Imaginary Wings LP

[dirtyfaz]

Have a look at the site. Interesting.

albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-hollies-wings-various-songs-1968.html.

An MP3 can be downloaded from this zippyshare site

www86.zippyshare.com/v/PRlBTmjk/file.html.

A little bit similar to Camerons Listen To Me imaginary LP.

cheers

[thejanitor]

Just wondeing, as both this and Listen To Us have near similar track listings, does there exist a half-planned track listing for the abandoned '68 album somewhere that these mock-up albums follow? All I know of regarding order is that Relax was originally intended to cross-fade into TWIC according to the sleeve notes of the 1988 Rarities compilation.

[dirtyfaz]

From my point of view these both are mock ups and not at all a proposed LP. Most certainly if Nash had stayed then some of the tracks would have ended up on that follow up LP to Butterfly but if my understanding is correct the Dylan LP was in the air before Graham left and was a part of the reason for him going. Those 2 yanks certainly at the time stroked his ego when his band mates didn't. I think it did lead him to a better place.

[moorlock2003]

May 11, 2019 0:29:13 GMT dirtyfaz said:

From my point of view these both are mock ups and not at all a proposed LP. Most certainly if Nash had stayed then some of the tracks would have ended up on that follow up LP to Butterfly but if my understanding is correct the Dylan LP was in the air before Graham left and was a part of the reason for him going. Those 2 yanks certainly at the time stroked his ego when his band mates didn't. I think it did lead him to a better place.

Nash left because he found two pot-smoking buds in America to hang out with.  That's basically it in a nutshell.  Nash fell in love with pot and out of love with The Hollies, England, and his wife, too.   His songs at the time, such as Marrakesh Express and Our House, were twee in the extreme, far too mamby-pamby for The Hollies, so it was good riddance to him.  As when Clarke left a few years later, musically the band did not suffer in the least; in fact, their music got more interesting.  The Dylan project, however, would have been ideal as an EP and not a 12 track LP, which was just too much.   

[cameron]

There was no proposed track list ever put forward. Sessions for the new LP commenced in January 1968 with 'Open Up Your Eyes' and 'Wings' being recorded. There's two sessions dedicated to 'Jennifer Eccles' in February, which was always anticipated to be a single, so typically wouldn't be included on any new album. By May, an extra five tracks had been put down for the proposed LP, including 'Tomorrow When It Comes', 'Relax' and 'You Were A Pretty Little Girl' (Unissued). 'Like Every Time Before' (a re-working of an abandoned 1966 recording that was given to the Everly Brothers) and 'Do The Best You Can' were both started but not finished. 'Marrakesh Express' was attempted, but only a basic lacklustre backing track was finished before they gave up on it.

The Hollies clearly were lacking direction to be giving up on songs mid-session and turning back to 1966 to dig up songs to finish. Worried that the new album wasn't taking shape as quickly as their previous albums had done, the Hollies hastily arranged to have EMI record their live set at the Lewisham Odeon on 24th May, 1968 to release as a live recording. The Hollies were dissatisfied by their performance, and declined to release the set as an album. The tracks didn't see the light of day until 2011, and we only got eight songs. So there's not enough there for an album anyway, though the Hollies' set was usually longer then this, so I've always said that there's a few tracks still in the vault, though no one knows exactly what.

On 17th June and 3rd July, 'Do The Best You Can' and 'Like Every Time Before' were finished respectively, though the next big session for tracks for the proposed LP didn't take place until August, when 'Man With No Expression', 'Survival Of The Fittest', 'Blowin' In The Wind' and 'A Taste of Honey' were recorded in one session. It was to be the last big session for the Hollies with Graham Nash, who was deeply dissatisfied with the arrangements for the last two tracks. This session also produced a new orchestrated backing track for 'Carrie Anne' for their live TV appearances around this time, replacing the steel drum solo with strings.

Around this time, the Clarke/Hicks/Nash songrwriting team had completely broken down. Graham was writing exclusively on his own and Tony and Allan seemingly weren't writing at all at this time. Bobby Elliott gave them the title 'Survival Of The Fittest' and locked them in a hotel room while they were on tour in Sweden to come up with something. That was the last track that the three of them worked on together. But written by Nash at this time and demoed for possible Hollies recordings were 'Lady Of The Island', 'Teach Your Children', 'Right Between The Eyes' and 'Sleep Song' which were all written pre-CSN. Apparently when he sang 'Lady Of The Island' to them, Allan baulked mid-song: "take off your clothes and sit before the fire side?! We're the Hollies, we can't bloody sing that!". 

The Hollies admitted defeat, still with only 11 workable songs for a new album. 10 of these have been released since. One was lost to the B-side of 'Jennifer Eccles', so really there was only ever going to be 9-10 new songs put forward for the LP. And 'Blowin' In The Wind' and 'A Taste Of Honey' don't fit in with the rest of the tracks at all, so you could argue that there was only as few as seven songs that would make the final LP. With no new album finished, a lack of new material (Nash being the only songwriter, who was getting major resistance to what he was offering) and Graham spending more time in LA, the Hollies admitted defeat and EMI cobbled together 'Hollies Greatest' to be released in August 1968, which was their first and only number one placing album on the album's chart. Just 'Listen To Me' was recorded after 'Hollies' Greatest' came out and Graham flew in to the UK to record it and flew straight back to LA, denying the Hollies the chance to promote it on Top Of The Pops at the time. A meeting was called, Graham offered to leave and the rest, they say, is history... 

