|
Post by cameron on Jul 11, 2015 22:44:03 GMT
To my ears, Bobby's last great drumming is on Romany. It's the last of his eclectic style that he was so famous for before mellowing out into the 70's as the Hollies relented into ballad blandness. I think "The Baby" features some of his best drumming. He mellows a bit on Out On The Road but it's still pretty good
|
|
|
Post by JamesT on Jul 12, 2015 7:18:20 GMT
Very true about 'The Baby'!
|
|
|
Post by Stranger on Jul 12, 2015 12:16:27 GMT
Humbug! So, no great informative reading on the liner notes? Think what the liner notes from that era could have been with quotes from Kenny Lynch, Rickfors etc.!
|
|
|
Post by JamesT on Jul 12, 2015 15:17:07 GMT
Yeah, nowt of any great substance.
|
|
|
Post by cameron on Jul 12, 2015 18:41:42 GMT
It was nice to get Bobby's account of their "handover" of Graham on December 8th, 1968! Anyway, here's my review that I submitted to Amazon:
Back in 2011, the much anticipated 'Clarke Hicks & Nash Years' boxset was released. Six discs of every Hollies studio recording (plus an excellent previously unreleased live set from 1968) from 1963-1968, the period that Graham Nash was a member of the Hollies. Four years on, and we have the next set in the series, 'Changin Times', covering their studio recordings from 1969 when Graham Nash was replaced by Terry Sylvester up until 1973 when Allan Clarke had briefly left the band to pursue a solo career.
Many causal observers are firmly of the opinion that the hits stopped after Graham left but listening to the set, you'll notice some of their finest work including: 'Sorry Suzanne', 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother', 'I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top', 'Too Young To Be Married', 'Gasoline Alley Bred', 'Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)', 'The Baby' and 'Magic Woman Touch'. An impressive line of hits that any band would be proud to have in their back catalogue; yet the Hollies were on the second phase of their career and had already notched up an impressive 18 top 30 hits with Graham Nash!
But it's that previous "pop" phase that saw the Hollies get stuck in their tracks from developing as a band as the public only saw them as a singles band. This set charts their progression into a more mature band, offering more serious and contemporary music in an impressive run of criminally overlooked albums:
1. Hollies Sing Dylan (1969) - the most controversial album of their career and one of the reasons that Graham Nash left them in the first place as he was so opposed to singing Dylan the way they wanted to. The critics hated it on release but the public loved it and it became their last studio album to break the top five, reaching number three on the albums chart in 1969. A copy of it was even found in Jimi Hendrix's record collection after his death. If you ignore the social stigma around it and the critics who claimed "how could *they* ever relate to Dylan?", what you have is an excellent album. 12 covers of popular Bob Dylan songs all done to the same high standard, arguably making some of his challenging lyrics more approachable in a new light-pop format. Their musicianship and vocal arrangements are the usual Hollies high standard, showing that they were more than capable of carrying on with no major changes to their sound after Nash departed.
2. Hollies Sing Hollies (1969) - after an aborted 'Hollies Sing County' project (hence the Country orientated rarities included on this set), the Hollies settled into the next phase of their career with their first LP of newly written material since 1967's "Butterfly" LP. It's very much a mixed bag of typical "Hollie Pop" with a hint of the band maturing with Allan Clarke's achingly beautiful ode to his old best friend Graham Nash with 'My Life Is Over With You' and also his track 'Soldiers Dilemma', presumably in reaction to the War in Vietnam that was going on at the time. Tony Hicks also gets a rare solo vocal with the melancholy 'Look At Life'. But the Hollies would prove that they could still write a great pop tune with the perfect 'Please Let Me Please' and 'Goodbye Tomorrow'. Ironically, upon listening to the album on release, Graham Nash told the press at the time "if they'd have been doing music like this two years ago then I'd never have left"!
3. Confessions Of The Mind (1970) - some fans claim this to be their swansong. It was a steady seller on release, largely thanks to the very bland cover that did it no favours. But contained within is the closest that the Hollies got to a "concept album". It charts the progress of a relationship between a man and a woman. It's a very well composed album from start to finish. Highlights include the excellent fast-paced 'Survival Of The Fittest', the mini rock-opera 'Confessions Of A Mind', the upbeat 'Frightened Lady' and the now classic 'Too Young To Be Married'. Tony Hicks especially showcases his different guitar sounds on the LP and bassist Bernie Calvert adds his fair share of keyboards to the album, giving it a more "prog rock" feel.
