Tony Jackson of the Searchers Dies at 63 
Thu Aug 21, 1:30 PM ET  


LONDON - Tony Jackson, bass player for The Searchers, a Liverpool band best known for the 1964
song "Needles and Pins," has died. He was 63. 

   

Jackson died Monday in a hospital in Nottingham, central England, several newspapers and The
Searchers' Web site reported. He had been ill for some time with ailments including arthritis and
cirrhosis of the liver. 


Jackson sang and played bass for The Searchers, a Liverpool band that briefly rivaled The Beatles
for popularity in the early 1960s. "Needles and Pins" made the top 20 in the United States after
it was released in 1964. 


Like contemporaries including John Lennon (news) and George Harrison (news), Jackson was inspired
first by the uniquely British sound of "skiffle king" Lonnie Donegan, and then by Buddy Holly
(news) and other American rock imports. 


The Searchers honed their skills in Liverpool's nightclubs and — like The Beatles — in the tough
beer bars of Hamburg, Germany. After The Beatles' success drew attention to the Liverpool music
scene, The Searchers were signed by Pye Records. 


Jackson was lead singer on the band's first two British hits, "Sweets for My Sweet" and "Sugar and
Spice," but played bass only on the enduring "Needles and Pins" and "Don't Throw Your Love Away." 


In 1964 the band toured the United States, appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show." 


Feeling sidelined, Jackson quit the group the same year. His follow-up band, Tony Jackson and the
Vibrations, failed to score and he drifted out of the music business. 


In later years he tried to set up a Searchers revival band, but the field was crowded, with two
others already in existence. 


He served time in jail in the 1990s after threatening a woman with an air pistol. 


There was no immediate word on survivors or funeral details. 






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