Hollies harmonies

[gee]

Allan Clarke's recent point re Terry's harmonies made me think of how The classic Hollies harmony sound was structured and how it varied

taking the three main recording versions of the harmony sound - here A.B, and C


while each member could sing lead vocals the way they naturally harmonised was interesting and differed re structure  and it really suited recordings each of the three vocal teams made

while it may sound strange (!) to get an idea re the construction of the vocal harmonised sound just imagine the three voices as if they were say Jet planes flying along in a formation of sound

A) Clarke-Hicks-Nash:

here the formation is very much a 'V' formation - Clarke and Nash each head up the overall sound out in front with dynamic lead singer styled voices which 'LOCK' together with Hicks baritone lower harmony voice 'flying' along right  in between and behind them uniting the overall vocal sound into the famous 'Hollies sound'  hence forming something of a V formation

- effectively two lead singers ('Ricky & Dane') are united into one complete vocal sound by a key lower harmony voice forming the essential bond in the vocal sound

tracks such as say: Just One Look, Here I Go Again, Yes I Will, Bus Stop...later Try it, Tomorrow When it Comes, Listen To Me  etc really display this as both Clarke and Nash sing like lead singers albeit in harmony with Allan Clarke featured on specific solo lines - but Nash can take over a lead mid line as on 'She Gives Me Everything I Want' etc and became a regular lead voice on bridge sections (they duly reverse this on 'I've Got A Way of My Own' where Allan Clarke handles the bridge section and Graham Nash sings the verses)

this was a natural thing, Clarke and Nash singing from childhood and Hicks initially without thinking just slotting in ....to make up a vocal 'V' formation of sound

B) Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester:

This vocal team actually vocally 'fly' in something of the opposite - an 'A' formation

Clarke is very much the sole lead singer here whilst Terry's gentler more emotive indeed pathos tinged harmony voice naturally actually LOCKS with Tony's voice so that here there is Clarke out in front with Terry and Tony 'flying' vocally alongside right behind him - if we take away Allan's voice as on 'Look at Life' (where Tony sings lead) we can see how much Terry and Tony blend together naturally

- add in Clarke's voice and the 'A' vocal formation is pitched perfectly in balance of one lead voice and two harmony voices

the A formation is very notable on songs such as: He Ain't Heavy, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, Wheels On Fire, My Life is Over With You, Man Without A Heart, Isn't it Nice ?, Gasoline Alley Bred (note Terry and Tony repeating 'Gasoline Alley...' towards the end in perfect unison), The Air That I Breathe, Sandy, Amnesty - note the vocal only  intro etc 


whilst Terry sings high harmony and some lead lines his voice more naturally blends and 'LOCKS' with Tony's lower harmony voice in a more emotive sound that combines with Clarke's assertive lead sound 'flying' out in front  in a vocal 'A' formation that perfectly balances and suits the wordier later seventies more mature album material 

C) Rickfors-Hicks-Sylvester:

Differ again - they vocally 'fly' in a perfectly united line formation like three jets flying alongside each other - a sort of horizontal 'I' shaped formation !

whilst the soulful voice of Mike generally takes lead vocal lines note when they harmonise all three voices 'LOCK' together in equal sound - here no one voice 'flys' out ahead in front as a rule and the three have an empathic harmony vocal sound - that is the  'fuller' vocal sound some have noticed

hence they really combine perfectly and most effectively in songs sung in full on harmony or with three way passages such as; Blue in The Morning, Magic Woman Touch, Delaware..., Touch, Romany, The Last Wind, etc

There are three voices that have a natural equal balance to them and they blend together equally in the harmonised vocal sound with no voice 'flying' out in front in the harmony, hence it's a very unified 'together' sound... like the equivalent of three jets all flying alongside each other !  

I hope this makes some kind of sense but I do think the fact Clarke and Nash harmonise like lead singers together, with Hicks always the key harmony sound, Slyvester a key emotive harmony matching Hicks harmony supporting Clarke's lead, and then Rickfors blending perfectly with Hicks-Sylvester vocally as one unified sound are the three distinctive differences in The Hollies main three vocal harmony teams' sounds

Obviously each takes lead vocals, they play about with the formulas on occasions (for example on 'When I'm Yours' Hicks voice moves right up in the vocal blend to the fore as the track nears conclusion) but in general these three vocal 'formations' (as I describe them here) are what makes The Hollies main three vocal teams sound so effective re how the members naturally sing and re the relationships between the various voices

[dirtyfaz]

Interesting take.

[JamesT]

Thanks, Gee - also appreciative of this piece. The other day I found myself specifically tuning in to Terry's harmonies on 'Heavy' - a thing of beauty.

Care to make a flying formation analogy of:

Clarke/Hicks/Coates;
Wayne/Hicks/Coates;
Howarth/Hicks/Lauri?

[Deleted]

Clarke/Hicks/Coates = Plane gracefully descending.


Wayne/Hicks/Coates = Plane going into nosedive...


Howarth/Hicks/Lauri = ...CRASH!!!  

 

[moorlock2003]

Aug 31, 2019 8:25:41 GMT peterc said:

Clarke/Hicks/Coates = Plane gracefully descending.


Wayne/Hicks/Coates = Plane going into nosedive...


Howarth/Hicks/Lauri = ...CRASH!!!  

 

The first two would have been saved if Terry Sylvester had been present. The band's harmony sound never recovered from Terry's absence. As for the last, there's Howarth as spoiler.

