THE APPLEJACKS, "LIKE DREAMERS DO" C/W "EVERYBODY FALL DOWN," LONDON 45-LON 9681 (REL.6/1964)

We heard from loveable UK pop group The Applejacks on April 3^rd. Here they are to wrap up April with one of their UK chart successes—and a miserable failure in the US. This seemed a sure-fire American hit—it was a British group in 1964, and the A-side was a genuine Beatles song.

That is, a leftover item from the infancy of Paul McCartney’s songwriting. “Like Dreamers Do” was written sometime in the late 1950s (1957 is the agreed-upon date) and reworked in time for The Beatles’ unsuccessful audition for Decca Records on January 1^st 1962. The group sounds uncomfortable and desperate on the 15 tracks recorded that day; they weren’t ready, and they knew it. Drummer Pete Best was the weak link in the band, and though their dismissal of him was cruel and traumatic to the percussionist, it had to happen. You can count on 19-year-olds for the utmost in tact and diplomacy.

McCartney’s voice comes across as smarmy on the Decca take of this song. Yet this recording held the band’s future. Song publisher interest in it led to a series of fortunate events; in June, they auditioned for visionary producer George Martin, who was a bit leery of these kids from up North but was coerced to take them on as penitence for a sexual affair that had been discovered. As the group’s newer material was improved, older songs fell by the wayside. McCartney would recycle an early song, “I’ll Follow the Sun,” for the group’s fourth UK LP, and fragments of their first efforts can be heard on the infamous “Get Back” sessions.

“Like Dreamers Do” was left behind, and given the initial interest in it, someone had to record it. The Applejacks were a convenient target: signed to Decca, not inclined to write original material and in need of a hit. In the UK, the Beatle connection was enough to get it in the Top 20. The group had been given the two-year-old demo to learn, and producer Mike Smith (who’d helmed the ’62 demo session) and arranger Mike Leander fashioned a bright pop arrangement with a touch of the Joe Meek sound.

Lead singer Al Jackson does well on the vocal, in a more measured approach than the composer’s nervous performance of ’62. This song could have been released two decades earlier without a change. Imagine a big-band arrangement with the syncopation endemic of that era; a female vocalist in front of the band; a clarinet or trumpet doing the insistent riff. Though nothing special as a song, “Like Dreamers Do” was an important catalyst in The Beatles’ rise to global fame. In 1964, it might have been a mild embarrassment to McCartney, whose songwriting skills had far surpassed his juvenilia.

>>>Hear it HERE!!!<<<

Cash Box approaches incoherence in their rave review.

Things get better on the B side—one of the best beat-group performances of 1964. “Everybody Fall Down” was penned by Pete Dello and Ray Cane, later of the UK rock group Honeybus. These two penned a fair share of The Applejacks’ Decca recordings and were an asset to the group.

Here, a garage-y rocker gives the band something to get het up about. Drummer Gerry Freeman and lead guitarist Martin Baggott sound like they’re having a blast on this riveting rocker that is my favorite performance by this group. Beatles, Schmeatles—this is the superior side!

>>>Hear it HERE!!!<<<

Until I find more records by these guys, this is the last we’ll hear of The Applejacks. Cherry Red Records issued an excellent CD of all their Decca sides in the 2010s. It’s still available and worth tracking down.

Tomorrow: Pat Kelley with a fab, moody slice of South Georgia rockabilly from the Chic label—from that musical hotbed of Thomasville, GA! Heaven from ’57!