Take Me For What I’m Worth – THE SEARCHERS***

I’m Ready/I’ll Be Doggone/Does She Really Care For Me/Its Time/Too Many Miles/You Can’t Lie To A Liar/Don’t You Know Why/I’m Your Loving Man/Each Time/Be My Baby/Four Strong Winds/Take Me For What I’m Worth

The Merseybeat group The Searchers released many excellent singles but by the end of 1965 they were running out of steam. The title track from this, their final album of note, reached No. 20 in the UK.

“This was apparently the last proper Searchers album, and to be honest it is quite dull. Take Me For What I'm Worth is the album's only single and a far cry from their superb bunch of hits of the previous year.”

“The style varies from R & B to folk, and the guys have even written four songs themselves. That would be a plus, if only one of them were more than OK. Be My Baby is a quite useless cover, not bad, but unessential. Songs like Fats Domino's I’m Ready are simply not the reason why one likes this band in the first place. The Searchers had great harmonies, but rock & roll is not necessarily their forte.”

“The Searchers had first rate singles and B sides that ranked with the best of the British Invasion, but their albums were often erratic. Take Me For What I'm Worth was no exception. No one could doubt that The Searchers played and sang well on all recordings, but they had an unfortunate tendency on albums to record well known hits of other artists, or R & B tracks that did not lend themselves well to the group's talents. The Searchers were usually at their best with folk-rock and Merseybeat oriented material, and were experts at digging up strong and obscure tunes. My personal favourites are the P.F. Sloan folk-rock title track, Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds, Jackie De Shannon's Each Time, and the group original Too Many Miles."

“The Searchers were not only slipping in popularity by the time of this release, but were also slipping considerably behind the prevailing musical trends of the times. Maybe that's why they offered more original tunes than usual. Still, the group sounded pretty much like they always did in the mid-'60s, though this is perhaps one of their weaker albums. Their interpretation of P.F. Sloan's anthemic protest folk-rock title track is good, and gave the group their final British Top 20 hit. But, as usual, their R & B covers are inoffensively second-rate and dated, and the originals unmemorable. Their cover of Be My Baby is competent but ill-advised. The harmonies and arrangements are never less than pleasant and professional, but fans will count this among their lesser relics.”