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Post by JamesT on Aug 12, 2015 20:48:08 GMT
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Post by cameron on Aug 12, 2015 21:26:12 GMT
"do you remember this, Tony?" "no I don't, but I'm going to get the book!"
properly made me laugh.
Great interview, much more than the usual and something for the fans
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2015 23:29:42 GMT
Yes, great stuff! Nice to hear Tony relaxed and chatty (and ever youthful sounding!).
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Post by greengoddess on Aug 13, 2015 7:04:38 GMT
Even if he couldn't hear the drums on the songs that were played.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2015 8:00:13 GMT
Even if he couldn't hear the drums on the songs that were played. Neither could I much of the time. For some reason they only seemed to be broadcasting one stereo channel. Interesting that they plan tour Australia in 2017 (though dismissed touring the USA). So no plans for retirement just yet. I also had no idea about the last minute (or last hour) cancelling of the Milton Keynes show due to Peter's illness.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2015 13:23:58 GMT
Maybe the band will dig out some more obscure material from this era to perform live, therefore promoting the Changin' Times CDs? Then again, maybe not...
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Post by stuball on Aug 14, 2015 13:00:38 GMT
Without doubt, a light fun chat, but if this was done as promotion for 'Changin' Times', it was embarrassingly inept. Bobby and Tony hadn't done their homework and it showed. Their recall seemed at best, very hazy regarding the period in question. They seemed much more comfortable trotting out the old Graham Nash-era tales from the '67-'68 period. If I was a casual Hollies fan, based upon this interview, I'd be much more inclined to pick up 'The Clarke, Hicks, Nash Years' set than the collection they are currently 'promoting'.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 14:37:20 GMT
If I was a casual Hollies fan, based upon this interview, I'd be much more inclined to pick up 'The Clarke, Hicks, Nash Years' set than the collection they are currently 'promoting'. Well if they sell the "wrong" set instead then it's still not a bad bit of promotion!
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Post by stuball on Aug 14, 2015 16:18:30 GMT
Yes, it's all money in the bank, so what's not to like?
But it appears to me that Tony and Bobby seem most comfortable reliving memories of the early Hollies era, before Graham said adios to the group. Don't know if that can be put down to gentlemen approaching their dotage, reminiscing over their youthful 'good old days', but there seems to be a general reluctance to venture very deeply into the post-Nash era. And that is very obvious in this chat when the focus is supposedly 1969-1973.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 16:41:51 GMT
I just got the impression that they were willing to talk about wherever the questioning led them (though without dishing any "dirt" of course). If the interview went on for a hour (and the interviewer pushed them in that direction) I've no doubt they would've discussed Distant Light, Romany, etc.
I did like the fact that Tony seemed genuinely impressed by tracks he'd long forgotten. Maybe like many of us here he'll actually sit down and play the CDs to remind himself of many more half-forgotten gems!
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Post by Stranger on Aug 14, 2015 16:53:13 GMT
I agree Peter, I think him mentioning the Crosby backstage incident (from the liner notes) set them off in that tangent. But they even discussed Kenny Lynch! So, I think they would have discussed some pretty obscure things if it went on longer.
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Post by cameron on Aug 14, 2015 22:14:12 GMT
You can't really blame them for forgetting the tracks, even I get confused and forgetful of some of the 1970's stuff. Especially later on in the decade when it all sort of "morphs into one". Bobby said what I've long thought - the song was played once in the studio and then forgotten about! Very few album tracks were played live during the "Changin' Times" era. They were filling their sets with the current hits, early hits and one or two covers. Bizarrely, 'Too Much Monkey Business' survived in their setlist up until 1971! As Bob also points out in his liner notes, 'Gloria Swansong" was the only 'Hollies Sing Hollies' track to be played live - even then it was missing the 'Marigold' segment. I did read or hear somewhere though that the Hollies had a radio special in Sweden in 1969 to promote Hollies Sing Hollies - either the album was played in its entirety with the Hollies present to add their thoughts on the LP or the whole album was played live - has anyone else ever heard of this?
I was listening to a Rickfors concert today (very poor quality) from 1972. And they delved into some album tracks then: "You Know The Score", "Romany", "Words Don't Come Easy", "Pull Down The Blind" and "Touch". Wish Rickfors live sets survived in better quality as they were musically very very good at this period. I think 1970-1973 was their peak for live performance, just before the synth crept in.
