The Hollies

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I’m Jumpin’ John, and in this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts, I will transport you back to the mid 1960’s and review the highlights of the British band called The Hollies!  So sit back and have a listen, as we travel back in time on another episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts!

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John, and the basic track was recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004.
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Transcript

Thank you for that splendid introduction, and greetings to all of you rock and roll music trivia buffs!  I’m Jumpin’ John, and in this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts, I will transport you back to the mid 1960’s and review the highlights of the British band called The Hollies!  So sit back and have a listen, as we travel back in time on another episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts!

The Hollies originated as the English duo of Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, who were best friends from primary school.  Beginning as a skiffle duo, they quickly modelled their style after the American duo the Everly Brothers and called themselves "Ricky and Dane Young".  After briefly merging their duo with a band called the Fourtones, Clarke and Nash quit and joined another band, called the Deltas.

In 1962, besides Clarke and Nash on guitars and vocals, the Deltas consisted of Vic Steele on lead guitar, Eric Haydock on bass guitar, and Don Rathbone on drums.  The Deltas first called themselves the Hollies for a December 1962 gig at the Oasis Club in Manchester, England.  In a 2009 interview Graham Nash said that the group decided just prior to the performance to call themselves the Hollies because of the Christmas holiday and their admiration for Buddy Holly.

In January 1963, the Hollies performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.  Parlophone assistant producer Ron Richards saw them and offered them an audition with Parlophone.  Steele did not want to be a professional musician, so for the April audition Tony Hicks replaced the departing Steele.  The Hollies were signed by Richards, and he continued to produce the band until 1976.  One song from the audition, a cover of the Coasters' 1961 single "(Ain't That) Just Like Me", was released as their debut single in May 1963.  The song hit #25 on the UK Singles Chart.  Their second single, another Coasters cover called "Searchin’”, reached #12.  In August 1963 Rathbone left the band, and Bobby Elliott became the Hollies' new drummer.  

For the first few months of 1964 the Hollies continued recording cover versions of songs. They scored their first British Top 10 hit in early 1964 with a cover of Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay", which reached #8 in the UK.  The band's Parlophone debut album, Stay with the Hollies, released on January 1st, 1964, hit #2 on the UK album chart.  The follow up single was a UK #2 hit called "Just One Look".  Then came a UK #4 hit "Here I Go Again".

At this point, they were starting to generate some interest in North America.  An LP called Here I Go Again by the Hollies was issued in both Canada by Capitol Records and in the US by Imperial Records. That LP was basically a slightly different version of Stay with the Hollies.  By this time, the Hollies were writing and performing a substantial amount of original material, written by the group's songwriting team of Clarke, Nash, and Hicks.  Producer Richards finally permitted the group to release its first self-penned hit in September 1964.  That single, called "We're Through", reached #7 in the UK.  The band started out crediting their song writing to a pseudonym, "L. Ransford", which happened to be the name of Graham Nash's grandfather.  Their second album, In the Hollies Style, was released in 1964 and reached the Top 10 of the New Musical Express chart, however, none of the tracks from the album were released in the US.  In early 1965 the band had success in the UK with two more cover versions, "Yes I Will" (which reached #9) and "I'm Alive".  “I’m Alive” became the Hollies’ first UK #1, but it only reached #103 on the US chart.  

The Hollies finally broke through in North America with an original song written by Graham Gouldman called "Look Through Any Window".  Released in September 1965, the song reached #4 in the UK, but also charted in the US Top 40 at #32 and in the Canadian Top 10 at #3.  Their follow-up single, a cover of George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone" was released in December 1965.  However, that song was not released in North America and stalled at #20 in the UK when the Beatles decided to release their own version on their album Rubber Soul.  The Hollies’ third album, simply called Hollies in the UK and Hear! Hear! in the US, hit #8 in 1965 in the UK, but failed to chart in the US.

In 1966 the Hollies single "I Can't Let Go" reached #2 in the UK and #42 in the US.  That year their fourth album, Would You Believe? made it to #16 in the UK.  That LP was released in the US as Beat Group!, but it failed to chart.  At this point, a dispute between the Hollies and their management broke out over excessive fees being charged to the group by management.  Bassist Haydock decided to take a leave of absence from the group.  While he was gone, the group brought in the Beatles’ friend Klaus Voormann to play bass on a few gigs.  

