Herman's Hermits - "Sleepy Joe"

I should note right off that I'm not a big Herman's Hermits fan. Before I started working on this project, I think I could only name maybe three of the band's songs. I don't hate the band, but when it comes to '60s pop, I'd rank them far down the list of my favorites.

That said, my curiosity was piqued when I noted that MGM Records had scheduled a Herman's Hermits album titled Sleepy Joe but never issued it.

In 1968, the band released the album Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter, which was the soundtrack to a fairly lame movie (or so I've read—I have no interest in seeing it). One wonders if Herman's Hermits was really so keen on making a film with the title of a song they released three years earlier.

But like many pop bands of the British Invasion, they were seeing a decline in popularity in the late '60s. Many of the groups had been seen as gimmicky and were finding it difficult to compete with more "serious" groups.

Even though the band would continue recording into 1971, Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter was the last "new" album by the group.

I don't know why the Sleepy Joe album never saw the light of day, but the title song was the beginning of a decline in single sales for the group in the U.S. (although they continued to do well on the U.K. charts).

SIDE A

1. Sleepy Joe

2. Just One Girl

3. London Look

4. Something's Happening

5. Nobody Needs to Know

SIDE B
1. Sunshine Girl

2. Ooh! She's Done It Again

3. My Sentimental Friend

4. My Lady

5. Here Comes the Star

6. It's Alright Now

Other than the title track, I wasn't sure what should be included on this album. I've seen no tracklist for it. But the band's Blaze album was re-released in 2001 with a dozen bonus tracks, including "Sleepy Joe." And I thought, aha!

I kicked off the album with that song and began the second side with "Sunshine Girl," which was the follow-up single. The only bonus cut I didn't include was the song "The Most Beautiful Thing in My Life" because it already appears on Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter.

Overall, this album is a good example of lightweight Brit pop from the mid-to-late-'60s, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way.

As stated, all the songs can be found on the 2001 version of Blaze. For a cover, I found this photo on the web, cropped it and added titles.