We're trespassing a little bit into SONGFACTS territory, but I was intrigued when I saw the headline to this story …
Graham Gouldman’s ‘For Your Love’ Was Considered For The Beatles Before The Yardbirds
According to an article that ran in Noise 11 on Wednesday …
In an alternate universe, the Graham Gouldman penned Yardbirds classic ‘For Your Love’ could have been a Beatles song
Hmmm …
It seems to me they left out a very important key part of the story —
Like the fact that Herman’s Hermits recorded it first!!!
Graham Gouldman pitched a very successful tent in Herman’s Hermits’ camp, writing three major hits for the band: “Listen People” (#3, 1966), “East, West” (#12, 1967) and “No Milk Today” (#29, 1967)
When I showed this article to Peter Noone, he sent me this …
Hi Kent -
History re-written
I have a copy of the first recording done by The Mockingbirds … Lol Crème and Graham I think (?) Or godless.
Peter Noone
Interesting … I wasn’t aware someone had cut it earlier …
But (as we learned a few weeks back) Gouldman ALSO had major ties to Kevin Godley and Lol Crème … years later, they were all in the band 10cc together so it’s only natural that in 1964 (as a then somewhat unknown songwriter) Graham might be most successful pitching his song to his friends. (A few years later Gouldman would team with Eric Stewart and have a couple of chart-topping hits as The Mindbenders,)
You can read a refresher course here: https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2022/12/good-old-fashioned-forgotten-hits.html)
The Mockingbirds’ version evidently never charted … and Herman’s Hermits’ version appeared as an LP track before The Yardbirds hit The Top Five (with Eric Clapton on lead guitar, no less!!!)
It all makes for an interesting story … but, as Gouldman himself acknowledged at the time, The Beatles weren’t really in need of any outside songwriters at the time! (kk)
UPDATE: So I did some research on this, as I hadn’t heard this part of the story before … as far as I knew, Herman’s Hermits cut it first … and then shortly thereafter, The Yardbirds had the hit with it. (Of course, if you want to grab the headlines, just mention the fact that The Beatles woulda/coulda/shoulda recorded it first … even if it never really came close to happening.)
According to VH1’s Music First Rock Stars, The Mockingbirds were formed in February of 1965, and featured Graham Gouldman, Steve Jacobson, Bernard Brasso and Kevin Godley. The band quickly landed a gig as the warm-up band for the hit British music television series Ready Steady Go. Their first effort was Gouldman’s “For Your Love,” but their record label (Columbia) refused to release it, prompting Graham to shop the song around. (Which means HE was the first one to record his own song … it just never got noticed by anybody!)
In quick succession (and some sources even say on the same day, ala The Kingsmen and Paul Revere and the Raiders’ versions of “Louie Louie”) Herman’s Hermits AND The Yardbirds recorded tune.
All of this hindsight makes me wonder if what Peter Noone heard way back then by The Mockingbirds was their unreleased version which had, in effect, become the "demo" for the tune. (Rumor has it that the song was also pitched to The Animals, another one of Mickie Most's recording acts at the time.)
Herman’s Hermits’ version wound up as an album cut on their 1965 LP “Herman’s Hermits On Tour” … while The Yardbirds’ single raced up the charts all over the world, eventually reaching The Top Five here in The States and The UK.
Meanwhile, Graham Gouldman came out OK in all of this, too. He also wrote The Yardbirds' next hit, "Heart Full Of Soul" ... and was soon represented on the charts with hits by The Hollies as well. (kk)
Here is some of what our buddy Carl Wiser gathered for his SONGFACTS site: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-yardbirds/for-your-love
(Feel free to update with any or all of the above!) kk
Meanwhile, VERY special thanks to FH Reader Tom Diehl for tracking down this original version by The Mockingbirds for us to share! Thanks, Tom! (kk)
