A Slight Disturbance In My Mind

[Deleted]

Good to see a couple of less obvious Hollies tracks on this new 3-CD set dedicated to 1966 freakbeat/proto-psych!

A Slight Disturbance In My Mind

[dirtyfaz]

Oriental Sadness & Clown. Interesting choice.
This comp looks great full of great tracks.

[baz]

Some real gems in there though think the Pretty Things tracks are rather strange choices. "No More Me And You" by the final line up of The Tornados never fails to blow me away... a pity that never came out thanks to Joe Meek's death.

[dirtyfaz]

Without checking I am guessing all of these tracks are from 1966.

S F Sorrow by the Pretty Things is a great album. I have it in several versions.

[Deleted]

Jan 24, 2020 23:07:07 GMT dirtyfaz said:

Without checking I am guessing all of these tracks are from 1966.

S F Sorrow by the Pretty Things is a great album. I have it in several versions.

Yes, an amazing album (I'd choose it over 'SGT. Pepper' or 'Tommy' anyday!).  Must confess, I'm also one of the few people who really like 'Emotions'.

[baz]

Jan 25, 2020 8:26:24 GMT peterc said:

Jan 24, 2020 23:07:07 GMT dirtyfaz said:

Must confess, I'm also one of the few people who really like 'Emotions'.

Me too - great album!

[dirtyfaz]

I have to agree with you peterc, Better than Peppers but not so sure about Tommy.

[Deleted]

Jan 25, 2020 22:25:56 GMT dirtyfaz said:

I have to agree with you peterc, Better than Peppers but not so sure about Tommy.

I am a big fan of the early Who, but to me they peaked with 'The Who Sell Out'. Even the outtakes from that album are magical.

[cameron]

I think the Who peaked with 'Who's Next'. They reigned in the songs, kept everything tight and concise. 'Tommy' was for too long and drawn out for me and the overall concept is as daft as side two of 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake'! At least 'S.F. Sorrow' has a clear and quite cutting concept. I'm gutted for them that the LP was sat on by EMI for almost a year before it was released. It would have been an absolute game-changer had it been released once it was recorded. At the time, it was conceded that it was attempting to capitalise on the success of 'Sgt. Pepper', but the two albums were actually recorded alongside. Much like the press ripped into the Hollies for "following the Beatles", but as we know, 'Evolution' was actually slightly ahead of 'Pepper', even having an earlier catalogue number.

I do, however, think 'Sgt. Pepper' is one of those albums that absolutely does live up to the hype. The whole thing is a work of art from start to finish. Ignore the "concept", just take it as an eclectic album like we all do with 'Revolver'. For me, the two highlights are George Harrison's merging of Eastern and Western music with 'Within Without You'. It's SO clever. Also the epic 'A Day In The Life', which has been analysed to death, but rightly so. There's not a bad song on 'Pepper'. So varied, so carefully executed and the whole thing just lifted the album as a format to new heights. I get that it might not be to people's taste, but you just can't deny the sheer brilliance of the album and the impact that it had at the time.

[baz]

Hmmm... where The Who are concerned, I'm also not a fan of "Tommy" for a variety of reasons yet I do enjoy "Quadrophenia" which marks the end of my interest in them. "Who's Next" was a solid rock album I still enjoy but "Tommy" just gets on my nerves. My fave Who album is undoubtedly "Sell Out" as there's a great sense of humour and experimentation there and staggering how many great songs were left in the can from that era so, they certainly were at their hottest during that era.

As for "Tommy" versus "SF Sorrow" well, naturally I much prefer the latter as The Pretty Things are one of my absolute fave bands of all time and theirs is easily the more diverse album whereas "Tommy" sounds very samey all the way through which ensured The Who could perform it live whilst "Sorrow" couldn't for many years. EMI's lack of interest definitely helped kill it but it is good that that album is better appreciated and recognised now for the wonderful piece of work it was. The Pretty Things' EMI era remains extraordinary as "Parachute" is also a gem which I rate higher than "Abbey Road" and as for the singles... utterly astonishing!

[Deleted]

I'm a big fan of The Pretty Things too, and agree with much of what you say... but, let's remember, by 'S.F. Sorrow' only 2 of the original 5 were still in the band, and by 'Parachute' even Dick Taylor had jumped ship. Much as I love the 1965 R&B quintet, I can't imagine them coming up with those later albums. So it's not really fair to compare their progress with The Beatles, The Hollies and The Who.

Regarding 'SGT. Pepper', I feel it could've been better. 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' would've enhanced it greatly, and I would replace 'Within You, Without You' with 'Only A Northern Song'. I've always thought WYWY was the weakest of George's East/West experiments, with 'Love You Too' and 'The Inner Light' being far more successful musically.

[baz]

Jan 27, 2020 7:58:46 GMT peterc said:

I'm a big fan of The Pretty Things too, and agree with much of what you say... but, let's remember, by 'S.F. Sorrow' only 2 of the original 5 were still in the band, and by 'Parachute' even Dick Taylor had jumped ship. Much as I love the 1965 R&B quintet, I can't imagine them coming up with those later albums. So it's not really fair to compare their progress with The Beatles, The Hollies and The Who.

