Song of the Day 12/1: Earl-Jean, “I’m Into Something Good”
If you’re old enough, you probably know this as the first record by British invaders Herman’s Hermits, one that reached No. 1 in the UK (and No. 13 in the U.S.). But the first to record this Gerry Goffin-Carole King tune was Earl-Jean Reavis, lead singer of the second incarnation of the Cookies (the original group, led by Reavis’ sister Darlene McCrae, became Ray Charles’ Raelettes). Her rendition reached No. 38 two months before the Hermits’ version was released. Earl-Jean released only one more record, in large part because she bore Gerry Goffin’s daughter later that year, which did nothing good for Goffin and King’s marriage. The couple financially supported Reavis, who eventually became an early childhood educator and opened a day-care center.
Fun fact: Peter Noone, a child soap-opera actor, was just 15 years old in 1963 when he was installed as frontman of a Manchester band that evolved into Herman and His Hermits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSAob1TnAvc
If this sounds like a Brian Wilson tune, it’s no accident. “I make no bones about it, that song was influenced by Brian’s music,” Carole King said about the time the two of them recorded this version in 2008.
Marianne Faithfull gave the song an interesting reading on her 2002 LP “Kissin Time.”
After listening to all four versions, gotta say, much to my surprise, that my favorite was Herman’s Hermits (well, the record) despite the horrific lip-synch. The Brian Wilson/Carole King one made me feel sad.
Sometimes the listening public gets it right. More often than the record company executives, certainly.
Herman’s Hermits biggest US hits “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” and “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” hit number one here but were not released in the UK. They were “too British”. However it was the British Invasion and if it came from across the pond we gobbled it up.
Their 2nd US hit “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” was the “B” side of “Silhouettes” and was not a hit in their homeland. The hits didn’t keep on coming stateside in 1968 but in 1969 and 1970 they had about a half dozen hits on the British Charts which we never got to hear.
If you have SiriusXM Satellite Radio check out 60’s on 6 (Ch. 6) on Saturday afternoons from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET. Herman’s Hermits frontman Peter Noone hosts a show called “Something Good” and plays a lot of 60’s British hits seldom heard here including his own and tells tales of his 55 + years in the music business.
It was a music hall classic before any of this. Speaking of “too British.”
https://youtu.be/33x4yOd70P0