|
Post by dirtyfaz on Jun 27, 2018 4:55:17 GMT
I guess this stuff is a little off topic and maybe should have had a thread of its own.
That being said I think the quality of the 70s LP up to and including Another Night were excellent. That includes Romany and Out On The Road. I saw the Hollies with Rickfors and he added so much to the band. The tracks that came from Out On The Road and were redone with Allan for the 74 Hollies LP were not to me as good or strong as the first versions. Russian Roulette and Write On were a bit down on good songs and after that well I think it was a bit of hit and miss. To quote Gee "the more mature later Hollies besides the obsession for slow melodramatic ballad after ballad, it would be that they perhaps rather got a little 'too serious too much'". A good comment.
When i listen to Confessions of the Mind I get a little mini opera thing with several of the tracks relating to relationships from beginnings to end and in between.
The have recorded several excellent tracks since 1975 be they are few and far between.
|
|
|
Post by cameron on Jun 27, 2018 23:32:49 GMT
The tracks that came from Out On The Road and were redone with Allan for the 74 Hollies LP were not to me as good or strong as the first versions. When i listen to Confessions of the Mind I get a little mini opera thing with several of the tracks relating to relationships from beginnings to end and in between. I agree completely with the first point. I'd have left "Out On The Road" and "Transatlantic West-Bound Jet" off and used the two B-sides "No More Riders" and "Born A Man" on the LP. I believe "Pick Up The Pieces Again" was just a remix of the OOTR version, as was "Born A Man", just with Mikael's vocals turned down but not inaudible. What blows my mind around this time is the quality of Allan's solo LPs and how he didn't seem to be giving the Hollies the same standard of material, or at least they weren't wanting to head in his direction. Maybe it was a conscious decision, like the Kinks progressing down Ray Davies' path, keeping Dave Davies' 'solo' career for more rockier Kinks songs. Maybe that was the sort of thing that the Hollies were aiming for. If the Hollies had recorded all of "Headroom", for example, I think they'd have had a major hit on their hands. Beautifully arranged, superbly produced with very strong tracks of quite some length, which was becoming the norm in the early 1970s. Allan's self-titled 1974 LP was also very good, albeit mostly covers. Has anyone noticed how all of "Confessions Of The Mind" follows the path of a relationship? It really is a concept album. Grab your LP and check the lyrics, you'll see what I mean: 1. Survival Of The Fittest - is describing a "famous" woman, perhaps really it's the story of a guy meeting a woman and her capturing his attention. She is his whole world but he can't get close to her. 2. Man Without A Heart - this one is a bit ambiguous, but perhaps it's the man debating asking the woman out, hearing the words of his ex ringing in his head, putting him off approaching this new woman, as spotted in "Survival Of The Fittest".3. Little Girl - this one doesn't fit in with the flow, it should be between "Too Young To Be Married" and "Separated" as it's a child's view of their parents arguing before an eventual separation. 4. Isn't It Nice - back on track, this is the man and the woman established in track one and two finally getting together, describing the feelings of being really in love initially. 5. Perfect Lady Housewife - they've moved in together, settling down and the man is feeling grateful that she's full-filling her 'role' in the house (remember this was the early 1970s!).6. Confessions Of A Mind - she goes away, he starts to play away from home. She has no idea, and by the end of the song, he's reminded that he's grateful to have her again. His conscience kicks in towards the end of the song. 7. Lady Please - she finds out about his cheating, he's begging for forgiveness and saying if she wants to leave him, he'll let her. 8. Frightened Lady - this is the anomaly of the LP I find. It's a mother's lament for her son being taken to War. Perhaps would fit better before "Separated". 9. Too Young To Be Married - back on track again, the couple stuck it out, are married and have two young children. The end of the song hints that it wasn't their choice (a baby on the way out of wedlock) and she is daydreaming of what her life could have been like. 10. Separated - the man can't understand the wife's problem of feeling trapped (as discussed in "Too Young To Be Married"), but by the end of the song she's left him. 11. We Wanna Shout - plot twist, the woman has been cheating too, she's run to another man (you've got something, I've got nothing/A child, a home of my own) to start a new life, she's happy and wants to tell everyone, but in admitting their love, she admits that she cheated on her husband. In hindsight, the anomaly "Frightened Lady" was the very last track recorded for the album. I think the outtake "Sign Of The Times" was supposed to be included in it's place. They had three goes at it, so it shows that they really persisted to get it into the album as part of the story. That song is about a couple moving in together without being married, and their parents/peers condemning it for breaking tradition. That would fit in with the concept story between "Isn't It Nice" and "Perfect Lady Housewife". So to follow the concept, the tracklist would be: 1. Survival Of The Fittest 2. Man Without A Heart 3. Isn't It Nice 4. Sign Of The Times 5. Perfect Lady Housewife 6. Confessions Of A Mind 7. Lady Please 8. Too Young To Be Married 9. Little Girl 10. Separated 11. I Wanna Shout
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Jun 28, 2018 5:23:26 GMT
Looks like you agree with my second point as well. I have felt like that about Confessions for a very long time but no one has ever expressed it.
Thanks for expanding and going into excellent detail about each of the tracks. It really confirms just what I thought.
I like your track list so i'm gonna make up that LP just to be able to hear in that order. I never gave it much thought about rearranging the tracks but it will be great listening.
|
|
|
Post by Tony Wilkinson on Jul 21, 2019 12:03:37 GMT
Now uploaded on youtube...
|
|
|
Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 21, 2019 15:30:15 GMT
How frustrating! Rhino have blocked it for using Graham Nash's solo demo in the recording. I'm trying to re-word the title to see if I can re-upload it. Technically speaking, they can't block it as I've severely altered what's officially available to the point where it becomes a sample. But disputes aren't settled by YouTube, but by the copyright holder themselves. So I think I'll be against a brick wall there. Anyway, looks like I've got away with it again: Rhino is a /÷!:/÷# company. Bronson is the one who wrote a negative piece (of :'!$) for Rolling Stone magazine. I've hated him and his company ever since.
|
|
|
Post by baz on Sept 29, 2019 12:28:31 GMT
Cameron - you did a sensational job on this, giving us the closest idea we'll ever get to hearing what this may had sounded like had Clarke and Hicks decided to leave it as a Graham solo. What's interesting is the higher key used on The Hollies take which sounds much more natural slowed down to match the key of Graham's vocals here - that bassline is pure Bernie Calvert! A tantalising glimpse of what might had been.
I personally dislike the well known CSN studio version much preferring the live acoustic renditions. Good song. A pity Allan wasn't enamoured with it back in 1968.
|
|
|
Post by Gralto on Oct 2, 2019 14:36:53 GMT
Yes you've done a brill job here Cam
|
|