Herman's Hermits Albums (9)
'A Whale of a Tale (Hermits) Not Issued'
Release Date 1/1/1972
Tracks 11
Label RCA
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What The Critics Say
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. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide
'There's a Kind of Hush All Over the World'
Release Date 1/1/1967
Tracks 11
Label MGM
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What The Critics Say
The general impression is that Herman's Hermits were a singles band, but this 11-song LP (issued in England by EMI-Columbia and in America on MGM Records) shows the group to be rather more substantial than that -- not only does it show off elements of their sound that never made it onto their singles, but such attributes as their own songwriting, for which they seldom received any regard. There's a Kind of a Hush All Over the World reached number 11 in the United States and made the British Top Ten in the early months of 1967, and that was not entirely on the strength of the hits that were included. "No Milk Today," "Dandy," and "East West" were selling points, to be sure, along with the title cut, but the other tracks also proved very appealing -- "Little Miss Sorrow, Child of Tomorrow" and "Rattler," both authored by Bruce Woodley of the Seekers, show off a folkier side of the group (and it's a pity they didn't explore it further), while the ethereal "Gaslite Street," an original by guitarists Derek Leckenby and Keith Hopwood, is pretty and memorable enough to stand alongside anything here, and "Jezebel" is a hard-rocking number totally out of character for this group, with an edge to Peter Noone's singing and the playing that's very close to garage punk of the period in spirit, and includes a dash of flamenco-style guitar, a beat lifted from Henry Mancini's "Theme from Peter Gunn," and modulations right out of the Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown standard "Temptation." All of these elements, in the singing, composition, and performance, show off a group that was not only greater than its reputation, but also more than the obvious sum of its parts -- though they're usually associated with the British Invasion, the spirit of There's a Kind of a Hush (All Over the World) is equally close to that of the Monkees circa 1967, and closer to them than to anything the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and others were doing in 1967. Indeed, one highlight of this album is the version of "Saturday's Child," a David Gates-authored song that had been popularized by the Monkees in late 1966; it's not only nicely sung but has an arrangement very different from that of the Monkees, featuring a lean, string-orchestra accompaniment that is similar to some of the string work on the Graham Gouldman Thing LP by Graham Gouldman, which was co-produced around the same time by Herman's Hermits' Peter Noone. [The 2001 reissue from Repertoire Records features state-of-the-art sound (which does wonders in bringing out the craftsmanship behind these songs) and adds 11 numbers to the original's 11 tracks: four single A- and B-sides, some odd EP and LP cuts, and a pair of tracks off the U.S. Hold On! album. Some of it is too cute and sweet for words, but other tracks are surprisingly good -- Keith Hopwood's "Marcel's," which has a solid beat and an aggressive guitar sound; the breezy "(I Gotta) Dream On" and "Make Me Happy"; Hopwood's "Don't Try to Hurt Me"; a tight and very effective rock adaptation of George Gershwin's "Biding My Time"; and the hard-rocking "Wild Love" and "Gotta Get Away," which all deserved exhumation and a new chance to find an audience.] ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
More than another Herman's Hermits album with two hit songs, "Leaning on the Lamp Post" and "A Must to Avoid," this MGM soundtrack features the original version of "Where Were You When I Needed You," the first of 14 hits for the Grass Roots, which landed in the Top 30 four months after Peter Noone sang it. This version, like everything here, sounds very British Invasion, Mickey Most's production emulating early Beatles. Four of the tunes, including the title track "Hold On" and the hit "A Must to Avoid," were written by the team of Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan, the original pairing which helped launch the Grass Roots. This is the West Coast meeting the U.K. in a very pleasant way, and the combination is impressive. Five of the lesser tunes were penned by F. Kargor/B. Weisman/S. Wayne, including the best of that bunch, "Make Me Happy," sung by actress Shelley Fabares. Fabares hit with the song "Johnny Angel" in 1962, and this has that same pop feel. Credited as Shelley Fabares with Herman's Hermits, it is basically Fabares solo with the same backing musicians, presumably, that Noone utilized. Fabares was married for a time to Lou Adler, who was also involved with the Grass Roots, the forces at play creating a unique blend of pop styles for the soundtrack to this '60s film. Peter Noone injects more of that pop into "Where Were You When I Needed You," the thin guitar and boisterous backing vocals making for a great party cut, much different from the Grass Roots' hit. "Leaning on the Lamp Post" is not as strong as "A Must to Avoid," but was a genuine hit as well. No songwriter listed here, "Leaning on the Lamp Post" is credited to a songwriter named Gay on The Best of Herman's Hermits, Vol. 2, where it was reissued along with "A Must to Avoid" and the title track, "Hold On." A short but fun disc, and essential for the fans of Peter Noone. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
'Both Sides of Herman's Hermits'
Release Date 1/1/1966
Tracks 11
Label MGM
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What The Critics Say
