The "Lost" 1968 album and Graham Nash's 1968 demos

[thejanitor]

Very good work, Reconstructor! 👍 I think you've found the most perfect running order you can get out of these songs. Lady Of The Island and Wings back to back is particularly magical.

[baz]

Dec 5, 2023 9:39:02 GMT Mevrouw Bee said:

"Dogs" wasn't released in Canada (until "Dogs Part Two" became the b-side to "Pinball Wizard"), but "Call Me Lightning" was. A real throwback (considering it was written in '64) but I think it's fun. Peaked at #35 (40 on Billboard).

"Call Me Lightning" baffles me as they were gonna issue that as an A side in the UK but ended up as the B side of "Dogs". I know it was released as an A side elsewhere and come on, after the mighty "I Can See For Miles" it was a huge stepback to the surfy type nonsense of earlier years they were prone to indulging in mainly to humour Keith Moon! To record and issue that in 1968 was an act of insanity but then when one looks at what The Who were recording in 1968, they were going through a bizarre time yet when all is said and done, at least they weren't afraid to display a sense of humour.

[cameron]

I think this little era in the Hollies' history needs a little bit of contextualising sometimes. Particularly in relation to Graham's relationship with the band and their artistic decisions. 

'King Midas' obviously wasn't the kind of hit that they were used to, but it did win the Hollies a more mature audience. 'Butterfly' didn't chart in the UK, but sold well elsewhere in the world. Their interest in America was increasing, as 'Carrie Anne' was a big hit that summer and 'Evolution Featuring Carrie Anne' was also a big hit there. So despite their comparative "failure" in the UK, the band themselves were okay with Graham's direction for a while as the sales were still good and respect for the band was growing. In a year that saw many of the beat-boom artists finally call it a day, the Hollies were still at the forefront of pop music, and Graham could rightly take the bulk of the credit for that. 

Their songwriting partnership fell apart in the summer of 1967 when the band effectively went on hiatus while Bobby recovered from his appendicitis. Through no other reason than they were all heading off in different directions for a few months, the Clarke-Hicks-Nash songwriting team was strained. I think this void widened when Tony wasn't particularly happy with some of the more lightweight/twee songs that Graham was coming up with. It was actually Allan that was coming up with the hard-hitting psychedelic trips like 'Try It' and 'Elevated Observations', whereas Graham was presenting 'WishYouAWish' and 'Away Away Away', even if he did also come up with gems like 'Postcard' and 'Maker'. 

As they emerge in 1968, Tony is keen for them to get back to the top of the charts, and I believe that 'Open Up Your Eyes' was the first attempt to do this. Following the pattern from 'Carrie Anne' of shared vocals, the return of the banjo from 'Stop! Stop! Stop!', it seemed like a very deliberate attempt to create something that was so idiosyncratically in the Hollies' style. It's a proper Clarke-Hicks-Nash effort. 'Wings' was also recorded in this session, which was predominantly an Allan Clarke song and presumably recorded second as it was intended to be the B-side, just as single recording sessions with 'Carrie Anne' and 'Signs That Will Never Change' and also 'King Midas In Reverse' and 'Everything Is Sunshine' the year before. 

But this single was never issued for reasons we don't know. Presumably there's some kind of external pressure on the band at this point to come up with the goods, hence Allan, Graham and their respective wives meeting up to write 'Jennifer Eccles', which producer Ron Richards loved. It was a blatant stab at commercialism and was a huge international hit. I think this is the turning point for Graham. They've got something as good as 'Open Up Your Eyes' and 'Wings' relegated to a B-side and unissued respectively, while 'Jennifer Eccles' gets all the airplay. However, he can't have been that sad because the Hollies are about to tour Japan for the first and only time in their career and then return to the UK for their spring tour where they'd be performing with a live orchestra for the first time, which is something that Graham wanted to do as far back as August 1967 when he spoke to the press about touring with an orchestra because there would be one on 'King Midas'. 

