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Post by dirtyfaz on Jan 6, 2019 6:05:49 GMT
It is being reported on the Hollies facebook group that Eric has passed away. Sad news.
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Jan 6, 2019 8:06:00 GMT
It is being reported on the Hollies facebook group that Eric has passed away. Sad news. Ahhh, that's so sad,
R.I.P
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Post by cameron on Jan 6, 2019 10:00:39 GMT
Very sad news. It's been reported that he passed away peacefully in his arm chair watching TV. One of his close friends and ex-wife have confirmed it. He was 75 years old.
Of course he left the Hollies in 1966, and briefly re-joined to promote 'Hollie-daze' on TOTP in 1981. He appeared with them in good spirits at the RRHOF induction in 2010, and was the only Hollie to contribute an interview to Brian Southall's book 'The Road Is Long' in 2015. Eric was known as one of the founding members of the Hollies, as his band Kirk Daniels and the Deltas welcomed a 'Ricky And Dane Young' (Allan Clarke and Graham Nash) to the group in 1960. Along with Vic Farrell and Don Rathbone, they'd go on to form The Hollies in 1961. When the Hollies hit fame in 1963, Eric invested in a six-string Fender bass, which was virtually unique at the time.
His fast-paced playing style bolstered the Hollies' early 'thin' sound with no rhythm guitar. Eric's bass parts were often walking bass lines, creating some of the most interesting bass parts in early British Invasion recordings. The Hollies' gruelling schedule, coupled with a new wife at home lead Eric to become slightly estranged from the group in 1966, before being dismissed in the summer of 1966.
He briefly formed Haydock's Rockhouse in 1966, but the group weren't successful, despite securing a record deal with Columbia. In the 1990s, the joined various 1960s package tour groups, including the infamous 'Class of '64', as well as attempting to tour with his own version of The Hollies, which brought on legal action from the real group. Around this time, he allegedly opened a music shop in Manchester.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 12:48:33 GMT
Oh No! Sad news indeed.
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Post by thejanitor on Jan 6, 2019 21:03:55 GMT
Eric's bass playing was an essential part to many of my favourite early Hollies hits like Here I Go Again and Just One Look. From the YouTube videos I've seen, he also did a pretty awesome job playing alongside Chip Hawkes in the Class Of '64 supergroup too. R.I.P. Eric  |
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Post by eric on Jan 7, 2019 0:03:47 GMT
Vale Eric.
I have the utmost admiration for the energetic and solid bass sound that Eric contributed to The Hollies’ early recordings. Eric’s significant role in the band is clearly demonstrated on two of The Hollies’ most successful and dynamic recordings, “I’m Alive” and “I Can’t Let Go”.
In my youth I thought Eric’s bass playing was “up there” with Paul McCartney and Bill Wyman and with hindsight I believe he brought out the best in Bobby Elliott’s drumming. As Bobby has observed, “In the early 1960’s Eric was one of the finest bass players on the planet”.
He will forever be a founding member of The Hollies and, importantly, his music lives on.
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Post by cameron on Jan 7, 2019 11:43:00 GMT
Official statement from Bobby:
Here is a message from Bobby Elliott.
Eric Haydock
"In the early 1960's Eric was one of the finest bass players on the planet.
Along with Tony, Eric and I were the rhythm section that created the springboard for Clarke Hicks and Nash to launch that famous three-way Hollies harmony.
On the early package tours, Dave Clark, the Kinks and artists of the period would watch from the wings as we effortlessly rocked the screaming theatre audiences into a frenzy.
Although Eric left the Hollies in 1966, I occasionally listen enthralled by our BBC and Abbey Road recording sessions and dear Eric masterfully playing his six string bass.
Happy days
Hollies drummer Bobby Elliott"
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Post by Gralto on Jan 7, 2019 15:19:33 GMT
The first of the core Hollies members to pass away marks a particularly sad occasion for those of us who have taken such an interest in the band dating back to its creation. Unlike many other long running British rock and pop bands touched by death across many decades, The Hollies were never marked by untimely tragedy – they were far too sensible for that! However, with the passing of the group’s original bass player, we are all left feeling that little bit more mortal and reflective at such a time.
I always liked Eric and as someone who had never had the opportunity to meet an actual Hollie in the flesh throughout my first decade of Hollies appreciation living on the wrong half of the planet, greeting the man backstage while in Melbourne after an enjoyable concert during his controversial ‘Eric Haydock Ex-Hollies’ Australian tour, was an initially nerve racking experience. Of the small handful of articles I had possessed to that time while Eric was in the group (1962-66), he was either never interviewed or if quoted, mostly grunted or said virtually nothing beyond a cursory few words. He was definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. The few comments about him used adjectives like enigmatic, moody, quiet.