[Deleted]

I disagree. Alan Coates was (and probably still is) a far better singer than Terry Sylvester; he just had the misfortune to arrive when there was both a downturn in studio activity and Allan's voice started to deteriorate. Alan Coates was as heroic to me in 1999 as Mikail Rickfors was to you in 1973.

[moorlock2003]

Aug 31, 2019 22:13:09 GMT peterc said:

I disagree. Alan Coates was (and probably still is) a far better singer than Terry Sylvester; he just had the misfortune to arrive when there was both a downturn in studio activity and Allan's voice started to deteriorate. Alan Coates was as heroic to me in 1999 as Mikail Rickfors was to you in 1973.

I disagree. Terry Sylvester was on hit records; Coates was NOT. Terry Sylvester was more indespensible to the band than Allan Clarke was; that was proven with the Rickfors lineup.

[Gralto]

Offering my two cents here...Coates was a great singer from all the audible evidence I have (recordings and live gigs) and the fact that he was not on any major hits was certainly not his fault. The high harmonies on songs like Laughter Turns To Tears, Shine Silently, Baby Come Back and This Is It are all first rate and 100% retain 'The Hollies Sound'.

Mr Moorlock, your argument doesn't hold up because Sylvester was also not on any new chart hits for the last 7 years of his tenure and there was at least a dozen 45s in that time. Plus if we look at The H's 3 biggest hits with Sylvester in the band, we find that (a) He Ain't Heavy - this is a feature Clarke solo showcase with 'The Hollies Sound' competing with a choir and orchestra, (b) Long Cool Woman - there are no harmonies on the track notwithstanding the fact he's not even on the recording! and (c) Air That I Breathe - Hicks' guitar, Clarke's lead and the Parsons production are the key contributors here, though yes the harmonies are sensational. To my ears, replacing Sylvester with Coates vocally would have made no difference to the chart results.

Nobody disputes vocally how good was the Rickfors/Sylvester/Hicks era, the high quality of the recordings, and their ability to cut it live in this era, as you have promoted (correctly) on this site many, many times. Undoubtedly Terry's contribution to the band during his 12 year tenure was substantial but stating he was more indispensable to The H than Clarke is frankly, laughable. It wasn't Clarke who was moved on in 1981. But certainly take your point about Terry's contribution to The H post Nash being a vital ingredient. Listening to the 1974 Apollo Glasgow audience tape, I'm struck by Sylvester's power, especially on 'I Can't Let Go', the scourge of many a wanna be Hollies high harmony singer. Arguably, 1974-75 presents TS's greatest period in music with performances like on I'm Down, TATIB and some of his solo work. (and Cameron, completely agree - TS's solo version of Cable Car with the dreamy production values is superior to that put down by The Hollies). If chasing past Sylvester vinyl, head to the later UK version of his solo album, not his original US one IMHO.

[eric]

Should the current flying formation consist of Howarth/Hicks/Lauri/Stiles?

[anthony]

Sept 4, 2019 13:04:17 GMT eric said:

Should the current flying formation consist of Howarth/Hicks/Lauri/Stiles?

that's a good point eric, Ray does a lot of singing.

[anthony]

Sept 1, 2019 13:00:05 GMT Gralto said:

Offering my two cents here...Coates was a great singer from all the audible evidence I have (recordings and live gigs) and the fact that he was not on any major hits was certainly not his fault. The high harmonies on songs like Laughter Turns To Tears, Shine Silently, Baby Come Back and This Is It are all first rate and 100% retain 'The Hollies Sound'.

Mr Moorlock, your argument doesn't hold up because Sylvester was also not on any new chart hits for the last 7 years of his tenure and there was at least a dozen 45s in that time. Plus if we look at The H's 3 biggest hits with Sylvester in the band, we find that (a) He Ain't Heavy - this is a feature Clarke solo showcase with 'The Hollies Sound' competing with a choir and orchestra, (b) Long Cool Woman - there are no harmonies on the track notwithstanding the fact he's not even on the recording! and (c) Air That I Breathe - Hicks' guitar, Clarke's lead and the Parsons production are the key contributors here, though yes the harmonies are sensational. To my ears, replacing Sylvester with Coates vocally would have made no difference to the chart results.

Nobody disputes vocally how good was the Rickfors/Sylvester/Hicks era, the high quality of the recordings, and their ability to cut it live in this era, as you have promoted (correctly) on this site many, many times. Undoubtedly Terry's contribution to the band during his 12 year tenure was substantial but stating he was more indispensable to The H than Clarke is frankly, laughable. It wasn't Clarke who was moved on in 1981. But certainly take your point about Terry's contribution to The H post Nash being a vital ingredient. Listening to the 1974 Apollo Glasgow audience tape, I'm struck by Sylvester's power, especially on 'I Can't Let Go', the scourge of many a wanna be Hollies high harmony singer. Arguably, 1974-75 presents TS's greatest period in music with performances like on I'm Down, TATIB and some of his solo work. (and Cameron, completely agree - TS's solo version of Cable Car with the dreamy production values is superior to that put down by The Hollies). If chasing past Sylvester vinyl, head to the later UK version of his solo album, not his original US one IMHO.

We are all here really because of Allan's amazing voice. I was a big Terry Sylvester fan but if the choice was there you would have Allan every time. I have always said they were very quick to get Allan back in the group around 1973, they were both good for each other.