Search - Herman's Hermits :: Mrs Brown You've Got Lovely Daughter

Hermits' homage to Manchester, England

Olaf Owre | Finnsnes, Norway | 08/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This third Herman's Hermits CD on the German Repertoire label gives us the group's soundtrack album from the 1968 MGM movie, «Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter», plus ten bonus tracks, three of which are lifted from the «Best Of Volume 3» MGM LP from 1968. The remaining seven tracks are singles from 1969-70, which were not released in the States due to contractual problems with MGM, who were obviously going through a bad patch at the time and stopped promoting the group. Graham Gouldman (later of 10cc) originated four songs for the «Mrs. Brown» movie, including «It's Nice To Be Out In The Morning», the Hermits' homage to their hometown of Manchester. Other noteworthy tracks are «Regardez Moi», Peter Noone's French version of «Here Comes The Star», the reggae styled «Bet Yer Life I Do» written by Wilson-Brown of Hot Chocolate, and «Searching For The Southern Sun» a number written by Green-Hopwood-Leckenby with bassist Karl Green on lead vocals, the latter pointing out a new, slightly heavier direction for the Noone-less Hermits. The selfpenned instrumentals «Daisy Chain Parts I & II» are also bit unusual in style for the group, but as always the Hermits delivered the goods. Intended to be released as a single at the time, «Wings Of Love» is an excellent attempt at psychedelic pop with a lot of work laid down on the vocal harmonies. All this is adding up to a great CD, and with the Repertoire label's usual top quality packaging - gatefold digipak cover with a reproduction of the original album sleeve, plus informative booklet - this is a must for all Herman's Hermits fans!"

The 1968 soundtrack album plus some 1970s singles

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 01/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"To be clear, this 20-song album entitled "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" is a re-release of the original soundtrack for the 1968 movie with 10 bonus tracks. There is a 25-song collection, also entitled "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter," which is really a collection of songs that the group put out circa 1964-65, noted for an interesting cover of "For Your Love." I actually saw the movie when it came out and it was loosely based on the hit song that gave the film its title in that Mrs. Brown was the name of a greyhound that the boys wanted to race, but they need money to get the dog entered so they start performing songs in public. One of the reasons that everybody thought lead singer Peter Noone was supposed to be Herman was that in this movie he played a character named Herman Tulley, just to add to the general confusion.



The first ten tracks compromise the original soundtrack, ending with the title track (which is sung to a litter of newly born puppies at the end of the film) and featuring another Herman's Hermits hit with "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)." Part of the problem is that by the time the movie came out, Herman's Hermits were pretty much history, so besides the two recycled hits there is nothing really great here, although "It's Nice to Be Out in the Morning" is a pleasant enough tune about Manchester and the two-part instrumental "Daisy Chain" is something of a change of pace for the group. If you like Herman's Hermits, and there was a time when they were the second most popular British invasion group after the Beatles, then chances are you will find these tracks passable.



The title song has a special place in my memory because I am pretty sure it was the first song I ever played on a jukebox (you know how memory wins out over truth as the years roll along). The song, written by Trevor Peacock, was written for a television play starring Tom Courtenay, and originally sounded like it should be performed in an English music hall. But for Herman's Hermits the song was stripped down to a simple banjo accompaniment in order to better feature Noone's simple and rather shy vocals, complete with his Manchester accent. Ironically, the song was not released in the United States but disc jockeys started playing it and a single version was rushed out.



I have read that "Mrs. Brown You Have a Lovely Daughter" had the highest chart debut in history up to that time, hitting #1 on the Billboard charts within a month, which I find rather hard to believe given we are talking 1965 a.k.a. the year after the Beatles exploded on this side of the pond and they sold 250,000 units of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in three days and one million in two weeks. Anyhow, "Mrs. Brown You Have a Lovely Daughter" ended up as the 19th best selling single of 1965. The thing is, you should already have a copy of the song without needing to pick up this album to have it in your music library.



The bonus tracks represent mostly the singles and B sides that Herman's Hermits released in 1970, right before Noone left the group. That would be "Years May Come, Years May Go"/"Smile Please," "Bet Yer Life I Do"/"Searching For the Southern Sun," and the best of the bunch, "Lady Barbara"/"Don't Just Stand There." Regardez Moi" is actually a French version of "Here Comes the Star," and while you can find "Big Man," "Wings of Love" and "Mum and Dad" on "Best of Herman's Hermits, Volume III," as near as I can tell this is the only place you can find the rest of the songs, so for Herman's Hermits fans there are a few things here that they might not have which are worth the having."

One of the Best

Nathan Laney | Northern Cambria, PA USA | 01/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am pleasantly surprised to see this album available on CD, and with bonus tracks. I don't have it, but I DO remember it. I've only ever heard this album on one format back around 1971. I was about 8 years old at the time. Yes it was an 8-track tape! This album was pretty much all I listened to that summer. I really liked "It's Nice to be Out in the Morning," "Holiday Inn," "Lemon and Lime," "Daisy Chain," (both parts) and "The World Is for the Young." Like another reviewer I thought some of these songs were kind of out of step for Herman's Hermits too, but the times they were a changin'. I especially thought the way they segued part 1 of "Daisy Chain" into part 2 was really cool. Were Page and assorted other Zeppelinites still doing session work for Mickie Most at that time? (1968, same year as first Zeppelin album) Did Most produce this album? I think this is a great album!"