The Hollies originated as a duo formed by Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, who were best friends from primary school and began performing together during the skiffle craze of the late 1950s. Eventually Clarke and Nash became a vocal-and-guitar duo modelled on American duo the Everly Brothers, working as "Ricky and Dane Young"; under this name they teamed up with a local band, the Fourtones, consisting
of Pete Bocking on guitar, John 'Butch' Mepham on bass, Keith Bates on drums, and Derek Quinn on guitar. In January 1963, the Hollies performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where they were seen by Parlophone assistant producer Ron Richards, who had been involved in producing the first Beatles session. Richards offered them an audition with Parlophone, but Steele did not want to be a "professional" musician and left the band in April 1963. For the audition, they brought in Tony Hicks to replace the departing Steele.
Drummer Don Rathbone only lasted for a couple of singles before being replaced by Bobby Elliott, who had played with Hicks in his pre-Hollies group, the Dolphins. The lineup changes were most fortuitous:
Hicks contributed a lot to the group with his ringing guitar work and songwriting, and Elliott was one of the very finest drummers in all of pop/rock. Although their first singles were R&B covers, the Hollies were no match for the Rolling Stones (or, for that matter, the Beatles) in this department, and they sounded much more at home with pop/rock material that provided a sympathetic complement to their glittering harmonies.
When the Hollies -- one of the best and most commercially successful pop/rock acts of the British Invasion -- began recording in 1963, they relied heavily upon the R&B/early rock & roll covers that provided the staple diet for countless British bands of the time. They quickly developed a more distinctive style featuring three-part harmonies (heavily influenced by the Everly Brothers), ringing guitars, and
hook-happy material, penned by both outside writers (especially future 10cc member Graham Gouldman) and themselves, eventually composing most of their repertoire on their own. They ran off an awesome series of hits in the U.K. in the '60s, making the Top 20 almost 20 times. Some of their best mid-'60s singles, like "Here I Go Again," "We're Through," and the British number one "I'm Alive," passed virtually unnoticed in the United States, where they didn't make the Top 40 until early 1966, when Graham Gouldman's "Look Through Any Window" did the trick. In 1966, Eric Haydock left the group under cloudy circumstances, replaced by Bernie Calvert.
Graham Nash was replaced in the Hollies in January 1969 by Terry Sylvester, formerly of the Escorts and the Swinging Blue Jeans. Nash's departure saw the Hollies again turn to outside writers for their single A-
sides, but the group's British chart fortunes rallied during 1969 and 1970, and they scored four consecutive UK Top 20 hits. Like Graham Nash before him, frontman Allan Clarke by 1971 was growing frustrated, and he too began clashing with producer Ron Richards over material. Clarke departed from the Hollies in December. After Clarke's return, the Hollies returned to the UK Top 30 with a song penned by Clarke: "The Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee" (UK No. 24, 1973).
In 1974 they scored what was to be their last major new US and UK hit single with the Albert Hammond/
Mike Hazlewood-composed love song "The Air That I Breathe" (previously recorded by Hammond and by Phil Everly on his 1973 solo album, Star Spangled Springer), which reached No. 2 in the UK and Australiaand made the Top 10 in the US. 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.
THE HOLLIES - 20 GOLDEN GREATS 1978
The Hollies - 20 Golden Greats
Label: EMI – 7 46238 2, EMI – 7462382
Format: CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: Australasia
Released:
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock
01. The Air That I Breathe 4:12
Written-By – Hammond-Hazlewood
02. Carrie Anne 2:56
Written-By – Clarke-Hicks-Nash
03. Bus Stop 2:56
Written-By – Gouldman
04. Listen To Me 2:39
Written-By – Hazzard
05. Look Through Any Window 2:18
Written-By – Silverman, Gouldman
06. I Can't Let Go 2:27
Written-By – Gorgoni, Taylor
07. Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress 3:18
Producer – Ron Richards, The Hollies
Written-By – Clarke, Cook, Greenaway
08. Here I Go Again 2:21
Written-By – Westlake, Shuman
09. I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top 3:51
Written-By – Flett, Fletcher
10. I'm Alive 2:26
Written-By – Ballard Jnr
11. Yes I Will 3:32
Written-By – Goffin, Titelman
12. Stay 2:13
Written-By – Williams
13. Sorry Suzanne 3:00
Written-By – Stephens, Macaulay
14. Gasoline Alley Bred 3:55
Written-By – Cook, Greenaway, Macaulay
15. We're Through 2:16
Written-By – Ransford
16. Jennifer Eccles 2:56
Written-By – Clarke, Nash
17. Stop Stop Stop 2:51
Written-By – Clarke-Hicks-Nash
18. On A Carousel 3:14
Written-By – Clarke-Hicks-Nash
19. Just One Look 2:29
Written-By – Payne, Carroll
20. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother 4:20
Written-By – Russell, Scott
Flac Size: 363 MB
THE HOLLIES - HOLLIES - SING DYLAN (EXPANDED EDITION) 2014
The Hollies – Sing Dylan
Label: Parlophone – WPCR-15445
Series: British Beat 50th Paper Sleeve Collection
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered
Released: Jan 22, 2014
Genre: Rock, Pop, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Harmonica Blues, Beat, Rockabilly, Honky Tonk, Vocal
01. When The Ship Comes In 2:41
02. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 3:26
03. I Want You 2:12
04. Wheels On Fire 2:53
05. I Shall Be Released 3:25
06. Blowin' In The Wind 4:09
07. Quit Your Low Down Ways 2:42
08. Just Like A Woman 4:04
09. The Times They Are A Chagin' 3:16
10. All I Really Want To Do 2:37
11. My Back Pages 2:58
12. Mighty Quinn 2:27
BONUS SECTION
13. Blowin' In The Wind - Nash Version; 1993 Remastered Version 4:09
14. Stop Stop Stop (Live at Lewisham Odeon) 2:50
15. Look Through Any Window (Live at Lewisham Odeon) 2:31
16. The Times They Are A Changin' (Live At Lewisham Odeon) 3:20
17. On A Carousel (Live At Lewisham Odeon) 3:17
18. King Midas In Reverse (Live At Lewisham Odeon) 3:29
19. Butterfly (Live At Lewisham Odeon) 3:13
20. Jennifer Eccles (Live At Lewisham Odeon) 2:43
21. Carrie Anne (Live At Lewisham Odeon) 2:57
22. Blowin' In The Wind (Live In Germany) 2:32
NOTES
Written By – Bob Dylan (tracks: 1-12, 13, 16, 22)