The band then recorded two singles with fill-ins on bass.  In May 1966 they recorded "Bus Stop", another song written by Graham Gouldman, with Bernie Calvert on bass.  "Bus Stop" gave the Hollies their first US top ten single, hitting #5 in September 1966.  It also reached #5 in the UK Singles Chart and #1 in Canada.  As a result, a US/Canadian LP called Bus Stop, which included the hit single mixed with unreleased songs from earlier in the band's career, climbed to #75 in the US.  The album was the group's first LP to enter the US Top 100.  Haydock was sacked in early July 1966 in favor of Calvert after "Bus Stop" became a huge hit.  Another unusual single by the Hollies in 1966 was the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song "After the Fox", which was the theme song for the movie of the same name.  Besides vocals by the Hollies, "After the Fox" featured actor Peter Sellers on vocals, Jack Bruce on electric bass, and Burt Bacharach himself on keyboards. 

At the time of Haydock's departure, Clarke, Nash and Hicks participated in the recording of the Everly Brothers' 1966 album Two Yanks in England.  The album largely consisted of covers of "L. Ransford" compositions.  Also reportedly participating on the album were session guitarist Jimmy Page, session bassist John Paul Jones, and pianist Reggie Dwight.  Reggie would, of course, later be known as Elton John.  In October 1966, the group's fifth album, For Certain Because, became their first album consisting entirely of original compositions by Clarke, Nash and Hicks.  Released in the US as Stop! Stop! Stop!, it reached #91 there and spawned a US release-only single, "Pay You Back with Interest".  “Pay You Back with Interest” peaked at #28 in the US singles chart.

In October 1966 the Hollies released the single "Stop Stop Stop".  Featuring a distinctive banjo arrangement, it reached #2 in the UK and #7 in the US.  Then in February 1967 they released the single "On a Carousel" which hit #4 in the UK and #11 in the US.  In April 1967 Clarke, Nash, and Hicks began writing a song about Marianne Faithfull.  Slightly embarrassed about it, they changed the name to “Carrie Anne" and recorded it on May 1st.  Released on May 29th, 1967, "Carrie Anne” climbed to #3 on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at #9 on the US and Canadian pop charts.  The song’s introduction features vocal harmonies strongly influenced by the Beach Boys.  A steel drum solo is also featured, probably the first use of that instrument on a pop record.  The band audiotaped a steel drum solo in order to sync it for insertion into their live performances of the song.  The Hollies’ next album, Evolution, was released on June 1st 1967.  It was their first album for their new US label Epic, and reached #13 in the UK and #43 in the US. The US version of the LP included the song "Carrie Anne".  

The Hollies’ September 1967 release of the single "King Midas in Reverse", which was written by Nash, only reached #18 in the UK charts. The Hollies then released the ambitious, psychedelic album Butterfly, retitled for the US market as King Midas in Reverse/Dear Eloise, but it failed to chart.  In response, Clarke and Nash wrote a more conventional pop song, "Jennifer Eccles" - named after their wives.  That song was released in March 1968 and reached #7 in the UK and #40 in the US.

Tension was increasing within the band, as Clarke and Hicks wanted to record more "pop" material than Nash did.  Clarke and Hicks decided to record an album made up entirely of Bob Dylan covers, but Nash only participated in one song, "Blowin' in the Wind".  In August 1968, the Hollies recorded "Listen to Me", which featured Nicky Hopkins on piano.  The song hit #11 in the UK, and it ended up being Nash's last recording session with the Hollies.  He officially left the group to move to Los Angeles, where he tentatively planned to concentrate on songwriting.  He ended up joining with Stephen Stills (formerly with Buffalo Springfield) and David Crosby (formerly with the Byrds) to form one of the first supergroups, Crosby, Stills & Nash.  For its debut single, the new super trio released a Graham Nash song previously rejected by his fellow Hollies: "Marrakesh Express".

Graham Nash was replaced in the Hollies in January 1969 by Terry Sylvester.  Sylvester also substituted for Nash as part of the group's songwriting team, with Clarke and Hicks.  The group's next album was the previously mentioned Hollies Sing Dylan, which reached #3 on the UK chart, while the US version, Words and  Music by Bob Dylan, did poorly.  

