Rock and Roll

The song “Love Potion No  9” by The Searchers was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller was originally recorded by the R&B group The Covers. That recording by The Clovers went to #23 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Chart in 1959. The Searchers covered it, and recorded it in 1963. However, it took until 1965, it make it to the U.S. charts, where it went to #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song was also on their 1963 album Meet the Searchers. It’s fun Sixties British Invasion music where they take a U.S. song, make it their own, and then play it back to the U.S. Other covers of the song  include those by Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, The Ventures, Tlot Tlot, The Nylons, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Neil Diamond, Carole Davis, AC/DC, The Alley Cats, Robert Plant, and the list goes on and on.

The Searchers got their name from the 1956 Western The Searchers, which was directed by John Ford and starred John Wayne. They formed in 1959 and were part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene, which also gave us The Beatles, The Hollies, The Fourmost, The Mersey Beats, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and The Swinging Blue Jeans. There have been lineup changes over the years, but for “Love Potion No. 9,” group members of The Searchers were John McNally, Mike Pender, Chris Curtis, and Tony Jackson. The group continues to tour and perform.

If you would like to read about hear the original version, please click here for “Love Potion No 9 by The Clovers,” which is on Pass the Paisley‘s sister site The Daily Doo Wop.

Here are the lyrics to “Love Potion No 9” by The Searchers:

“I took my troubles down to Madame Rue
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She’s got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
Sellin’ little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine

I told her that I was a flop with chicks
I’d been this way since 1956
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
She said, “What you need is Love Potion Number Nine”

She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said, “I’m gonna make it up right here in the sink”
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like India ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink

I didn’t know if it was day or night
I started kissin’ everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine

I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink

I didn’t know if it was day or night
I started kissin’ everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine

Love Potion Number Nine,
Love Potion Number Nine
Love Potion Number Nine”

If you are interested in an album by The Searchers, please click on the photo below:

Check Out The Groove Pad for More 1960s Music

The Pass the Paisley Groove Pad is a resting stop, a place to chill out and listen to the featured song on the stereo. If the mood strikes you, click on the juke box to access and listen to the 50+ free online songs there. The TV has several channels, with selections updated twice a week. Every now and then, Pass the Paisley hosts an all-request of 1960s and 1970s songs for a Be-In at the juke box in the Groove Pad. Keep on truckin’.  Hope you enjoyed “Love Potion No 9” by The Searchers.