I took this to mean difficult - aloof and terse - and walked in with some trepidation to introduce myself post gig. Was I going to be made to feel as unwelcome as when I was to speak to Hollies “manager” Mike Cohen? My fears could not have been more misplaced. Like many men from the north of England, Eric was warm, friendly and opinionated. We spoke candidly for 45 minutes and no topic was deemed off limits. I came away from that May 2000 interview somewhat in a haze, having had my expectations utterly turned around. I’d just done my first one on one with an actual Hollie and…I enjoyed it.
Over the next 13 years, I visited England 7 times and caught up with him on a further 3 or 4 occasions. One one trip, he offered for me to stay at his place, one I kindly had to decline and yes, he even tried to set me up with his lovely daughter Nikki! Shame he forgot to mention this at the time as my local Hollies loving guide Steve and I traipsed across many miles in the Peak District to some obscure location, the purposes of which were never made clear at the time! I’m not sure Nikki was in on it either as Eric was often considered somewhat of a schemer. He admitted to me it was he who cut through the cables on one of the gigs when The Hollies and the Dave Clark Five had one of several dust ups over top billing during their exhausting 43 day 1964 British package tour outing.
On my last UK jaunt in 2013, I met Eric at Reddish train station in Manchester and we went to a picturesque farm park nearby in his convertible for lunch. He was as happy and content as I’d ever seen him and I felt so pleased for him that, following a financial settlement with Hollies Ltd, he was now no longer battling to put food on the table. We spoke about the Hall of Fame debacle but ultimately, he was extremely proud to be inducted. The unwanted Hollie who once again felt wanted. Being a Hollie again for a night meant so much to him.
I have no doubt that Eric never got over being moved on from The Hollies in mid 1966. With the Clarke-Nash and Hicks-Elliott entrenched friendships, his position in the band was always fragile at best. It didn’t help that he was uninterested in doing publicity. He always contended that he loathed the level of infantile questioning that passed for music journalism in the early-mid 1960s though to my mind, this masked innate insecurities. On occasion in print, he can be heard being admonished by other members for not being friendlier and more helpful to the interviewer. Where the others knew how to play the game, he exhibited indifference. With no obvious songwriting talents evident, the signs for his future in The Hollies were ominous.
The reasons for his departure are many and various and not really appropriate for this piece. He always stuck with the story that it wasn’t so much that the band didn’t want him anymore that hurt as much as him being deceived until his replacement had been confirmed. Eric’s story - The Hollies had ejected him then asked him back and all was forgiven for a 3 week period during which time he turned down a supposedly shortlived offer to join The Kinks due to existing band loyalty – which is why Haydock made a handful of appearances playing or miming Bus Stop on UK TV in mid 1966 – was in his opinion a dirty trick played by Cohen. Then once Calvert was in place – who was unaware of what had been happening in the background – the band then said goodbye for good, catching Haydock unawares, believing everything was fine again. With a new wife and family on the way, the timing for his departure could not have been worse. The shock was seismic and one that would impact on his state of mind from hereon.
Post Hollies, Haydock’s own band, Haydock’s Rockhouse, would produce two 45s and be booked for a BBC radio session but by the end of 1967, Eric Haydock’s career as a frontline bass player was over. Many different ventures, both musical and non musical, would be enacted in the following decades but nothing approached what he achieved in those formative years.
The interesting thing I found in talking to Eric was that, for a bloke who left the band in 1966, he knew an enormous amount about The Hollies over their entire career. He remained in contact with several ex-members and always had his ear to the ground with news. Clearly, The Hollies remained dear to his heart. Though he had some gripes with past actions – and he was no angel himself – uniformly he spoke positively about the guys in the band. The Hollies always remained special.
He left behind a truly fine body of bass playing recordings with The Hollies, using a revolutionary for the time 6 string electric fender bass – possibly the first seen widely in England – and featuring his fast and fluent bass playing style. His personal favourite was ‘I Can’t Let Go’, a rarity in the Hollies recording canon in that the song opened with his bass line rather than with Elliott’s drums, so often the norm in those earliest years.
Not that long ago I was re-watching The Hollies’ two songs on the 26/4/64 NME Pollwinners Concert at Wembley, London and was utterly taken by Haydock’s playing. We all recognise Bobby Elliott’s brilliance as a drummer with the ability to play a wide range of styles, but easily forgotten is how important was Haydock’s rhythmic work alongside him. The frenzied music of the beat group scene well suited Haydock’s playing abilities.
On the 13 November 2008 episode of British long running music/comedy quiz show ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’, Eric was part of the ‘Identity Parade’ segment, asking contestants to name which in the line up of people was the real former Hollies member. He was not forgotten then in this, his most likely, last British television appearance and in the hearts and mind of those who have been touched by his work in more than 50 Hollies songs, nor will he be forgotten by us.