I agree with Gee that Bobby is mixing up borrowing Paul and Linda McCartney's Moog for 'Don't Give Up Easily'. Paul had only just met Linda at the time, they weren't the duo that they would become in 1969. It is credited on the original 'Another Night' LP. The Beatles were indeed using it on 'Abbey Road' at the time.
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Post by roots66 on Aug 16, 2015 11:26:03 GMT
I did read or hear somewhere though that the Hollies had a radio special in Sweden in 1969 to promote Hollies Sing Hollies - either the album was played in its entirety with the Hollies present to add their thoughts on the LP or the whole album was played live - has anyone else ever heard of this? I wonder if these were a part of it? (Via Agneta's YT page.) IIRC from the old forum (and seems to be mentioned in part 3), there was also a Swedish TV special for the album, produced by Lasse Hallstrom.
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Post by Stranger on Aug 16, 2015 15:16:25 GMT
I'm sure I read a newspaper review from the era reporting that Why Didn't You Believe was played live.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 9:53:20 GMT
To be fair, Terry Sylvester is hardly the famous name that Graham Nash is, and anyway they could hardly call it "The Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester Years" when in fact it only covers part of the Sylvester era.
As for ignoring their back catalogue, Paul McCartney is even worse, at least as far as Wings and his solo career is concerned (he'll dig out Beatles throwaways such as 'All Together Now' yet he's NEVER performed his 1983 number one hit 'Pipes Of Peace' live!).
The absolute masters of digging out long-forgotten album tracks are The Rolling Stones. Since around 1994 they (or at least Mick Jagger) have made it a policy to include at least one song from EVERY album during rehearsals! Inevitably some get dropped in the editing process, but this has still resulted in some terrific rarities over the years, with some songs (such a late 90s performance of the 'Between The Buttons' song 'She Smiled Sweetly') even being performed just once. Additionally, Mick Jagger keeps a record of previous setlists for cities, so if (say) they're visiting Detroit they'll include a few songs not performed last time they were there. Macca and The Hollies could learn a lot from them.
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Post by Stranger on Aug 17, 2015 10:05:19 GMT
The thing about the Hollies is that they have so many short, catchy tracks that sound like hits they are not exactly going to loose the audience by throwing them in. They also have excuses to play them like The Everly Brothers recorded it, or it was a hit in Sweden or a hit for the Searchers etc. etc.
Have You Ever Loved Somebody, Hard Hard Year, What's Wrong With The Way I Live, What A Life I've Led, Give Me Time, Sweet Country Calling, rotating a couple of those for a tour isn't exactly going to alienate their audience.
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Post by JamesT on Aug 17, 2015 16:28:57 GMT
The thing about the Hollies is that they have so many short, catchy tracks that sound like hits they are not exactly going to loose the audience by throwing them in. They also have excuses to play them like The Everly Brothers recorded it, or it was a hit in Sweden or a hit for the Searchers etc. etc. Have You Ever Loved Somebody, Hard Hard Year, What's Wrong With The Way I Live, What A Life I've Led, Give Me Time, Sweet Country Calling, rotating a couple of those for a tour isn't exactly going to alienate their audience. I've heard The Searchers tackle 'Have You Ever Loved Somebody' in the past few years (I prefer their version to The Hollies). They have a good back catalogue too, but they do generally rotate a handful of songs and indeed, Frank Allen seemed to be suggesting they were going to delve a little deeper into their Sire-era recordings for concert material.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 16:47:06 GMT
I've heard The Searchers tackle 'Have You Ever Loved Somebody' in the past few years (I prefer their version to The Hollies). They have a good back catalogue too, but they do generally rotate a handful of songs and indeed, Frank Allen seemed to be suggesting they were going to delve a little deeper into their Sire-era recordings for concert material. Do they ever do 'Take It Or Leave It'? I always thought their version was far superior to The Rolling Stones 'Aftermath' version.
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Post by JamesT on Aug 18, 2015 18:29:43 GMT
They have done that, Peter - but I can't remember much about it! I've got to say that I really do enjoy The Searchers shows - even though Frank Allen can go on a bit!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2015 19:47:53 GMT
They have done that, Peter - but I can't remember much about it! I've got to say that I really do enjoy The Searchers shows - even though Frank Allen can go on a bit! I've never seen them, but I did see Mike Pender (backed by Vanity Fair) a few years back and he was superb.
