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Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 20, 2019 15:07:34 GMT
Three vocal blends make The Hollies sound special. Clarke/Nash, Clarke/Sylvester, and Rickfors/Sylvester. The latter is underrated. Listen to The Baby and the 72 live version of Bus Stop. The two really sound so good together.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2019 18:01:42 GMT
I believe that the "secret" ingredient to The Hollies' vocal blend is Tony Hicks. Seriously, and the same applies to George Harrison in The Beatles. Without Tony/George, both groups are merely Northern England's answer to The Everly Brothers.
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Post by anthony on Jul 21, 2019 14:04:29 GMT
Hard to go past this current line up, filmed in Liverpool 2013 by yours truly. Caught up with Knut at that show then at the pub, great memories.
Great topic Moorlock1972
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 21, 2019 15:36:58 GMT
No superb lead singer here. Such a pity.
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Post by cameron on Jul 22, 2019 15:21:10 GMT
I think the best vocal blend was Allan Clarke/Tony Hicks/Terry Sylvester. Terry had a wonderful habit of holding back a bit to accommodate Tony and it gave them an even sound. 100% agree with Peter, Tony was/is the glue that keeps the Hollies sound together. He doesn't always sing at a 3rd or 5th in the octave as the higher harmony singer often does, he makes up his own melody, which is usually completely in harmony rather than simply picking apart the chord.
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Post by stuball on Jul 25, 2019 20:30:47 GMT
Just a quick listen to this 3:04 of pure heaven reminds me why I was so drawn to this group from the first moment I heard them. They were for me a cut above their contemporaries in the vocal department, and this display shows why. I tend to agree that the Clarke/Sylvester/Hicks harmony was tops, although this takes nothing away from the superb Clarke/Nash/Hicks blend that first attracted me to The Hollies. And the Rickfors/Sylvester/Hicks mix, although a somewhat different mix, was sublime in its own right, and I still love it to this day. In my mind, that period from about 1965 (when The Hollies 3 part harmonies coalesced) until about 1980 were top notch (although their material wasn't always the best in those latter years).
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Post by cameron on Jul 25, 2019 20:55:29 GMT
I'm with you on the Rickfors/Hicks/Sylvester sound, Allan's voice was far too iconic and unique to blend perfectly, it was very much Allan the lead singer and two harmony singers - and I mean that in a good way. Allan was just a cut above as far as lead singers were concerned. But Rickfors blended faultlessly with Tony and Terry, as 'The Last Wind' proves, which is the closest they ever got to sounding like CSNY. It's very much a unified vocal, hard to pick out the three singers. My jaw was on the floor when I first heard this, amazed that the LP got shelved. How could any group sit on a track as strong as this?!
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Post by paul71 on Jul 25, 2019 21:05:22 GMT
I agree, The Last Wind is fantastic. Fantastic harmonies and a gorgeous subtle arrangement
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Post by stuball on Jul 25, 2019 21:23:44 GMT
Yes, Clarke's voice was really like a gift from the heavens, and once the 2 harmonies enfolded it, pure magic.
Rickfors voice added another dimension to The Hollies vocal sound. A very powerful soulful quality that could effortlessly turn light and almost angelic in quality. To this day, his range still sounds amazing to me: transitioning from almost, I want to call it a baritone, to a high, clear light tenor. And, to my ear, the latter's the sound we hear on 'The Last Wind'. And yes, it does sound uncannily like CSN, in style but especially vocal-wise. It's a shame things didn't work out commercially for that group. There's no denying their sound was definitely different with Rickfors, but was in no way inferior to the Clarke-fronted versions on the group.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Jul 26, 2019 4:17:17 GMT
Yes, Clarke's voice was really like a gift from the heavens, and once the 2 harmonies enfolded it, pure magic. Rickfors voice added another dimension to The Hollies vocal sound. A very powerful soulful quality that could effortlessly turn light and almost angelic in quality. To this day, his range still sounds amazing to me: transitioning from almost, I want to call it a baritone, to a high, clear light tenor. And, to my ear, the latter's the sound we hear on 'The Last Wind'. And yes, it does sound uncannily like CSN, in style but especially vocal-wise. It's a shame things didn't work out commercially for that group. There's no denying their sound was definitely different with Rickfors, but was in no way inferior to the Clarke-fronted versions on the group. Rickfors added an undeniable measure of excitement and drama to the preceedings. The live version of "Long Dark Road" thrills me to no end, with Rickfors on lead guitar! Rocking and right on. It is a shame Epic records didn't release the album. They could have added "If it wasn't for the reason" to it. I could imagine hearing "The Last Wind" on an FM station. |
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Post by knut on Jul 26, 2019 7:54:07 GMT
The last wind is magical. We go to see Rickfors in Sweden this autumn.
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