Post by irelandcalling4 on Apr 18, 2016 16:16:53 GMT
My journey with the Hollies began with their debut album, "Stay with the Hollies", summer 2013. It followed my viewing of the excellent 'Look Through any Window' documentary shown on SkyArts1. I began listening to the Hollies chronologically; and 'Little Lover' and 'Rockin Robin' on the documentary were what prompted me to do it this way as I love early 60s Beat music.
So many of the beat groups covered the same material; just this weekend I was on a dave Clark 5 binge, and their US debut had both 'Do you Love Me' and 'Stay'; the Hollies version of 'Stay' far superior I think though the DC5 may have exceeded them with 'Do you love me'.
I enjoyed 'Stay with..' immensely in those summer days 3 years ago, and still enjoy it today. It's amazing how much they grew and blossomed artistically, even by their third album the original songs had grown substantially in quality. The main attraction of the debut is the sheer enthusiasm and wonderful band performances that make it stand out as memorable. The sound is almost there; Bobby's skill on the drums is very evident and he really add's a rhythmic quality to what otherwise could be so-so covers that many other acts had in their repertoire. Hicks's guitar is a pleasure to listen to, even on this first album he was laying down some wonderful riffs and solos. The voices and harmonies - even at this early stage, you could tell they were special.
What surprised me was that it could have been evern better; 'When I'm Not there' in particular, one of the greatest beat-era songs by any band, gorgeous harmonies, thrilling guitar and instrumental attack, an all-round first class song. They had quite a few quality originals appearing on EP's and B Sides, they could have made an all-original debut (I have it arranged that way on my ipod, the 9 or so originals from that period and it's a cracker!).
They showed rapid progression, 'In the Hollies Style' had 7 originals, and even though released in the same year as the debut, the growth is quite amazing. Even in saying that, I do find the debut much better than reviews would have you believe. It's one of the most purely enjoyable and memorable of all of the 60s debuts, and you can hear the band really having fun. Very well produced, the 'stereo' is the version I go for mostly - thankfully not the wide stereo the follow-up was in, but not true stereo either; drums and vocals in one channel, guitars and bass in the other - it's not perfect stereo, but I do find it marginally better than the Mono.
So many of the beat groups covered the same material; just this weekend I was on a dave Clark 5 binge, and their US debut had both 'Do you Love Me' and 'Stay'; the Hollies version of 'Stay' far superior I think though the DC5 may have exceeded them with 'Do you love me'.
I enjoyed 'Stay with..' immensely in those summer days 3 years ago, and still enjoy it today. It's amazing how much they grew and blossomed artistically, even by their third album the original songs had grown substantially in quality. The main attraction of the debut is the sheer enthusiasm and wonderful band performances that make it stand out as memorable. The sound is almost there; Bobby's skill on the drums is very evident and he really add's a rhythmic quality to what otherwise could be so-so covers that many other acts had in their repertoire. Hicks's guitar is a pleasure to listen to, even on this first album he was laying down some wonderful riffs and solos. The voices and harmonies - even at this early stage, you could tell they were special.
What surprised me was that it could have been evern better; 'When I'm Not there' in particular, one of the greatest beat-era songs by any band, gorgeous harmonies, thrilling guitar and instrumental attack, an all-round first class song. They had quite a few quality originals appearing on EP's and B Sides, they could have made an all-original debut (I have it arranged that way on my ipod, the 9 or so originals from that period and it's a cracker!).
They showed rapid progression, 'In the Hollies Style' had 7 originals, and even though released in the same year as the debut, the growth is quite amazing. Even in saying that, I do find the debut much better than reviews would have you believe. It's one of the most purely enjoyable and memorable of all of the 60s debuts, and you can hear the band really having fun. Very well produced, the 'stereo' is the version I go for mostly - thankfully not the wide stereo the follow-up was in, but not true stereo either; drums and vocals in one channel, guitars and bass in the other - it's not perfect stereo, but I do find it marginally better than the Mono.
