The Herd were formed at the height of the Mod boom in 1965, joining the scores of groups playing rock and R&B around the London clubs. They quickly made a name for themselves as a tight and exciting on-stage unit, and particular note was taken of both the photogenic good looks and guitar prowess of Frampton. His previous band, The Preachers, had made a single for EMI's Columbia label.
The Herd signed to EMI in the spring of 1965, and a single, "Goodbye Baby", was released on Parlophone in June of that year. It made very little impact however, and neither did two follow-up releases, and EMI dropped the band.
They were still popular on stage and soon came to the notice of Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, the songwriting team who were riding high with the successes of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. Howard and Blaikley became the Herd's managers, got them signed to Fontana and took over the writing of their material.
The first single under this new arrangement, the catchy "I Can Fly", failed to enter the charts, but of their other efforts, "From The Underworld" made No. 6 in '67, while "Paradise Lost" and "I Don't Want Our Loving To Die" reached Nos 15 and 5 respectively in 1968.
The group's teen appeal was largely attributable to Peter Frampton, voted 'the face of 1968' in the music journals. But after the failure of the "Sunshine Cottage" Frampton left the group. He resurfaced later in the decade alongside Steve Marriott (ex Small Faces) in the hard-rocking "supergroup" Humble Pie.
This superb double disc set has a wealth of tracks that coverstheir career, featuring early single releases from 1965 as well as hits from 1967-68, tracks from their ‘Paradise Lost’ album and other earlyrecordings. Peter Frampton recalls the story of The Herd in an exclusive interview for liner notes and discusses the origins of the songs and the band’s distinctive style.
Tracks
Disc 1
1. I Can Fly (Howard, Blaikley) - 3:13
2. Diary Of A Narcissist (Howard, Blaikley) - 2:11
3. From The Underworld (Howard, Blaikley) - 3:16
4. Sweet William (Bown, Frampton) - 2:19
5. Paradise Lost (Blaikley) - 3:33
6. Come On - Believe Me (Taylor) - 2:50
7. I Don't Want Our Loving To Die (Howard, Blaikley) - 2:59
8. Our Fairy Tale (Bown, Frampton) - 2:40
9. Sunshine Cottage (Bown, Frampton) - 3:03
10.Miss Jones (Taylor) - 3:21
11.Game (Findon, Shelley) - 2:56
12.Beauty Queen (Filthy) - 1:55
13.You've Got Me Hanging From Your Lovin' Tree (Ford) - 3:06
14.I Don't Wanna Go To Sleep Again (Hammond, Hazlewood) - 2:13
15.Understand Me (Bown, Frampton) - 2:29
16.Follow The Leader (Hammond, Hazlewood) - 2:15
17.Charlie Anderson (Martin, Coulter) - 2:56
18.Bang! (Martin, Coulter) - 2:28
19.Mother's Blue Eyed Angel (Bown, Frampton) - 2:59
20.Laugh And Dance And Sing (Bown, Frampton) - 2:05
21.Sugarloaf Mountain (Taylor) - 2:23
22.Fare Thee Well, Instrumental Reprise (Half Of Me) (Steele) - 1:31
23.Sweet William (Bown, Frampton) - 2:10
24.I Don't Want Our Loving To Die (Howard, Blaikley) - 2:59
25.Game (Findon, Shelley) - 2:55
1. From the Underworld (Howard, Blaikley) - 3:17
2. On My Way Home (Bown, Frampton) - 2:03
3. I Can Fly (Howard, Blaikley) - 3:12
4. Goodbye Groovy (Howard, Blaikley) - 2:45
5. Mixed Up Minds (Bown, Frampton) - 2:39
6. Impressions of Oliver (Bown, Frampton) - 4:47
7. Paradise Lost (Howard, Blaikley) - 3:36
8. Sad (Howard, Blaikley) - 3:15
9. Something Strange (Howard, Blaikley) - 2:55
10.On Your Own (Frampton) - 3:18
11.She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (Bown, Frampton) - 2:59
12.Fare Thee Well (Steele) - 3:58
13.Come On - Believe Me (Taylor) - 2:51
14.Our Fairy Tale (Bown, Frampton) - 2:39
15.You've Got Me Hanging from Your Loving Tree (Ford) - 3:05
16.I Don't Wanna Go to Sleep Again (Hammond, Hazlewood) - 2:25
17.Goodbye's Baby (Baby Goodbye) (Rusell, Farell) - 3:34
18.Here Comes the Fool (Martin, Peujahn) - 3:20
19.She Was Really Saying Something (Holland, Whitefield, Stevenson) - 2:45
20.It's Been a Long Time Baby (Galf, Callier) - 2:15
21.Too Much in Love (Jagger, Richards) - 2:15
22.This Boy's Always Been True (Taylor, Bown) - 2:53
23.Good Citizen (Bown, Frampton) - 2:49
The Herd
*Peter Frampton - Guitar, Vocals (1967-68)
*Andy Bown - Keyboards, Bass, Vocals (1965-69)
*Gary Taylor - Bass, Guitar, Vocals (1965-69)
*Andrew Steele - Drums, Vocals (1966-69)
*Tony Chapman - Drums (1965-66),
*Terry Clark - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals (1965-66),
*Henry Spinetti - Drums (1969)