Vale Eric Haydock (1943-2019).
Simon Smith/Elevated Observations Moderator
Rockin' Robin/ 'Big Beat 64' (rec: 26 April 1964)
Too Much Monkey Business/'Shindig' (rec: 30 July 1965)
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jan 8, 2019 17:30:35 GMT
Very sad. Eric's playing on the early recordings was/is fantastic.
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Post by Stranger on Jan 8, 2019 19:39:17 GMT
Sad news. He really added to the early Hollies found. I often felt he was playing lead guitar on that bass!
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jan 10, 2019 22:19:53 GMT
Viewing the "Holliedaze" TOTP appearance again, it made me wonder why Eric wasn't part of the '83 tour with Nash. If he had participated, it would have been an authentic reunion. He should have been a part of it; after all, he invited Clarke and Nash to join HIS band, creating The Hollies. It reminds me of how Brian Jones was the one who got The Stones assembled, yet he got pushed aside by Jagger and Richards. A similar scenario, as the story goes, happened with Nash and Clarke.
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Post by cameron on Jan 11, 2019 8:30:21 GMT
Viewing the "Holliedaze" TOTP appearance again, it made me wonder why Eric wasn't part of the '83 tour with Nash. If he had participated, it would have been an authentic reunion. He should have been a part of it; after all, he invited Clarke and Nash to join HIS band, creating The Hollies. It reminds me of how Brian Jones was the one who got The Stones assembled, yet he got pushed aside by Jagger and Richards. A similar scenario, as the story goes, happened with Nash and Clarke. This was around the time that the Hollies worked with a new producer who urged them to "ditch your bass player", referring to Bernie Calvert. As the 1980s progressed, the new synthesised and simple bass style came in, rendering all the talented bass players of the 1960s and 1970s unwanted. One of the greatest, if not THE greatest bass players of all time, James Jamerson (of the Motown 'Wrecking Crew'), found himself out of work and not in demand anymore as the 1980s progressed. His highly decorated and virtuosic playing style was firmly out of favour. He pretty much drunk himself to death in 1983. I heard that a similar excuse was given to Eric - he didn't fit in with the modern sound that the Hollies were pushing for around this time. And they they went out and turned out the abysmal 'What Goes Around', so go figure... |
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Post by knut on Jan 16, 2019 5:08:01 GMT
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Post by stuball on Jan 16, 2019 14:18:07 GMT
Thanks for posting, Knut!
A well-written piece, marred only by the author's totally unnecessary swipe at Bernie Calvert. But good to see, in the comments below the obit, late '70's Hollies keyboard sideman Peter Arnesen take a stand for Bernie.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jan 16, 2019 17:31:47 GMT
Viewing the "Holliedaze" TOTP appearance again, it made me wonder why Eric wasn't part of the '83 tour with Nash. If he had participated, it would have been an authentic reunion. He should have been a part of it; after all, he invited Clarke and Nash to join HIS band, creating The Hollies. It reminds me of how Brian Jones was the one who got The Stones assembled, yet he got pushed aside by Jagger and Richards. A similar scenario, as the story goes, happened with Nash and Clarke. This was around the time that the Hollies worked with a new producer who urged them to "ditch your bass player", referring to Bernie Calvert. As the 1980s progressed, the new synthesised and simple bass style came in, rendering all the talented bass players of the 1960s and 1970s unwanted. One of the greatest, if not THE greatest bass players of all time, James Jamerson (of the Motown 'Wrecking Crew'), found himself out of work and not in demand anymore as the 1980s progressed. His highly decorated and virtuosic playing style was firmly out of favour. He pretty much drunk himself to death in 1983. I heard that a similar excuse was given to Eric - he didn't fit in with the modern sound that the Hollies were pushing for around this time. And they they went out and turned out the abysmal 'What Goes Around', so go figure... At least What goes around had a hit single on it that made the US Top 30 and the New Zealand Top 10. That's a better showing than the previous 5 LPs as far as hits go. If The Lights go out and Take My Love and run were good too. I'd save the word abysmal for the current version of the band. As far as 80s music goes, I'd prefer listening to anything from WGA to Micheal Jackson any day of the week. |
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Post by anthony on Jan 17, 2019 21:45:11 GMT
Just a question to Moorlock and I know a lot of the others feel the same re the current band, just a quote from Moorlock "I'd save the word abysmal for the current version of the band" What do they really expect from this line up of a band that has been going since the early 60's. A new album that's going to make it to the top, a new smash world wide single. A singer that sounds like Allan Clarke when he sounded great before his voice went. Stop doing what they enjoy doing playing live. they still have the core of the original line up, sorry Bobby was not an original I hear you say, what about Don, or was that Pete best. Listen to any band that came out of the 60's HH has its drummer only, Paul Mac sounds crap these days, Cliff Richard struggles and has a hair piece to try and look young. The stones well Mick never had a great powerful voice, so he can get away with it. Haven't seen them hit number 1 for sometime. Believe me I don't mind people thinking what they want believe me. but I feel the expectations are so unrealistic. I'm going to see the Hollies on Feb the 20th here in Melbourne and I'm sure I will enjoy the show and I'm sure the pace will be full. Isn't it great that this band can still bring some pleasure to a lot of people, gee we need something in the shitty world we live in. So if you are happy to just bag the current line up and it makes a lot happy go a head. |
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jan 18, 2019 11:23:47 GMT
Howarth is an excruciatingly bland singer. The band has no fire when there is nothing to get excited about as far as the lead singer goes. The Hollies are well-known for always having a superlative lead singer. That has been the tradition of the band and that tradition is now compromised.
