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"Searchin'"
	Searchin' by the Coasters on Atco Records
B-side to "Young Blood" by The Coasters
Released	March 1957
Recorded	February 15, 1957
Label	Atco 6087
Writer	Leiber and Stoller

For the unrelated song of the same name by Blackfoot, see Marauder (Blackfoot album).

"Searchin'" is a song written by Leiber and Stoller specifically for The Coasters. It was released as a single on Atco Records in March 1957, and topped the Rhythm and Blues Chart for twelve weeks. It reached #3 on the national pop singles chart.^[1]

Although the Coasters had previously done well on the R&B charts, it was "Searchin" (along with "Young Blood" on the flip side) that sparked the group's rock and roll fame.

Singer/songwriter Paul McCartney chose Searchin' as one of his Desert Island Discs in 1982. McCartney performed the song with The Beatles during their audition for Decca Records on 1 January 1962.^[2]

[edit] The song

The lyrics, written by Leiber, use vernacular phrasing. The plot revolves around the singer's determination to find his love wherever she may be, even if he must resort to detective work. The song's notable gimmick was in citing specific law-enforcement figures from popular culture, such as Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan, Joe Friday and Sam Spade. The vocals of The Coasters' lead singer Billy Guy are raw and insistent. Driving the song is a pounding piano rhythm of two bass notes alternating on every second beat.^[3]

The theme of the song is searching for love:

"Well, I'm searching"

"Yeah I'm gonna find her"

The refrain is simple variations of this phrase

"Gonna find her, yeah ah, gonna find her"

[edit] The origin

According to former Coasters singers Young Jessie and Bobby Nunn, the song had originally been put together by local Los Angeles singers Prentice Moreland, Bobby Day, Earl Nelson, and Young Jessie at Bobby Day's house about three years before it was recorded by The Coasters^[4]. Leiber and Stoller heard their song and wrote more complete lyrics to it and the song then became "Searchin'."^[4]

[edit] References

^ "The Coasters - Charts and Awards". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifwxqw5ldte~T5. Retrieved 2006-11-07.
^ The Beatles Bible: Searchin' Retrieved on 2008-08-31.
^ Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Rise of Rock and Roll ((2nd Ed.) ed.). New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. p. 73. ISBN 0-306-80683-5.
^ ^a ^b Steve Propes, & Galen Gart (2001). L.A. R&B Vocal Groups 1945-1965. Milford, NH: Big Nickel Publications. pp. p. 34. ISBN:0936433183.

[edit] External links

The page for "Searchin'" on Allmusic

Preceded by "Young Blood" by The Coasters	Billboard R&B Best Sellers in Stores number-one single June 10, 1957 - August 28, 1957 (ten weeks)	Succeeded by "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" by Elvis Presley

This 1950s single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[0] "The Coasters - Charts and Awards". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifwxqw5ldte~T5. Retrieved 2006-11-07.

[1] The Beatles Bible: Searchin' Retrieved on 2008-08-31.

[gillett-2] Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Rise of Rock and Roll ((2nd Ed.) ed.). New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. p. 73. ISBN 0-306-80683-5.

[LAR.26B-3] Steve Propes, & Galen Gart (2001). L.A. R&B Vocal Groups 1945-1965. Milford, NH: Big Nickel Publications. pp. p. 34. ISBN:0936433183.

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Contents

[edit] The song

[edit] The origin

[edit] References

[edit] External links