Notes and Quotes: "Needles and Pins"

Based on Jackie DeShannon's version, the Searchers adapted it to fit their instrumentation and vocal strengths, much the way that many British groups approached American material.

This was an era when producers experimented with how they placed microphones. As one characteristic of the beat era was an increased prominence of the bass drum and its linking with the bass guitar, producers sought ways to get a clearer bass-drum sound. In this example, they also had to contend with a squeaky drum pedal.

Chris Curtis: We liked the tune and played it to ourselves. We didn't put the top voice on until the actual recording session. It's the quick ideas that are often the best, but on a record session it doesn't always happen. ... When we first tried it out, we each sang it on our own first. It's amazing how different the four versions were. We all have different styles of singing and we just have to mould them all together. ... It was a joint arrangement. We always get the chords off first and then get the instrumental bit right before we start on singing. When you start building it up from the chords, you sing it your own way and that's the way new things come. [Bob Dawbarn. "What Now for the Searchers? This Hit May Open Up Fresh Horizons." Melody Maker (1 February 1964): 9.]

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13 February, 2012