Chris Curtis, 63; Drummer for British Band, the Searchers

Chris Curtis, 63, drummer with the British “Merseybeat” pop band the Searchers during the height of its popularity in the 1960s, was found dead Monday in his Liverpool home. He had been ill for some time, but the cause of death was not given.

Curtis, who was born Christopher Crummey, and bandmates Mike Pender, Tony Jackson and John McNally first came together to back Liverpool singer Johnny Sandon. They parted with Sandon in 1962, but kept the name they adapted from the 1956 John Ford western “The Searchers,” starring John Wayne. Their first hit came in 1963, with “Sweets for My Sweet.”

Once a rival of the Beatles, the Searchers scored international hits with “Needles and Pins,” “Sugar and Spice,” “Don’t Throw Your Love Away” and “Love Potion Number 9.” Curtis, who contributed to the band’s close-harmony vocals as well as playing the drums, left the group in 1966 and scored a British hit in 1967 with “Let’s Go to San Francisco” as part of the Flowerpot Men.

He also formed a band called Roundabout, which evolved into Deep Purple. Curtis, a native of Oldham in Lancashire, England, worked as a producer and songwriter and then made his living as a civil servant.