4. Distant Light (1971) - again, another flawless album. This time the Hollies departed into a more rockier style. Most of the tracks are very guitar driven and stripped of some of the lavish orchestration that had adorned their albums previously. Their new approach is quite refreshing and the album stands up well with what else was released around that time. Curiously, it was the first album ever to be recorded and released from the new AIR Studios in London. Highlights include the prog-rock styled 'Look What We've Got' and 'Hold On', the sublime 'To Do With Love' and their brief US only hit, 'Long Dark Road'.
5. Romany (1972) - sadly Allan Clarke departed the band shortly after 'Distant Light' was released to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Swedish singer Mikael Rickfors and this was their resulting album. The Hollies were very worried about how they'd fair having lost their iconic front-man, so took an unusually long time in the studio crafting 'Romany' and it really shows. Each track is intricately layered up and carefully put together. It's got a very "west coast" vibe to the album, and I'd certainly put it against any LP that it competed against at the time. Highlights include the energetic 'Won't You Feel Good That Morning', the beautiful 'Touch', the radio-friendly 'Magic Woman Touch' and the sublime title track.
6. Out On The Road (1973) - this album was actually culled from release at the time. Somehow, it managed to sneak out in Germany and in even smaller quantities in Spain. As a result, it became something of the stuff of legend among Hollies fans. This marks the first official worldwide release of the tracks. Still with frontman Mikael Rickfors, this album is a little simpler in approach than 'Romany' that preceded it. But still a great album. Highlights include the bass-driven 'Out On The Road', the infectious 'Nearer To You' and perhaps the most beautiful track that the Hollies ever recorded and certainly the closest they got to the style of CSN with 'The Last Wind'. Allan Clarke announced his return to the band and the album was understandably confined to the vaults, with a few of the tracks being recycled for their next LP with Allan Clarke.
'Changin' Times', then, pulls together material from perhaps the most artistically prolific period of the Hollies' career. Having lost Graham Nash to CSN in 1968, many tend to overlook the fact that they had a career after he left. This set proves that they really tried hard to fight their "singles band" image. Although commercially, they never really managed it, with the benefit of hindsight we can hear in this fantastic collection just how hard they tried. It's about time that the Hollies album catalogue got the recognition that it truly deserves.
Notes about the CD package itself - the tracks are all presented chronologically in recording date order as they were in the 'Clarke Hicks & Nash Years' set. This makes for interesting listening as the set has a clear "flow" as they move stylistically from one track to the next - helped by all the tracks being presented in stereo as opposed to a mixture of mono and stereo as happened with the previous set. The full albums are included alongside their A-sides and B-sides and also some rare and hard to find tracks that were issued on compilations years ago and are now out of print. The tracks are presented in previous remasters from 1999, 2003 and 2007, with the 'Out On The Road' tracks receiving new remastering in 2014 so it's the best they've ever sounded. Brief but informative sleeve notes are included from drummer Bobby Elliott and recording/release details of each track are included. The booklet is filled out with scans of worldwide single releases and album covers. Unlike the quality issues with the 'Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years' set with scratched CDs, I'm pleased to report that this new set is much improved. All in all, a delightful package to add to your collection culminating tracks that have previously been out of print for many years. My only criticism would be the lack of anything "new" like we got the concert recording and a couple of previously unreleased tracks on the previous set. But I guess it's a big bonus getting the 'Out On The Road' tracks on CD officially for the first time.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Jul 15, 2015 6:33:59 GMT
Got mine this morning shipped by Amazon UK Friday here Wednesday morning. I can't complain about the quickness of delivery and I didn't select any priorty shipping. Back to the Changin' Times set. I have only listened to disc 5 at the moment. It was the one with the most interest for me. I knew the other tunes backwards and there was no special remastering for all the released material. Only the OOTR tracks were of special interest to me. Did anyone find the vocals on some tracks a little quiet or muddy? I have the vinyl copy of OOTR so I knew the tracks. I do remember seeing the Rickfors Hollies at the Hordern at the time and Slow Down Go Down was the 45 and they did play that one. Can't remember any other songs though (anyone know the track list for that show). I really like the Sylvester songs on this. He kept everything simple. My 3 favs from this album are Slow Down Go Down, Mr Heartbreaker and The Last Wind. I find it interesting the Jesus Was A Crossmaker was backed with I Had A Dream. The were recorded just over a year apart. Guess the US record company was looking for a hit with Crossmaker but had sat on it for a long time. The also edited it. The Hansa version had the full track. Boy those Americans sure wanted to edit everything that came out as a 45. The booklet is not much above average and doesn't give us too much information.
|
|
Jan T
New Member
Posts: 15
|
Post by Jan T on Jul 15, 2015 19:13:29 GMT
Oh yes! You have to watch those Yanks. They're a shifty bunch, lol. My copy arrived about an hour ago, and I'm having a great time listening. Great stuff!