The original U.S. release of this album is a superb collection of Peter Noone performances that differs dramatically from the U.K. counterpart that goes by the same name. "This Door Swings Both Ways" went Top 15 in the States during July of 1966, but it was overshadowed by four other hits Noone and company had that year (they had a total of six Top 30 tracks in 1966, equaling the number they had in 1965!). The beauty that Both Sides of Herman's Hermits displays goes beyond the familiar tunes; it is in both the sound and the packaging. "My Reservation's Been Confirmed" is a surprisingly different old-style rocker with barroom piano and a driving near-fuzz guitar. The artwork is by Frank Frizetta, but you can bet it is the legendary cover artist for Creepy and Eerie magazines, Frank Frazetta, making the project a collector's item indeed. This album is Noone's opportunity to let his personality shine through the adventurous and diverse material, some of it, oddly, an array of songs written by Kenny Lynch, along with the obligatory Graham Gouldman cover and even a tune by Herman's Hermit Derek Lackenby, among others. "My Old Dutch" sounds like it was recorded in a pub an hour before closing time, while L'Autre Jour," sung mostly in French, is outstanding and quite different from what fans heard this group do on the radio. The cover of "Bus Stop," though, is the album's highlight, better than the hit version by the Hollies -- you can hear the words distinctly, and the solo vocal is so much more appealing than the thick chorus of Graham Nash's ensemble. The cover art features the band performing for Lyndon Johnson, Nikita Krushchev, Fidel Castro, the Beatles, Barbara Streisand, and other notables. This album is Sgt. Pepper's in reverse, a collection of 11 short pop tunes, all very much under three minutes, and it works as a document of Mickey Most and Noone having fun in the middle of all the fame. It's the sleeper in the collection of a Top 40 band, the other side of Herman's Hermits being, of course, their (read Peter Noone's) remarkable sense of humor. It's on the cover and in the grooves: the statement the Monkees wish they could have made. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
'Their Second Album! Herman's Hermits on Tour'
Release Date 1/1/1965
Tracks 11
Label MGM
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What The Critics Say
Three Top Five hits, including the million-seller "I'm Henry VIII, I Am," a remake of the song that hit twice in 1957 for the Diamonds and the Rays, Bob Crewe's "Silhouettes," and the lead-off track "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat" propel this album into rock history. Mickey Most's tremendous production of Peter Noone, the near country of "Traveling Light," the cover of Skeeter Davis' "The End of the World" -- her number two hit from 1963 -- and Barry Mann's wonderful "I'll Never Dance Again" all make for a highly listenable album created in a day when albums were secondary to hits. The genius of Mickey Most is that he packs the punch into all these songs in a solitary moment -- every one of them clocks in at three minutes and under. "Silhouettes" is three seconds shy of two minutes, "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" an amazingly succinct one minute and 49 seconds. These are short little pop blasts -- you could really fit the 26 minutes on one side of a long-player -- and the young Peter Noone brings each melody home. His instincts are obvious, while the partnership of Noone and producer Most finds them very serious about their art. If the band was geared toward the teen market for the time, history has proven the validity of Herman's Hermits as a musical entity. Peter Noone tours relentlessly, performing each hit as if it was his first time in the studio with the song. 10CC's Graham Gouldman finds his "For Your Love" included here, prior to the Yardbirds hitting with it this same year. On other albums Herman's Hermits also performed Gouldman's "Listen People," "No Milk Today," and "East West," all charting for Noone's group, as well as "Bus Stop," which was a hit for the Hollies in 1966. That's certainly a hip legacy; add to that the fact that one of the original girl groups, Goldie & the Gingerbreads featuring Genya Ravan (her birth name is Goldie) had a hit in Britain with "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat" only because their manager found it on Mickey Most's desk and, according to Noone, absconded with it prior to the Hermits recording, well, covert operations in the early days of the British Invasion makes for good copy. "Henry VIII" managed to get into the classic Ghost film with Patrick Swayze using it to drive Whoopi Goldberg crazy. In concert in the year 2000 and beyond, Noone's fans can't get enough of him repeating the second verse. It's the same as the first, and this album is precious pop by a vital artist. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The group's debut British album was actually issued six months later than its American counterpart, and two months after its second American album, the LP being treated as far more important in the United States than in England. The contents are actually fairly close to the U.S.-issued Their Second Album! Herman's Hermits on Tour, with a couple of important differences. Among the tracks unique to this album, the Richard/Marvin ballad "I Wonder" is pretty dispensable, but interspersed with achingly beautiful ballads are the group's attempts at somewhat harder sounds on numbers like Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Walkin' With My Angel" and more basic, slightly edgier rock ballads such as "Dream On" and their cover of Graham Gouldman's "For Your Love." The latter is decent, and lively enough, but the Yardbirds' version, lightweight as it may have seemed next to their blues sides, is so deeply soulful that it completely eclipses this rendition. Spiced with Keith Hopwood's catchy "Don't Try to Hurt Me" and "Tell Me Baby" (which appear on both albums, a testimony to Hopwood's songwriting ability) and ubiquitous fare such as "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter," the result is a pleasantly upbeat and substantial album by a highly underrated group. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'Introducing Herman's Hermits'
Release Date 1/1/1965
Tracks 12
Label MGM
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