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Post by johnt on Jan 18, 2019 14:32:11 GMT
Howarth is an excruciatingly bland singer. The band has no fire when there is nothing to get excited about as far as the lead singer goes. The Hollies are well-known for always having a superlative lead singer. That has been the tradition of the band and that tradition is now compromised. Haven't you gone way off topic? This is supposed to be about the late Eric Haydock and no-one else! |
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Post by stuball on Jan 18, 2019 15:20:37 GMT
Howarth is an excruciatingly bland singer. The band has no fire when there is nothing to get excited about as far as the lead singer goes. The Hollies are well-known for always having a superlative lead singer. That has been the tradition of the band and that tradition is now compromised. To say nothing about the current anemic high-harmony singer. Very UnHollie-like! |
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Post by stuball on Jan 18, 2019 15:39:38 GMT
Howarth is an excruciatingly bland singer. The band has no fire when there is nothing to get excited about as far as the lead singer goes. The Hollies are well-known for always having a superlative lead singer. That has been the tradition of the band and that tradition is now compromised. Haven't you gone way off topic? This is supposed to be about the late Eric Haydock and no-one else! I find the majority of these posts change, evolve, mutate, (take your pick) over time. Whether that's good or bad is a matter of opinion. I suppose the more input the better, even if the final entries have little or nothing to do with the original subject. I'd rather have a large free-ranging diversity of opinion on morphing subjects than a few anemic words on a tightly controlled title. I think that's what makes this site far superior and vastly more entertaining and enlightening than the 'official' Hollies site, which frankly isn't worth the visit. |
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Post by knut on Jan 18, 2019 18:41:27 GMT
The Hollies changed when Eric left. They changed when Graham left. They changed when Allan left. Eric's bass playing was probably a most important part of the early successful sound. Still we got Carrie Anne when he left. We got He ain't heavy when Graham left. We got Romany when Allan left the first time. We heard The Baby live when Carl came on board. We got the fantastic Weakness when Pete came.
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Post by anthony on Jan 18, 2019 22:09:20 GMT
The Hollies changed when Eric left. They changed when Graham left. They changed when Allan left. Eric's bass playing was probably a most important part of the early successful sound. Still we got Carrie Anne when he left. We got He ain't heavy when Graham left. We got Romany when Allan left the first time. We heard The Baby live when Carl came on board. We got the fantastic Weakness when Pete came. Thank goodness we have someone else on the page that doesn't mind this line up, I think weakness is a brilliant song especially live. The reason I went off topic was in response to Moorlock and his comments of the current band. Funny how people like to put down things that give people pleasure. Peter Howarth being bland, well some of the Hollies songs are a bit bland lets be honest too. Anyway everyone is entitled to their option, I admire anyone who can get on stage and entertain others, not sure how many here have that gift. Shows how out of step I am, I think the Hollies harmonies are great these days. Anyway I'm the sort of person that is not too critical and just like to enjoy life. |
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jan 19, 2019 21:18:12 GMT
There is no way Howarth comes remotely close to Clarke, Rickfors, or Wayne. He simply doesn't have the pipes. The band needs a good plumber to flush out what's clogging up their sound.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jan 19, 2019 21:21:47 GMT
The Hollies changed when Eric left. They changed when Graham left. They changed when Allan left. Eric's bass playing was probably a most important part of the early successful sound. Still we got Carrie Anne when he left. We got He ain't heavy when Graham left. We got Romany when Allan left the first time. We heard The Baby live when Carl came on board. We got the fantastic Weakness when Pete came. Actually I rather like Suspended Animation, although who would ever guess it was The Hollies? |
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Post by knut on Jan 20, 2019 18:20:15 GMT
Suspended Animation is the best track on the album but Weakness is the best live song.
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