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Jul 17, 2015 3:43:33 GMT
Forget about the Muddy comment from my earlier post
I copied all the tracks from OOTR and burnt them to a CD in correct track order and have been playing that CD pretty constantly over the last couple of days.
I always loved the album and am appreciating it even more now. Love The Last Wind, Mr Heartbreaker, Slow Down Go Down and Out On The Road. Love the extended solo section on the end of Slow Down Go Down. When that was issued here in Australia as a 45 that solo was faded very early.
|
|
|
Post by stuball on Jul 17, 2015 16:52:41 GMT
Forget about the Muddy comment from my earlier post I copied all the tracks from OOTR and burnt them to a CD in correct track order and have been playing that CD pretty constantly over the last couple of days. I always loved the album and am appreciating it even more now. Love The Last Wind, Mr Heartbreaker, Slow Down Go Down and Out On The Road. Love the extended solo section on the end of Slow Down Go Down. When that was issued here in Australia as a 45 that solo was faded very early. Yes, there was a lot of monkeying around with 45 releases, especially when they were pulled from LP tracks. The looping of the chorus on the fade out of 'Jesus Was A Crossmaker' comes to mind, as well as the shortened edit of the 'Write On' single. Regarding the Out On The Road LP: I first heard it 40 years ago this summer, back in '75. I'd been listening constantly up to that point to the just-released Another Night album. What a contrast! Loved AN,but there was something rougher and energetic and determinedly inventive about OOTR that really struck a chord with me, and for the first time made me wonder if The Hollies had taken the right path. Commercially-speaking, I suppose they did, but The Rickfors Hollies seemed to be working well as a democratic team, producing a wildly varied choice of in-house composed songs and styles that I found exhilarating then and now. In a way OOTR reminds me very much of my reaction to first hearing the Stop! Stop! Stop! LP a decade earlier. Here was something new, something different, all group compositions, and so much more than the previous 'beat group' style of guitar,bass and drums LP's. This was adventurous, using new sounds and themes and studio techniques. And we all know that Evolution and Butterfly followed on in the same free spirit. It makes one wonder what gems may have followed OOTR, had the Rickfors/Sylvester/Hicks/Calvert/Elliott Hollies been allowed to carry on. Despite their lack of hits, I really think that version of the group had enormous potential that was squashed when OOTR was kiboshed, Rickfors shown the door, Sylvester made solely backing vocalist, and The Hollies returned to the safe and predictable Allan Clarke fronted group. Fine for greatest hits concerts, but time soon proved that any sense of musical adventure was largely a thing of the past. Sad.
|
|
|
Post by JamesT on Jul 21, 2015 11:46:59 GMT
Great comments, folks. Slow Down - Go Down is a great track!
Incidentally, quality control has gone awry when looking at the data as displayed on my CD player in the car: Mr Heart Braker?!
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Jul 21, 2015 22:15:57 GMT
I noticed the Mr Heart Braker error as well when played. My immediate thoughts were this was typed by a younger person. Sorry to typecast younger people. It's just the way they are taught to spell these days.
|
|
|
Post by JamesT on Jul 22, 2015 15:04:04 GMT
You'd almost think it would actually be quite a serious thing, legally, to get writers' credits wrong? Did Bernie Calvert not co-write Burn Fire Burn, only his second officially-released track by the band, and no mention of it in the credits on the 'Hollies' ['74] remaster?
|
|
|
Post by roots66 on Aug 7, 2015 19:00:33 GMT
Link via the Official forum. Tony and Bobby will be interviewed on this program next Wednesday, supposedly discussing the "Changin' Times" set. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0649611
|
|
|
Post by irelandcalling4 on Aug 25, 2015 0:02:03 GMT
Still listening regularly to this excellent set; just a minor question - the great photo on the cover; late 1969 or early 1970 maybe?
|
|
|
Post by roots66 on Aug 25, 2015 1:37:22 GMT
Still listening regularly to this excellent set; just a minor question - the great photo on the cover; late 1969 or early 1970 maybe? My guesstimate is circa Sept. 1969, because a shot from the same session appeared in the Oct. 4 1969 issue of Top Pop.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Aug 25, 2015 1:44:29 GMT
Not much on the official forum about Changing Times.
|
|
|
Post by JamesT on Aug 25, 2015 16:11:27 GMT
The official forum died a death years ago!
|
|
|
Post by cameron on Aug 25, 2015 16:45:36 GMT
I requested to join it and my application is still pending! That was about three years ago I think
|
|