''Sugar and Spice'' is the second studio album by the British

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band

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...

released in 1963. This album features the band's second big hit single " Sugar and Spice". With two successful Top 5 albums in three months, and two other Top 3 hit singles at the time, the group proved to be the strongest to emerge from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

next to

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and Gerry and the Pacemakers. They solidified their position further with another album track, "Ain't That Just Like Me", which was later released in the US and hit #61 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

Overview and recording

The first album single, "Sugar and Spice", was written by producer

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

(using the pseudonym Fred Nightingale in order to better convince the band to record it), and he felt the song had enormous hit potential for its similarity to previous No.1 hit "

Sweets for My Sweet "Sweets for My Sweet" is a song written by the songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, originally recorded by American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group the Drifters. The Drifters version The group's first single featuring Charlie Thoma ...

". Both songs are similar in style, backing vocals, chord progressions, and guitar solos. Hatch plotted for it to be the next Searchers A-side. They recorded the song, despite their dislike and initial opposition to it. Chris Curtis disliked the similarities to "Sweets for my Sweet" and refused to sing on it (although he did overdub the high-pitched harmony links between verses). Nevertheless, it reached No. 2 on the UK's

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...

chart, just one step behind the Beatles' " I Want to Hold Your Hand". With the massive popularity of the Searchers, Pye Records decided to release a follow-up album as soon as possible for the Christmas market. The group were pulled back to the studio in the middle of their UK tour with

Brian Poole and the Tremeloes The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's departure ...

and

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

and made the new album in just three days. In similarity to their debut album it contained more numbers from their original stage repertoire. They covered tunes by their American idols, such as

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

("Listen to Me", "Don't Cha Know"), girl group The Chiffons ("Oh My Lover"), and The Coasters ("Ain't That Just Like Me"), and also the sort of

Merseybeat Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle ...

standard "

Some Other Guy "Some Other Guy" is a rhythm and blues song, written by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller and Richie Barrett. First released as a single by Barrett, it featured an electric piano, then an unusual sound in pop music. Covered shortly afterwards by Liverp ...

", which became a staple ingredient in almost every

group's set-list.

Release

''Sugar and Spice'' was released as a mono LP album on the Pye label in the UK in Autumn 1963, Pye NPL 18089. It entered the LP charts on 16 November 1963 and went to No. 5 (the band's first LP ''

Meet the Searchers ''Meet The Searchers'' is the 1963 debut and most successful album by British rock band The Searchers. The album featured their first single released in June 1963, a version of the Drifters' "Sweets for My Sweet", which was a UK No.1 for the b ...

'' still occupied No. 3 that same week) and stayed for 21 weeks. Four of the album's tracks were later issued on the EP ''Hungry for Love'', which went to No. 4 in the UK charts. ''Sugar And Spice'' LP was not available in the US. Instead, five of the album's twelve tracks appeared on Kapp Records' release, '' Meet The Searchers / Needles and Pins'', issued in North America only (and with two more on another US-only LP, '' This Is Us'').

Track listing

Personnel

The Searchers * Tony Jackson -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, backing vocals *

Mike Pender Michael John Prendergast (born 3 March 1941), known professionally as Mike Pender, is an English singer and guitarist. He was an original founding member of Merseybeat group the Searchers. He is best known as the lead vocalist on many hit s ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

, lead vocals * John McNally -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, backing vocals *

Chris Curtis Chris Curtis (born Christopher Crummey; 26 August 1941 – 28 February 2005) was an English drummer and singer who was best known for being with the 1960s Beat music, beat band The Searchers (band), The Searchers. He originated the concept be ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backing vocals, lead vocals Additional musicians and production *

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Ray Prickett –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugar And Spice (Album) 1963 albums The Searchers (band) albums Pye Records albums