John’s post about “Both Sides Now,” “Hermits’s Hermits,” and the New York Times has had me thinking. I have been thinking of other British Invasion groups (other than Herman’s Hermits, that is) such as The Zombies. How long before the Times attributes “The Rhyme of the Reason” to Harry and the Racefakers?

I actually went to see Herman’s Hermits at the old Minneapolis Auditorium in July 1966. They headlined a show that the Animals opened. I went to see the Animals, but I only remember Peter Noone’s engaging showmanship.

I know John is a Zombies fan. John has triggered me into taking a brief look back at the Zombies with a few of their hits and lesser known numbers.

Rod Argent (keyboards and vocals) and Colin Blunstone (vocals) formed the heart of the Zombies. Argent, by the way, turns 78 this coming Wednesday. Bassist Chris White also contributed to the group in the songwriting department. The band kicked things off in 1964 with the mesmerizing “She’s Not There,” written by Argent. These guys had talent to burn.

Also written by Argent, “Tell Her No” was a hit single in 1965.

Chris White wrote “I Love You” in 1965. It has a tortured history as a single and an album track. It was first collected on a 1966 Zombies compilation released only in Europe and Asia. See Richie Unterberger’s notes on the album at Allmusic. Originally untitled, the compilation is now known as I Love You.

I Love You had some other good Zombies tracks. I think Argent’s “The Way I Feel Inside” is one of them.

Blunstone’s “How We Were Before” — a 1966 single also collected on I Love You — is another.

My purpose here is to bring to your attention the Zombies’ classic Odessey and Oracle (recorded in 1967, released in 1968). By the time a hit single emerged from the album in 1969, the Zombies had broken up. Argent’s “Care of Cell 44” is a fantastic track.

Chris White contributed “This Will Be Our Year.”

By this time you might be able to attribute “Time of the Season” to Argent without my help. What a great track. Al Kooper is responsible for having persuaded Columbia to release the single that led to the 1969 hit.

Argent and Blunstone have performed Odessey and Oracle live on tour along with other Zombies and Argent hits. On the live “Time of the Season” below, Argent stretches out a little on the organ solo. It is a kick hearing how good they sounded 40 years later.

There is more to the story, as you can see from Variety’s “The Zombies Rise From the Dead With New Album and No-Holds-Barred Documentary,” but it is beyond the scope of my account here this morning.