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Post by dirtyfaz on Aug 18, 2015 21:40:45 GMT
Have seen them several times over the last 10 years here performing at one of our clubs. Have stopped seeing them now cause the show is almost identical each time and the banter between songs is always the same. Got a bit boring in the end. Used to do 2 sets of approx 50 minutes with about a 20 minute break. Their performances were always great sounding.
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Post by JamesT on Aug 21, 2015 16:48:58 GMT
Yes, the banter doesn't seem to change much! However, the quality of their performances far outshines the issues with this. They put in some number of miles touring, that's for sure!
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Post by cameron on Aug 22, 2015 23:53:50 GMT
If you listen to the Searchers material over the 1964-1967 period, to me, it's grouped in with the likes of Herman's Hermits and The Animals: with the exception of a few tracks, their sound doesn't really "evolve". Even by 1965, the Hollies are pushing a more 'folky' sound and making a statement in straying away from "love" songs with tracks like 'Too Many People' and 'I've Got A Way Of My Own'. The Hollies' progression through their albums and slightly less so, their singles is so stimulating to listen to. That's why they survived, because they were very much the leaders of the pack until around 1968 when they started to question themselves and have doubts over direction.
But I was thinking back to this the other day - 1968 was a very confusing year for music. Everyone who was anyone in popular music had jumped on the psychedelia bandwagon in 1967 - possibly the only time in popular music history of the whole music industry taking part in a "fad". Everyone had followed the Beatles since 1963 and suddenly, after Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles themselves didn't know where to turn. And it wasn't until the autumn of 1968 that they released the White Album which, for the first time ever, didn't give everyone else a clear idea of what direction to take. The Hollies weren't even the only major act to not release a new album in 1968 - the Who didn't either. It was the start of everyone going their own way: the Stones went back to their blues based roots with 'Beggars Banquet', the Small Faces gave psychedelia a rock edge with 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake', the Kinks wandered about as far as they ever went with quintessential Englishness with 'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society'. And other high selling, but perhaps not musically leading artists released some very directionless and eclectic albums in 1968; one of my favourites being 'If No One Sang' by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tick. Definitely an album to check out if you're into the Hollies.
But going back to an earlier point, comparatively, the Hollies did very well on EMI. They got good quality sounding records, even if some did have some very questionable stereo mixes. EMI knew how to master an LP. I've always felt that the Rolling Stones' records suffered in the early days on Decca, most being only available in mono and sounding very muddy at that. I know that was part of their magic and the effect that they were going for, but it doesn't stand up well nowadays. The Kinks suffered the same fate until around 1968 - Pye wasn't a good label to be on at all. They spent most of the decade rowing in court with Donovan, which cost him dearly as many of his albums weren't released in the UK. Regal Zonophone/Fly wasn't a good label to be on either. Albums by the Move and Procol Harum are hard to find as they've had limited reissues and are strictly not given up digitally or for streaming. Immediate (Small Faces, PP Arnold, Chris Farlowe, The Nice, Amen Corner...) was a good label on the surface, but they didn't like paying their artists and eventually disappeared, along with a lot of the master tapes and it's only in recent years that their catalogue has been pieced back together. All in all, apart from the long standing giants that were EMI and their counterpart Capitol, a lot of record labels were slow to react to 'pop' music and managed it very badly, writing it off as a passing phase. I think Gee is right, comparatively, the Hollies got off very well and at least now, 95% of their original session tapes survive with almost 100% of the final mix masters surviving, which leaves many doors open for future projects, unlike other artists who've lost their recording heritage forever.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2015 7:22:39 GMT
Apart from The Beatles it seems that pretty much all the Merseybeat groups from 1963 had trouble progressing. This is why The Searchers, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer (etc) were all finished chart wise by 1966 (as were The Swinging Blue Jeans, though they actually showed some progression, particularly after Terry Sylvester joined). Curious that many "pop" bands from other cities that emerged in 1963 (Hollies and Herman's Hermits in Manchester, Dave Clark Five and Tremeloes in London) managed to sustain chart careers until the 70s.
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