The Seekers were one of those groups from the early 1960’s
who were acceptable to the younger and older viewers on Sunday night TV shows,
such as Ed Sullivan, or the more edgy Smother’s Brothers Comedy Hour. The truth
of that statement is in this video from a July, 1968 performance at the BBC in
London. They had been singing the song for about 5 or 6 years already, since
before the Vietnam War had really begun in earnest, dividing a generation.
The Seekers were able to bridge that divide with their
beautiful harmonies and a non-threatening selection of material, which usually
included songs about love, family and flowers. Who, on either side of the day’s
political issues could argue with that? This was the group that parents loved,
saying such things as “Why don’t those other groups sing like that?” We kids
would roll our eyes, thinking, “They just don’t get it, do they?” But, still,
there was something unifying about these songs. They could be sung in the car
with the family. That doesn’t happen much anymore. I mean, my folks never could
remember the words to “In a Gadda Da Vida Baby.”
Though most folks think of The Seekers, and this record,
as American folk music, both really Australian in origin, having formed there
in 1962. The song itself is an adaptation of that genre. Even the original
recording of the record was done at Abbey Road studios in London, in November
1964, at just about the same time the Beatles had finished working on “Beatles
for Sale”, which had been recorded there
and was scheduled for release only weeks later. “I’ll Never Find Another You”;
composed by Tom Springfield; became The Seekers first #1 hit in the United
Kingdom and America.
Though the original group disbanded in the late 1960’s,
the New Seekers were formed in 1969, and they continue to unite generations
with this wonderful song.
No comments:
Post a Comment