HERMAN'S HERMITS "Blaze" 1967 Expanded

While Herman's Hermits couldn't keep up with the revolutionary sounds created in 1967 by the Beatles, Cream, or Jimi Hendrix, they did manage to release pop records that steadily revealed maturity, especially evident on Blaze, their final MGM studio release. At the helm once again was producer Mickie Most, who incorporated production (and studio musicians) on par with his burgeoning Donovan hits (whose "Museum" is covered here) and similar sounding material by the Hollies. The lyrical content continued to mature with Ray Davies-style subject matter previously highlighted by "There's a Kind of Hush" and "Dandy." Unfortunately, the teen idol image of front man Peter Noone was becoming a double-edged sword, as he was starting to be replaced by a new generation of teen idols, while not being able to make the transition into hip 1967. The original cover, a kaleidoscopic view of the band members in Sgt. Pepper-type threads, wasn't enough to regain their declining credibility. Blaze has a short running time at only five songs per side but includes great lost pop songs like "Last Bus Home," "I Call Out Her Name," and "Upstairs, Downstairs." MGM put out The Best of Herman's Hermits, Vol. 3 and called it a day with the band, leaving Blaze to languish as an unappreciated pop gasp. (Allmusic)Herman's Hermits' 1967 album, "Blaze", is the aestathic high point of all their recordings from the 1960s, and seems to be a result of some careful thoughts from the group. It was an excellent album and illustrated a lot of the changes occuring within the group at the time. The lyrics were more introspective than anything they had done prior to that, and according to lead guitarist Derek Leckenby, songs like "Moonshine Man" (Leckenby-Hopwood-Green) and "I Call Out Her Name" (Hopwood-Leckenby) were deliberately done with subtle satire in mind. Peter Cowap (ex-Country Gentlemen), who was later to take over as lead singer when Peter Noone went solo in 1971, wrote the psychedelic gem "Last Bus Home" and co-wrote "Ace, King, Queen, Jack" with Noone. Both songs were representative of the new, more aggressive Hermits sound. The "My Old Man's A Dustman" spoof in the ending of "Ace, King, Queen, Jack" was a result of weariness brought about by 3 a.m. recording sessions. Tiredness combined with drinking caused Karl Green and Lek Leckenby to spout off about things that irritated them, all done in falsetto voices. Another Hopwood-Leckenby-Green collaboration, "Busy Line", seemed to have all the ingredients of a hit, but was never released as a single. "Blaze" included Donovan's "Museum", which reached a modest #39 in the US charts, and Kenny Young's "Don't Go Out Into The Rain", which peaked at #18. Graham Gouldman's contribution was "Upstairs, Downstairs", while Geoff Stephens of The New Vaudeville Band came up with "Green Street Green" and "One Little Packet Of Cigarettes", the latter co-written by John Carter of The Ivy League. But even though "Blaze" shines as the group's best ever album, it also more or less marked the end of an era for Herman's Hermits in America. With the onslaught of "acid-rock" and "progressive, heavy-rock" in 1967, in addition to severe competition from The Monkees in the Hermits' segment of the market, MGM threw all their promotion efforts behind new acts and seemed to completely ignore Herman & Co. and other established artists. The 12 bonus tracks on this CD are singles (A- and B-sides) from the 1968-69 period, when the decline in sales and popularity in the US set in, and the group dropped from the charts. In the UK and Europe, however, the group was given a new lease of life in 1968, and they continued to have hits until 1971. It's worth mentioning that "London Look" was only released on a promo EP sponsored by Yardley cosmetics in the UK, and "Nobody Needs To Know", written by Leckenby-Hopwood-Brook, appears for the first time in CD format. No real Herman's Hermits fan can be without this lavishly packaged digipak CD from Repertoire. Buy it now! (Amazon)trax:

01 Museum 02 Upstairs, Downstairs 03 Busy Line 04 Moonshine Man 05 Green Street Green 06 Don't Go Out Into The Rain (You're Going To Melt) 07 I Call Out Her Name 08 One Little Packet Of Cigarettes 09 Last Bus Home 10 Ace, King, Queen, Jack 11 Sleepy Joe 12 Just One Girl 13 London Look 14 Sunshine Girl 15 Nobody Needs To Know 16 Something Is Happening 17 The Most Beautiful Thing In My Life 18 Ooh She's Done It Again 19 My Sentimental Friend 20 My Lady 21 Here Comes The Star 22 It's Alright Now

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