Herman's Hermits

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Best of the 60's album

Herman's Hermits were a British rock band in the 1960s, formed in Manchester, England in 1963. Part of the British Invasion, their trademark simple, non-threatening, and clean-cut "boys next door" image made them easier to listen to and more accessible than other British Invasion bands.

Contents

1 Early history
2 Origin of the \"Herman\" name
3 Original band
4 Band members after 1970

4.1 Peter Noone
4.2 Keith Hopwood
4.3 Derek Leckenby
4.4 Barry Whitwam
4.5 Karl Green

5 Competing \"Herman's Hermits\"
6 Discography

6.1 Herman's Hermits 45's
6.2 Albums

7 Filmography
8 External links

Early history

Original members were Keith Hopwood (guitar, vocals), Karl Green (bass, vocals), Derek "Lek" Leckenby (guitar, vocals), and Jan Barry Whitwam (drums), and they were soon joined by Peter Noone (lead vocals). Although the youngest of a remarkably young band, sixteen year old Noone was already a veteran actor with experience on the British soap opera, Coronation Street.

After playing live for a time, they met future producer Mickie Most and released "I'm Into Something Good". The band played on the singles "I'm Into Something Good", "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter"(1968)and "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am". Many of their subsequent singles employed some session musicians, including Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, with contributions from the band, although the role of session players on Herman's Hermits records has been greatly exaggerated in the rock media. Some attribute this to in fighting between Noone and some of his former band mates. Leckenby in particular was an accomplished musician who was often at odds with Mickie Most for restricting the Hermits in the studio. Despite a tendency to disregard the band in critical circles all the members were capable players and Noone was a charismatic front man whose singing ability has often been underrated. Most made them stars but hurt the band's creativity in the process, although many Hermits' recordings do feature strong playing by the band and solid original songs by Leckenby and Hopwwod together with contributions from Noone and Green.

Origin of the \"Herman\" name

Born in Manchester, England, Noone was a child TV star playing Stanley Fairclough in Coronation Street. He was also featured in Knight Errant, Family Solicitor and Monro's Ski Stories. Noone was only 15 when he achieved international fame as teenage heart-throb, Herman. On stage, Noone initially used his existing stage name Peter Novak. The change to Herman came after the band remarked on his resemblance to the character Sherman in Peabody's Improbable History, a supporting cartoon in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and Karl Green misheard the name as Herman. The group, who by now were a popular dance hall and youth club attraction, and managed by Harvey Lisberg and Charlie Silverman, changed their name to Herman and The Hermits, and it soon became abbreviated to Herman's Hermits.

Original band

Herman's Hermits were hugely successful in the mid-1960s. Their first hit was "I'm Into Something Good", which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 13 in the US in 1964. They never topped the British charts again, but had two US No. 1's with "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am". The band disliked both songs, and never released them as singles in Britain, although Mrs. Brown featured excellent rhythm guitar by Hopwood and Henry featured a good guitar solo by Leckenby. They appeared in several movies including When The Boys Meet The Girls (1965) and Hold On! (1966). They appeared on the The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show and The Jackie Gleason Show.

While they enjoyed consistent success in Britain throughout the rest of the decade, they were even more popular in America for a while, their hits continuing until 1966's "No Milk Today". Soon, however, the Monkees had replaced Herman's Hermits as the simple pop rock act, and the Hermits' career declined even further. "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" engendered a revival, but the Hermits never again cracked the top 10 in the U.S. The band continued releasing records throughout the 1970s, with little success. They continued to tour, with bassist Karl Green, Peter Cowap and later Frank Renshaw (1975-1982), taking over lead vocals. The band recorded the country rock flavoured album A Whale of A Tale on the RCA label, featuring Leckenby on guitar and Dobro, as well as several singles on various labels, most notably the songs "Ginny Go Softly" and "Heart Get Ready for Love" which featured Frank Renshaw on lead vocals.

Band members after 1970

Peter Noone

Noone left the band in 1971. He starred in ABC's The Chanterville Ghost and played Pinocchio in Hallmark's Hall Of Fame version of that story. His other TV credits include Married With Children, Quantum Leap, My Two Dads, Dave's World, Too Close For Comfort, Laverne & Shirley, Easy Street and has a recurring role on As The World Turns. He also hosted VH1's My Generation.

As a singer he had a hit with David Bowie's, "Oh, You Pretty Things". Later, Noone recorded an album for Beach Boy Bruce Johnston's label as well as an album fronting the new wave band "The Tremblers."

Keith Hopwood

Hopwood left as well, starting his own music company, Pluto Music, with Leckenby. As of 2006, Pluto Music is still in business, and works primarily on commercial and animation soundtracks. The studio has provided services to many top acts including The Clash. Hopwood has released several rare solo and band recordings (not with Peter). Hopwood's releases show a depth to the band not generally perceived.

