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Post by calvertbesseralseric on Aug 27, 2020 13:45:49 GMT
I'll be honest, I've never quite understood why Allan always seemed so reluctant to strap on a guitar on the Hollies' records and even in most live performances. He's certainly no virtuoso, but he's a perfectly decent rhythm player and a surprisingly clever writer of lead guitar lines - just go listen to his solos/lead parts on songs like Journey of Regret and I'm Only Sleeping off of Resurgence, and that's not to mention Long Cool Woman, Curly Billy etc. From what I've heard, I'd have to put him above Terry, who never seemed to rise above just basic strumming. What's more, he always seemed more comfortable as a member of the band, playing and singing alongside Tony and Terry, than as a typical "frontman" - this is all too apparent on the 1968 live concerts, where he seems lost trying to make banter and "lead" the group for the audience. I also just think that, by the mid-70s, the Hollies' band structure, while common in the 60s, must've looked a little bit dated and twee - the lead singer awkwardly dancing around in front of the band was hardly in keeping with the whole singer-songwriter and hard-rock movements of the time.
This all begs the question - why was, and is, Allan such a shy guitarist? If I'm not mistaken, he only played on:
- Would You Believe
- Marigold
- Perfect Lady Housewife (really not sure about this one)
- Separated (once more, a bit of a guess)
- Long Cool Woman
- Hold On
- Curly Billy
- Rubber Lucy
- Acoustic guitar strumming on his 70s solo albums
- Most of the lead and rhythm parts on Resurgence
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2020 13:58:32 GMT
Mick Jagger? Roger Daltrey? Robert Plant? All are also more than adequate guitarists, but like Allan, are known by the public at large as front men. I personally prefer to see all 4 of them without instruments too.
As for Terry, he was lead guitarist in The Swinging Blue Jeans for nearly 3 years. So I'm sure he is/was far better than people think (have you ever tried playing the solo for 'Hippy Hippy Shake'? Not that easy!).
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Post by thejanitor on Aug 27, 2020 14:12:51 GMT
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Post by gee on Aug 27, 2020 14:42:23 GMT
According to Tony Hicks it was Allan playing guitar on 'Crusader' in 1966 - which surprised me but if Tony said it....
I assume Tony meant the delicate lead guitarwork rather than the backup strumming (tho' maybe it was the other way around)
- however Tony did make a point of stating it was Allan on guitar on that track, which is ironic in that during an eighties Hollies concert I attended someone in the audience actually requested they sing 'Crusader' - and Clarkey said he'd never heard of it...!
Tony replied; 'it's an old album track'
Allan (looking bemused): Not by us...?
Tony (grinning); 'yes by US !'
Crusader was of course written by Clarke-Hicks-Nash
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Post by Stranger on Aug 27, 2020 15:04:48 GMT
There's a picture in one of the tour books of Allan playing electric guitar on stage circa 1964/5.
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Post by cameron on Aug 27, 2020 22:03:00 GMT
Allan also plays the acoustic guitar on the 1966 TOTP performance of 'Bus Stop' and I'm sure he played it on the track too, duelling with Tony in the solo. I say this because Graham does the duelling solo with Tony on 'Beat Beat Beat' in early 1967 and it's nowhere near as slick as the record, so perhaps Allan really was the second most talented guitarist in the group. We know that Graham (and the rest of the group) were at pains to suggest that Graham's guitar was "just for show" and his role was the harmony singer, which he was unbelievably talented at. But his guitar playing is quite laboured and has a very characteristic style, making it easy to pick out Graham's recorded guitar contributions on Hollies records. I don't think he even played guitar on any of his CSN(Y) records either.
I also don't think we talk enough about his skills as a harmonica player as well. He's right up there with Paul Jones, IMO. Not like Graham's cringy attempts on 'Southbound Train' in 1973. I was listening to a Bob Dylan LP earlier and wondering why on earth he's so revered as a performer as his harmonica seems to be actively conspiring against him whenever he goes near it. Allan Clarke could make that mouth organ SING. Listen to something as crazy as 'Set Me Free' way back in 1964 or the country influenced slide bends in 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight' in 1969. Or most recently 'Long Cool Woman's Back In Town' on his 2019 solo album, it sent chills up my spine hearing him play that harmonica again just as well as he did.
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Aug 27, 2020 22:42:56 GMT
I also don't think we talk enough about his skills as a harmonica player as well. He's right up there with Paul Jones, IMO. Not like Graham's cringy attempts on 'Southbound Train' in 1973. I was listening to a Bob Dylan LP earlier and wondering why on earth he's so revered as a performer as his harmonica seems to be actively conspiring against him whenever he goes near it. Allan Clarke could make that mouth organ SING. Listen to something as crazy as 'Set Me Free' way back in 1964 or the country influenced slide bends in 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight' in 1969. Or most recently 'Long Cool Woman's Back In Town' on his 2019 solo album, it sent chills up my spine hearing him play that harmonica again just as well as he did. This this this this thissssss...excuse my fangirliness but that man does play the sexiest harmonica ever. 
Cough, okay, back to normal!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2020 8:15:06 GMT
It seems that quite a few, often unlikely, lead singers blew a harmonica in the early '60s. Clarke, Jones, Jagger/Jones, Lennon, Relf of course, but how about Marty Wilde?!
Agreed though, Allan was/is one of the best!
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Post by rokinrobinoflocksley on Aug 28, 2020 11:31:07 GMT
Most ironic if Allan could play good guitar but didn't, and Graham couldn't but used it as a prop, ugh...
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Aug 28, 2020 18:06:46 GMT
Most ironic if Allan could play good guitar but didn't, and Graham couldn't but used it as a prop, ugh... Allan's says himself that he only plays four chords (but I suspect that's a bit tongue in cheek). But I'm listening to an interview as we speak in which he says he does all the guitar on Long Cool Woman, so I suspect it's another case of Clarkey modesty... |
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