The Searchers — “Sea of Heartbreak”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 25, 2022

394) The Searchers — “Sea of Heartbreak”

Country star Don Gibson’s original recording of Paul Hampton and Hal David’s classic song was a bona fide hit in the summer of ’61 — #2 on the country chart, #21 overall in the U.S. and #14 in the UK. But it was unbearably schmaltzy. There have been at least 91 cover versions (https://secondhandsongs.com/work/61919/versions#nav-entity). Of those that I have heard, the Searchers’ version is by far the best. It is off what many consider the band’s finest album — ’64’s It’s the Searchers. Richie Unterberger says:

Perhaps the best studio album by a band that is really best represented by greatest-hit collections. . . . features some of their best LP cuts, on which they applied their famed harmonies to American material that was both strong and obscure. The best of these covers [include] the folkish “Sea of Heartbreak[.]”

https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-the-searchers-mw0000464251

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Here is Don Gibson’s original version:

And here are the Everly Brothers from ’67:

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