Derek Leckenby

Lek toured with Barry Whitwam for more than 20 years. He died in 1994 after a short battle with cancer. His final performance was just five days before his death.

Barry Whitwam

Whitwam has continued touring with a band under the Herman's Hermits name.

Karl Green

As of 2001, Green manages sound systems for the Queen Elizabeth and Festival Halls on London's South Bank.

Competing \"Herman's Hermits\"

Since the mid 1970's there has been significant conflict over the use of the name Herman's Hermits. Between 1974 and 1994, Barry and Lek toured with versions of the band that at times included original members Keith and Karl and newer members such as former Toggery Five guitarist, Frank Renshaw. With Frank Renshaw on vocals, the band even re-recorded a number of Herman's Hermits songs along with an additional album of newer material. These re-recordings show up frequently as compilations of Hermits' hits much to the disdain of Peter Noone's faithful following. After Lek's death in 1994, Barry continued to tour and record with his version of Herman's Hermits, releasing an additional set of re-recordings along with newer material. In November of 2005 Barry's Hermits released a Christmas single, "When the Children Start Laughing".

All of Barry's recordings and the Frank Renshaw re-recordings are available worldwide as digital downloads via iTunes. All of this is of course incredibly confusing to the casual fan and causes much disagreement among the faithful. Peter has even apparently posted a review of Barry's album on iTunes stating "None of the clowns on this recording played on the original recordings." That statement is in fact false, since Barry was a member of the original band and is visible on the album cover. Nevertheless the controversy goes on.

In 2002, Noone began touring under the billing Herman's Hermits, starring Peter Noone, often appearing at concerts in American casinos. He also at that time initiated a lawsuit trying to prevent Whitwam from using the name Herman's Hermits for his band.

"Monday, August 26, 2002 LOS ANGELES - Peter Noone, who was Herman of Herman's Hermits, filed a federal lawsuit against a musical group that's allegedly performing under the band's name. The lawsuit filed Monday seeks an injunction blocking drummer Barry Whitwam and several others from performing under the Herman's Hermits name. Whitwam was the band's original drummer but plays with other musicians using the group's name, the suit said. The original group sold more than 50 million albums and is known for such tunes as "I'm Into Something Good" and "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter." Noone, 54, claims the defendants are part of a group that is "an inferior entertainment product lacking any true connection with ... Herman's Hermits." He also seeks unspecified damages for the alleged dilution of his trademark."

This was the second lawsuit over the name and resulted in Noone having rights in the U.S. and Whitwam elsewhere.

As of 2006, Noone and Whitwam are both using the band name, and have competing websites that each claim to be "official". (See External links below.)

Discography

Herman's Hermits 45's

MGM Singles

August 1964 — "I'm Into Something Good"
November 1964 — "Show Me Girl"
January 1965 — "Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat"
February 1965 — "Silhouettes"
April 1965 — "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter"
April 1965 — "Wonderful World"
July 1965 — "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am"
September 1965 — "Just A Little Bit Better"
December 1965 — "A Must To Avoid"
February 1966 — "Listen People"
March 1966 — "You Won’t Be Leaving"
April 1966 — "Leaning On A Lamp Post"
June 1966 — "This Door Swings Both Ways"
October 1966 — "Dandy"
October 1966 — "No Milk Today"
December 1966 — "East West"
February 1967 — "There’s A Kind Of Hush"
June 1967 — "Don’t Go Out Into The Rain"
January 1968 — "I Can’t Take Or Leave Your Loving"
May. 1968 — "Sleepy Joe"
July 1968 — "Sunshine Girl"
December 1968 — "Something’s Happening"
April 1969 — "My Sentimental Friend"
November 1969 — "Here Comes The Star"
February 1970 — "Years May Come, Years May Go"
May 1970 — "Bet Yer Life I Do"
November 1970 — "Lady Barbara"

Albums

1965 — Introducing Herman's Hermits
1965 — Their Second Album! Herman's Hermits On Tour
1965 — Herman's Hermits
1965 — British Go Go
1966 — Hold On!
1966 — Both Sides of Herman's Hermits
1966 — Again
1966 — Lucky 13
1967 — There's a Kind of Hush All Over the World
1967 — Blaze
1967 — X15
1996 — No Milk Today
1997 — Greatest Hits
1997 — I'm Into Something Good
2000 — Greatest Hits Live (Peter Noone's live show)
2001 — Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
2004 — "That Was Then and This Is Now" (Barry Whitwam's Herman's Hermits with Keith Roberts on vocals)
2005- '' Herman's Hermits Retrospective"

In 2004 EMI began releasing numerous Herman's Hermits compilations featuring many rare tracks such as "Marcel's" penned by Hopwood, Leckenby and Graham Gouldman and "Take Love Give Love" penned by Noone.

Filmography

1965 — Pop Gear
1965 — When the Boys Meet the Girls
1966 — Hold On!
1968 — Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
2006 — The Road To My Heart

External links

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