[gee]

That Nash unavailable to promote 'Listen To Me' on BBC's 'Top of The Pops' line has always  puzzled me as it was NOT true at all....!

they DID perform the song with Nash a number of times before cameras in 1968, and once for BBC cameras too

Nash most certainly DID perform 'Listen To Me' with them on German 'Beat Club' and he was in the promo film for it too plus a European film of the song performed on a ferry boat

so Nash clearly did NOT just fly in record it and go straight back to the USA but was involved in at least FOUR filmed  band performances of 'Listen To Me' in 1968

BBC TV who did co-productions with German TV surely could have at least borrowed the 'Beat Club' performance or screened the promo film of the song ?

[gee]

Here is another performance of 'Listen To Me' in 1968 featuring Graham Nash  - just about tho' as the director was clearly more into young girls dancing than he was The Hollies - however Nash can be seen with them early on and right at the ending !

[gee]

and that official promo film of 'Listen To Me' from 1968 with Graham Nash sat behind Allan Clarke !

So all this 'we can't do it without Graham' talk was a bit of an excuse - this promo film could easily have been used by BBC for 'Top of The Pops' surely ?

I think it's more an excuse re Nash being away in the USA to explain why the single stalled in the UK chart for here we can see Nash performed the song with them several times in 1968 on camera

[gee]

Graham Nash also sang 'Listen To Me' with The Hollies on French TV along with 'Jennifer Eccles' in 1968 HOWEVER note BBC COLOUR (2 for BBC Two) is clearly denoted on the filming moving camera !!!

while 'Jennifer Eccles' plays out they are seen arriving at the old  BBC Television Centre Wood Green London...and Graham Nash is there in person NOT over in the USA at that point in time - yes ?

'Listen To Me' begins approx 2 mins  40 secs into this posting which dates from December 1968 for the show;

'La Nouelle Vague De La Pop Music'

So Nash WAS performing it as seen  in France and Germany plus those promo films - just supposedly not here in the UK it seems (??)

[gee]

Here is just the clip of 'Listen To Me'

[cameron]

May 11, 2019 14:02:37 GMT gee said:

Graham Nash also sang 'Listen To Me' with The Hollies on French TV along with 'Jennifer Eccles' in 1968 HOWEVER note BBC COLOUR (2 for BBC Two) is clearly denoted on the filming moving camera !!!

while 'Jennifer Eccles' plays out they are seen arriving at the old  BBC Television Centre Wood Green London...and Graham Nash is there in person NOT over in the USA at that point in time - yes ?

'Listen To Me' begins approx 2 mins  40 secs into this posting which dates from December 1968 for the show;

'La Nouelle Vague De La Pop Music'

So Nash WAS performing it as seen  in France and Germany plus those promo films - just supposedly not here in the UK it seems (??)

This was behind the scenes of 'Colour Me Pop' broadcast on 7th September, 1968. Specifically the rehearsals, as they changed into their white suits for the broadcasts. "Listen To Me" was released on 27th September 1968. The session to record it was on the 28th August. By the time it actually hit the charts in October, Nash wasn't around. I believe all this PR could have been done before that. Not sure though, I don't have the dates for the European TV broadcasts. 

It got some late BBC promotion via Top Gear (Radio) on the week commencing the 5th November 1968, when they mimed the track but gave two live performances of "Stay" and "Just One Look" to promote "Hollies Greatest", which was still holding the number one spot on the UK album chart for that week. 

[Deleted]

May 11, 2019 13:43:03 GMT gee said:

and that official promo film of 'Listen To Me' from 1968 with Graham Nash sat behind Allan Clarke !

So all this 'we can't do it without Graham' talk was a bit of an excuse - this promo film could easily have been used by BBC for 'Top of The Pops' surely ?

I think it's more an excuse re Nash being away in the USA to explain why the single stalled in the UK chart for here we can see Nash performed the song with them several times in 1968 on camera

This is not an official promo film. As clarified in 'Channelling The Beat!', it was made specially for the Dutch 'Twien' TV show.

'Listen To Me' was also performed twice on 'Top Of The Pops' (details are again in CTB!).

[gee]

whatever the fact is that there WERE plenty of versions of 'Listen To Me' either the two from TOTP or that Dutch one or the German TV  'Beat Club' (if permission could be obtained) tho' obviously one of the BBC's own TOTP versions, then still available presumably, could have been repeated ?

- I recall The Stones 'Honky Tonk Women' was a filmed version screened several weeks running by TOTP when it was on it's way up the chart then at no.1

filmed performances of songs being shown on TOTP were the norm for songs from early days ('Oh Pretty Woman' by Roy Orbison for example) so the argument they later gave that 'Listen To Me' could NOT be promoted on TOTP as Nash was over in the USA doesn't really hold up

[Deleted]

May 12, 2019 13:34:33 GMT gee said:

the argument they later gave that 'Listen To Me' could NOT be promoted on TOTP as Nash was over in the USA doesn't really hold up

Yes and no. TOTP preferred to have acts live in the studio where possible, so, when choosing between two acts with (say) a No. 15 hit and only one was available, then this would more likely be who gets on the show.

They would often repeat TOTP older appearances or show videos (often made cheaply by themselves and not even featuring the artists on screen) at their discretion.  The BBC's budget didn't usually extend to paying for overseas TV appearances though, so you can forget UK reshowings of clips from Germany and Holland, at least in 1969. It just wouldn't have happened.

[gee]

I can recall seeing The Searchers in Australia - probably circa 1966 - on one TOTP that Pete Murray introduced - the picture went upside down at the end of the song as they waved to us....then Pete back in London was upside down too and said 'hey !' then the picture corrected itself

there is that 'Pop Go The Sixties' where they did 'He Ain't Heavy' which was a BBC co-production with a German TV channel I think, (listen to the lady compare who interjects here) so some links between BBC and European TV channels were there even back then in 1969

A certain Jimmy Savile was the co-compare on this show...!

question; Why didn't Bobby keep to that hairpiece colour and just use a grey one later on...?