
