The Hollies did have some success after Nash’s departure, as they scored four consecutive UK Top 20 hits, including two consecutive Top 5 placings, over the next 2 years.  Those four singles were UK #3 "Sorry Suzanne", UK #3 "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", UK #7 "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top", and UK #14 "Gasoline Alley Bred".

Session musician Elton John played piano on both "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top".  "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" was released on September 26th, 1969 and became a worldwide hit, reaching #7 in the US in March 1970.  The Hollies version was recorded in June 1969 at the EMI Studios, with Allan Clarke on lead vocals.  The song was re-released in August 1988 in the UK following its use in a television advertisement for Miller Lite beer.  The re-release reached the #1 spot in the UK chart for two weeks in September 1988. 

The next album, Hollies Sing Hollies, did not chart in the UK, but did well in the US.  In the US it hit #32 after being retitled He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother and included that song.  Two other Hollies singles had some chart success:  "Too Young to Be Married" reached #1 in Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, and "Hey Willy" reached #22 in the UK in 1971 and charted in eight other countries.  After the 1971 album Distant Light hit #21 in the US, Alan Clarke left the Hollies in December 1971.

In 1972 Swedish singer Mikael Rickfors was recruited by the rest of the band and sang lead on the group's first Polydor single "The Baby".  ”The Baby” was released in March 1972 and reached #26 in the UK.  Even though the band was no longer under contract with Parlophone, on April 17, 1972 Parlophone released a single from the 1971 album Distant Light.  The Allan Clarke-composed track featured Clarke on lead vocals and lead guitar.  That song, "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", would end up selling 2 million copies worldwide, including 1.5 million in the United States.  The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1972 for two weeks, but only peaked at #32 in the UK.  It was the Hollies’ highest-charting single ever in the U.S. Billboard 100.  It reached #1 in the US Cashbox charts, #1 in Canada, and #1 in South Africa, and also reached #2 in Australia and #2 in New Zealand.  Partly due to the success of “Long Cool Woman…” Clarke rejoined the Hollies in the summer of 1973 and Rickfors left.

In 1974 the Hollies scored what was to be their last major new US and UK hit single with the song "The Air That I Breathe".  The single reached #2 in the UK and Australia and hit #6 in the US.  The Hollies continued to have singles chart hits during the rest of the 1970’s, although mostly in Europe and New Zealand.  Graham Nash rejoined the Hollies for the recording of the song, "Somethin' Ain't Right", on September 10th, 1982, which led to a reunion album called What Goes Around…  Nash continued appearing with the Hollies through early 1984, culminating in the Hollies' last hit in the US Top 40 with a remake of the Supremes' "Stop in the Name of Love", which reached #29 in 1983.  "Stop in the Name of Love" was taken from the LP What Goes Around..., which was released in July 1983 and charted in the US on the Billboard top 200 albums at #90. A live album featuring the Clarke-Hicks-Elliott-Nash re-grouping, called Reunion, was recorded at Kings Island Amusement Park in Ohio, during a US tour that followed in 1983.

In 1993, the Hollies had their 30th anniversary as a band. A compilation album, The Air That I Breathe: The Very Best of the Hollies, charted at #15 in the UK.  This album included a new single, "The Woman I Love", which charted at #42 in the UK.  Graham Nash again reunited with the Hollies to record a new version of "Peggy Sue Got Married" that featured prerecorded lead vocals by Buddy Holly, taken from an alternate version of the song given to Nash by Holly's widow, María Elena Holly.  This "Buddy Holly & the Hollies" recording opened the Not Fade Away tribute album to Holly by various artists.  The Hollies also continued to tour and make TV appearances.  In 1995 the Hollies were awarded an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

Various lineups of the Hollies have continued to tour and perform on and off since the 1980s.  A New Zealand Hollies Greatest Hits compilation hit #1 in that country in 2001.  Also, in the 21st Century the Hollies have charted in the top 30 in the UK album charts on 2 different occasions with compilation albums.  In 2013, the Hollies' 50th anniversary year was celebrated with a worldwide 50th Anniversary Concert Tour, performing over 60 concerts.  The Hollies were inducted into the 'Vocal Group Hall of Fame' in the US in 2006.  In 2010, the Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band members inducted were Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, Tony Hicks, Eric Haydock, Bobby Elliott, Bernie Calvert, and Terry Sylvester.  

This episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts was devoted to the English band known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style:  the Hollies!  I’m Jumpin’ John McDermott…and until next time…ROCK ON!