From March to June 1968, the Hollies enter into another prolific period. But again, something was amiss for them to record the live set in May for release on a live album, unless it came about more as an opportunity to present the Hollies with a live orchestra, which hadn't been done commercially by a pop group at that point. We're lead to believe that the live album was recorded as an attempt to keep EMI happy, but perhaps that's not the case? Perhaps the ulterior motive after all was to release something that was innovative but also guaranteed to be a good seller - who knows. The Clarke-Hicks-Nash songwriting team is still functioning, but Nash's lightweight pop creeps in again with 'Relax' and presumably 'You Were A Pretty Little Girl', which we're yet to hear. Allan came up with the goods for 'Tomorrow When It Comes'. They dug out 'Like Every Time Before' which had been around since 1966. They finish with the Clarke-Hicks-Nash collaboration 'Do The Best You Can', which again, attempts to recapture the Hollies sound with its use of banjo, harmonica and extensive vocal harmonies. It was during this period that the Hollies gave up on 'Marrakesh Express' and flatly turned down 'Lady of the Island'. 'Teach Your Children' and 'Right Between The Eyes' were also written during this era. It seems like there's a flurry of activity to get tracks in the can for the new album, which Bobby even eludes to on a BBC radio session shortly after, though sounds rather coy about it... 

And this is where things seem to de-rail. Bobby recounts that Graham was distancing himself from the group, and he shut them in a room together with the title 'Survival of the Fittest' to write a song. They return to Abbey Road to record this in August, but crucially, they've now shifted gears to focus on a more cabaret style of presentation. Contrary to popular belief, the matching suits were GRAHAM'S idea, which he's dismissed as a joke that accidentally got taken seriously. They did a stellar version of 'Man With No Expression', which Graham wrote with his friend Terry Reid. But the same session produced the big-band versions of 'A Taste of Honey' and 'Blowin In The Wind'. It's worth noting that their live set around August 1968 now included country/folk influenced tracks like 'Dang Me', 'Very Last Day', 'Stewball' and 'Puff The Magic Dragon'. Graham had been very keen on this style back in 1965, so presumably he was quite happy with it by 1968? These tracks were new for the cabaret phase, their set list for the early 1968 shows was a little more based on hits and a couple of album tracks. 

With 'Hollies Greatest' released the same month as all of this, it well and truly saved their skin with EMI, hitting No.1 for six weeks in the UK. They swiftly recorded 'Listen To Me' at the end of the month and watched it climb the charts. But Graham had gone to LA and was unavailable for some of the promotion for the song, which was said to have been the straw that broke the camel's back. 

If there was to be a new LP in 1968, if the album patterns in their career up to that point were followed, it should have been released around April 1968 which would figure why they scrambled to record the live set in May. It was said at some point that EMI pushed for June/July, which lead to the flurry of activity in the studio in May/June, but ultimately lead to 'Hollies Greatest' being issued. If the album was completed and issued in April 1968, I believe it would have been a poppier version of 'Butterfly', but by July/August, they'd moved into the first era of cabaret and I think the stronger pop tracks from earlier in the year would have rubbed shoulders with some of the folky re-workings and big band numbers. So in hindsight, I'm kind of glad it faltered because I don't think it would have bettered 'Butterfly'. Graham left on December 8th 1968, the Hollies had already laid down the backing tracks for the 'Sing Dylan' tracks in November 1968 without him. Obviously 'Sing Dylan' was Tony's deliberate attempt to get the Hollies back into the charts, which it did rather spectacularly. 

