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Post by cameron on Nov 20, 2018 12:42:55 GMT
I finally happened upon a copy of 'I Believe', his solo album from 1976 last week. One word - WOW!
To me, it stands up well amongst Allan's solo albums, and fairs a bit better than even some of the Hollies' own material from that era. Gorgeous production, fantastic arrangements and one or two hits for sure. I think 'For Peace of All Mankind' was the only mis-step on the LP, slightly cringy compared to the other top-notch AOR productions. Most tracks are highly orchestrated with subtle backing that leaves Terry's vocals front and centre.
For Hollies fans, the album features re-workings of "Pick Up The Pieces Again", "Cable Car" and "Indian Girl" - all of which I believe are better than the Hollies' versions. I didn't think that "Cable Car" especially could be improved upon, but here it is with a luscious string arrangement. It's also produced by Hollies producer Ron Richards and engineered by Hollies engineer/producer Alan Parsons.
But apart from that, I don't know anything else about the LP. I'd be grateful if anyone could elaborate on its history - especially the musicians who took part in the recording sessions. I realise that the bulk of the LP was actually recorded in 1974 and released as a self-titled debut in the US and Canada only.
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Post by rokinrobinoflocksley on Nov 20, 2018 13:39:55 GMT
Found the title track, not bad:
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Post by rokinrobinoflocksley on Nov 20, 2018 13:44:14 GMT
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Nov 20, 2018 16:15:12 GMT
His 2-cd album 'complete works' 69-82 is even better...........!!
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Post by madprofessorblyth on Nov 20, 2018 19:17:37 GMT
I wasn't aware of the 'rarity' of this album - my dad was a top exec at PolyGram/Polydor and so he (luckily) has mint promos of all of the Hollies material from that era - as well as Clarke/Sylvester solo and he gladly gave me his copy of this a long time back, and I highly doubt it's ever been pulled out of the sleeve! I have a bunch of other Hollies LPs on Polydor I can't seem to track down elsewhere so perhaps I'll try to share some photos and make some YouTube videos of vinyl rips of them...
It essentially existed to me as a collection piece for the Hollies but now that I see this thread I'll have to give it a spin...!
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Post by stuball on Dec 7, 2018 17:44:42 GMT
I've always thought the 1976 'I Believe' LP was decidedly superior to the 1974 US release. The later material added to 'I Believe' did help beef it up somewhat. But both albums were very 'middle of the road' listening-wise. The fact the likes of Andy William's and Vicki Carr's song-spotters were interested in several tracks, spoke volumes about the material. It was a disappointment to Hollies and Terry fans at the time, who had anticipated lots of acoustic guitar work overlayed with gorgeous Terry harmonies.
In the wake of the success of the 'Air That I Breathe' 45 and album, Epic records actually put some money behind the promotion of the '74 LP. Full page ads appeared in most of the pop mags of the time (often in tandem with fellow Epic stablemate Colin Blunstone and his 'Journey' LP), and there were numerous interviews with Terry in print as well. All to no avail sales-wise. Terry couldn't give away his records, but then again, although we didn't know it at the time (late '74), The Hollies themselves were also finished as best-selling artists stateside.
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Post by knut on Dec 21, 2018 19:20:34 GMT
I agree with you Cameron. This is a high quality album. Somehow the US album is my favourite.
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Post by dirtyfaz on Dec 30, 2018 5:34:37 GMT
Anyone know anything/much about Terry's CD "I Believe In Love". Someone years ago provided me with a burn of that CD. I think it may have been a semi legitimate release with tracks from the I Believe CD and live tracks. There is 22 tracks and maybe 10 or so are live.
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Post by knut on Jan 1, 2019 10:44:20 GMT
It is obviously official. It was made by Uli Eichblatt from Germany and released on his Major Oak label. Your post Dirtyfaz gave me an idea to do a solo Terry records series on The Hollies Facebook site. Starts tomorrow.
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Post by knut on Jan 1, 2019 10:47:11 GMT
My copy is autographed by Terry.
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Post by stuball on Jan 2, 2019 17:03:46 GMT
Anyone know anything/much about Terry's CD "I Believe In Love". Someone years ago provided me with a burn of that CD. I think it may have been a semi legitimate release with tracks from the I Believe CD and live tracks. There is 22 tracks and maybe 10 or so are live. I first became aware of the 'I Believe In Love' CD back in '96, when Terry, in conjunction with Gerry Marsden, were doing their short 'Gerry & Terry' tour of Canada. I say Canada, but I believe they probably jetted into Toronto and merely did a couple of weeks worth of concerts in the surrounding area. There was little publicity except for a couple of morning tv talk show appearances, at least as far as I was aware. The concert halls were smallish venues, in truth along the lines of roughly 300-400 seat capacity. The whole affair was low-budget (hardly surprising, considering their faded position in the pop hierarchy), but the upside of a small crowd meant that the audience were real fans, and the whole affair had a lovely intimate feel. There was no backup band for Marsden and Sylvester, so it was an acoustic evening, simply vocal and guitar. Terry came on first as I recall, and did about an 8-10 song set, followed by Gerry with a similar sized list of familiar old hits. Then to conclude, they performed a couple of tunes together, Terry singing high harmony over Gerry's lead. It sounded a bit like The Everlys, no surprise there, as they did Everly covers. The whole performance had a relaxing, fun, yet intimate feel, and Terry & Gerry had developed some great shtick, kidding each other about their relative ages: Terry referring to Gerry as elderly, and of course, Gerry kidding Terry about being just a kid. They both were enjoying themselves and both were adept at easy small patter (I've always thought The Hollies missed an opportunity not letting Sylvester do more stage talk, instead of the obvious uncomfortable and robotic Clarke). At the end of the show, Gerry and Terry came down from the stage and sat down at a table to peddle their wares, and do a few autographs. I've always had mixed feelings about this: sad to see formerly big but unapproachable stars reduced to flogging cheap CDs to make a few bucks, but pleased as punch to actually meet a former somebody one-on-one for a few words, AND getting that 'I Believe In Love' CD that I never knew existed! I'm sure that's how the IBIL CD was sold: wherever Terry appeared in concert, he would flog his CD. Really can't imagine finding it in any record store back in the day! |
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Post by knut on Jan 4, 2019 2:25:01 GMT
I have now posted the I Believe In Love CD cover on Facebook. If anyone wants a copy let me know and I will give you the German address to get it.
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