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Artist: The Hollies
Album: Hollies
Released: 1965
Source: BGO
Genre: British invasion, Pop
Review:
The Hollies are an English rock and roll band formed in the early 1960s.
Formation
Although the group admired Buddy Holly, their name was inspired primarily by the sprigs of holly in evidence around Christmas of 1962, at the time they re-formed their previous band, The Deltas, and had to come up with a new name. [1] They signed to Parlophone in 1963 as label-mates of The Beatles, and released their first album in the United States in 1964 as part of the first wave of British Invasion releases. They are commonly associated with Manchester, as several original Hollies came from the city and its outlying communities.
1960s
The Hollies had a squeaky-clean image, and were famous for their rich vocal harmonies, which rivalled those of The Beach Boys. They scored their first major British hit in 1964 with a cover of Maurice Williams and The Zodiac's "Stay" which hit #8 in the UK charts. They quickly followed with a cover of Doris Troy's "Just One Look". Frequent releases during the mid-60s included many cover versions of popular songs, as well as a few group-penned hits and many songs written especially for them by professional songwriters.
By 1965 The Hollies were established as one of Britain's pre-eminent singles bands, and they enjoyed huge chart success in many countries in the mid-Sixties, releasing a string of classic harmony-pop hits including ""Bus Stop"" (written by future 10CC member Graham Gouldman), "I'm Alive", a UK No. 1, "I Can't Let Go", "Stop Stop Stop", "Carrie Anne" (from which actress Carrie-Anne Moss got her name, having been born when the song was on the charts), "On a Carousel", "Look Through Any Window", and "Jennifer Eccles".
Drummer Bobby Elliot considered by many to be one of England's best drummers; Eric Haydock aslo considered to be one of the better bassists on the early British beat scene, Haydock and drummer Bobby Elliot were one of the tightest, hardest rhythm sections in British Pop/Rock of the period. Bernie Calvert, who replaced Eric Haydock in 1966, is the subject of some controversy for fans. Many don't consider him to have been a good bass player, at least compared to Haydock, whose playing had a much higher profile on the group's records. Ron Richards seemed to bear this out in his contribution to the notes of Epic Records' 20 Song Anthology, remarking that Calvert was not a good bass player, and that Richards deliberately buried his sound in the mix of their songs once he joined the group.
Their albums in the Sixties were showing artistic growth, though they never lost their pop formula. They released some very good albums, which demonstrated signs of folk rock on Would You Believe?, and psychedelia on For Certain Because, Evolution and Butterfly (on all three albums Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, and Tony Hicks penned only their own material).
Between 1964 and 1969, only two Hollies songs failed to reach the UK Top 10. "If I Needed Someone" (No. 20, 1965), was a George Harrison composition, recorded by The Beatles on Rubber Soul, and John Lennon's dismissive comments of their rivals' version led to angry exchanges in the press between both groups. Few people know that The Hollies actually recorded the song weeks before The Beatles did. "King Midas in Reverse" (No. 18, 1967), an original Hollies song, was heavily influenced by prevailing trends in psychedelia, with an ambitious strings, brass and flute arrangement. Its modest success was a disappointment particularly to Nash, who was keen to progress beyond their usual style.
When Nash left in 1968 due to creative differences, in particular over the plan to record a full album of Dylan songs which he saw as a step backward for the band, he joined forces with former Buffalo Springfield guitarist Stephen Stills and ex-Byrds singer David Crosby to form one of the first supergroups, Crosby, Stills & Nash. He was replaced by guitarist-singer Terry Sylvester, formerly of the Swinging Blue Jeans. This lineup had an immediate hit in 1969 with "Sorry, Suzanne", which reached No. 3 in the UK.
Track List:
Album - Hollies (1965)
BGO release "Hollies", 1965, PMC 1261, mono version, 12 tracks.
Very Last Day (Stokey / Yarrow)
You Must Believe Me (Mayfield)
Put Yourself In My Place (Ransford)
Down The Line (Orbison)
That's My Desire (Loveday / Kresa)
Too Many People (Ransford)
Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Price)
When I Come Home To You (Ransford)
Fortune Teller (Neville)
So Lonely (Ransford)
I've Been Wrong (Ransford)
Mickey's Monkey (Holland / Dozier / Holland)
Label: BGO
Catalogue No. BGO LP25
Release date: 01.Sep.1988
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