So in terms of what they were recording in 1968, the following was committed to tape: 
1. Open Up Your Eyes
2. Wings
3. Jennifer Eccles
4. Tomorrow When It Comes
5. Relax
6. You Were A Pretty Little Girl (Unreleased)
7. Marrakesh Express (Unreleased backing track)
8. Like Every Time Before
9. Do The Best You Can
10. Man With No Expression
11. Survival Of The Fittest (Unreleased)
12. Blowin' In The Wind
13. A Taste of Honey
14. Listen To Me

In addition to this, we have the following from other sources: 
15. Marrakesh Express ("completed" from Graham's 1968 demo and the Hollies' backing track)
16. Marrakesh Express (Graham's 1968 demo)
17. Man With No Expression (Graham's 1968 demo)
18. Teach Your Children (Graham's 1969 demo)
19. Pre-Road Downs (Graham's 1969 demo)
20. Right Between The Eyes (Graham's 1969 demo)
21. Lady Of The Island (CSN Version)
22. Very Last Day (Unique BBC Studio performance)
23. Stewball (Unique BBC Studio performance)

But there's allegedly more... when unearthing the tapes for the ill-fated 2018 rarities project, things were discovered that aren't on the official sessionography, and I was told that the 1967/8 era was the most fruitful. So who knows, one day we might get a bit more to play with to compile that "lost" album. But until then, above is what we've got to go on. And as lost albums go, it's a pretty good one... 

[downriver]

I really enjoy hypothetical "what if Hollies made a 1968 album" games. My fantasy compilation (all Hollies fans have their own) has all the poppy/cabaret style songs on one side and all the far out, psychedelic stuff on the other. Kind of like that Dave Clark 5 album which had "Side Slow" and "Side GO!". I would even have a photo of them grinning in those cheesy tuxedos on one side and then flip the sleeve over and the photo would be of them wearing "flower power" clothes. Both sides would be full colour too. In my mind this album works as a compromise Graham, the other Hollies and Ron Richards reach to keep everyone happy, including fans who get to have a new Hollies album that year in this alternate universe. I can't think of a title though. "Listen To The Hollies" is an actual South African album and even has that photo I mention but I just don't think The Hollies would include a single on such an album, even though they did break that rule on For Certain Because. I also don't think they would revert to naming LPs after hits. They never did that since their debut, nor did they ever again for subsequent albums.

[cameron]

It's really hard to decipher which direction that the Hollies would have gone with this album, because there isn't a clear theme to the songs recorded in the latter half of the year. It really does seem to be big-band numbers combined with things to make Graham happy. I've even heard someone (maybe Graham?) say that 'Relax' was merely a demo and never intended to be released on an album, whereas Bobby obviously remembers the conversation about cross-fading it into 'Tomorrow When It Comes'. 

As to which singles, if any, would be included on the album, I'm inclined to think that 'Listen To Me' WOULD have been included. It seems that whenever the Hollies were a bit nervous about their new direction, they'd play it safe with including a single ('I Can't Let Go' on 'Would You believe' and 'Stop! Stop! Stop!' on 'For Certain Because...') plus 'Butterfly' was perceived to not do well as there was no lead single, whereas 'Evolution' came out around the same time as 'Carrie Anne'. And 'Dear Eloise' was a single just about everywhere else in the world, with the Hollies promoting it heavily. I think there's more video promos for 'Dear Eloise' than any other track that the Hollies ever recorded? Certainly at the time it was released anyway. 

My original proposed tracklist made the best of what was available that was recorded by the Hollies. If you open it up to include the Graham Nash tracks, which is very thematically similar to 'Butterfly', then you can have a bit more fun with it. Something like: 

Side One: 
1. Open Up Your Eyes
2. Do The Best You Can
3. Relax
4. Tomorrow When It Comes
5. Marrakesh Express
6. Wings

Side Two:
1. Man With No Expression
2. Like Every Time Before
3. Teach Your Children
4. Lady Of The Island / Right Between The Eyes
5. Survival Of The Fittest
6. Listen To Me

Or they would have gone down the crowd-pleasing route with big-band numbers and hits: 

Side One: 
1. Listen To Me
2. A Taste Of Honey
3. Very Last Day (Acoustic)
4. Wings
5. Like Every Time Before
6. Blowin' In The Wind

Side Two: 
1. Do The Best You Can
2. Survival Of The Fittest
3. The Times They Are A Changin' (borrowed from 'Sing Dylan', since Graham had been performing it live since 1966)
4. Stewball
5. Marrakesh Express
6. Man With No Expression