Regarding 'SGT. Pepper', I feel it could've been better. 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' would've enhanced it greatly, and I would replace 'Within You, Without You' with 'Only A Northern Song'. I've always thought WYWY was the weakest of George's East/West experiments, with 'Love You Too' and 'The Inner Light' being far more successful musically.

The Pretty Things were fortunate in getting Wally Waller and Jon Povey onboard as they both added the vital and unique harmonies element as they moved down the path to psychedelia and unlike some acts, the Pretties made the transition well on a musical level though sadly not commercially. Dick Taylor quit partly because he was feeling burnt out but also admitted that the failure of "SF Sorrow" which he was really proud of also played a big part. So whilst by the time of "Parachute" they were a different band with just Phil May remaining from the old R+B days they certainly had moved with the times and "Parachute" for my money was perfect for the era and holds up far better than many albums which critics fawn over. "Parachute" was pretty much Phil May and Wally Waller's baby and it's also strange to remember and consider that it's not until several tracks in that Phil enters with a lead vocal as until then they're shared between Wally and Jon.

As for "Sgt Pepper"... no, I don't regard it as a perfect album musically as there are some tracks I always skip and I'm also one of those who gets bored with "Within You, Without You" - that's not knocking what George was doing on that song but he did better songs elsewhere. I've often wondered what might had been had those singles tracks been used on the album but it is what it is and regardless of whether or not it holds up as a whole, it's cultural impact was seismic... it was of its time, for the time and resonated deeply for a great many.

1967 was bookended by two extraordinary singles that defied convention with daring - The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane" then The Pretty Things "Defecting Grey" the latter still stands for me as one of the most daring and audacious pieces ever put out as a single. There was very little hope even had EMI promoted it that it would have sold well as it was too bizarre but still stands as an amazing piece of prime British psychedelia!

[cameron]

Jan 27, 2020 7:58:46 GMT peterc said:

I would replace 'Within You, Without You' with 'Only A Northern Song'. I've always thought WYWY was the weakest of George's East/West experiments, with 'Love You Too' and 'The Inner Light' being far more successful musically.

I think you've sort of missed the point with 'Within You, Without You'. More so than any of Harrison's other Eastern-tinged tracks, he uses more influences from India than any other tracks. Both 'Love You To' and 'The Inner Light' use a fairly basic Western melody, whereas 'Within You, Without You' uses a simplified Indian scale or the vocal lines. For reference, Western music has no more than seven different notes, repeated over 12 octaves. Indian music uses up to 12 different notes, so a lot of Indian music doesn't "make sense" to us Westerners. Harrison uses a "westernised" version of a traditional Indian scale to form the vocal melody on 'Within Without You'. 

And if that wasn't genius enough, George Martin then comes along and writes an orchestral score that sets up a call and response between the Indian instruments and the Western traditional 30/40-piece orchestra. So you've got this perfect fusion of Eastern and Western music in one track, I believe the first instance of that happening on a commercial record, but I could be wrong there. 

In addition to that, you've got the way that they layer the instrumentation to great effect, ending in that lovely breakdown after the main middle instrumental section, before gently building it all up again. It's something of a trip, in all senses of the word, as was George's intention. It's a fantastic and very very clever piece of music. The only thing that rivals its complexity on 'Pepper' is 'A Day In The Life', which was more of a happy accident than deliberate. 

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2020 12:32:36 GMT cameron said:

Jan 27, 2020 7:58:46 GMT peterc said:

I would replace 'Within You, Without You' with 'Only A Northern Song'. I've always thought WYWY was the weakest of George's East/West experiments, with 'Love You Too' and 'The Inner Light' being far more successful musically.

I think you've sort of missed the point with 'Within You, Without You'. More so than any of Harrison's other Eastern-tinged tracks, he uses more influences from India than any other tracks. Both 'Love You To' and 'The Inner Light' use a fairly basic Western melody, whereas 'Within You, Without You' uses a simplified Indian scale or the vocal lines. For reference, Western music has no more than seven different notes, repeated over 12 octaves. Indian music uses up to 12 different notes, so a lot of Indian music doesn't "make sense" to us Westerners. Harrison uses a "westernised" version of a traditional Indian scale to form the vocal melody on 'Within Without You'. 

And if that wasn't genius enough, George Martin then comes along and writes an orchestral score that sets up a call and response between the Indian instruments and the Western traditional 30/40-piece orchestra. So you've got this perfect fusion of Eastern and Western music in one track, I believe the first instance of that happening on a commercial record, but I could be wrong there. 

In addition to that, you've got the way that they layer the instrumentation to great effect, ending in that lovely breakdown after the main middle instrumental section, before gently building it all up again. It's something of a trip, in all senses of the word, as was George's intention. It's a fantastic and very very clever piece of music. The only thing that rivals its complexity on 'Pepper' is 'A Day In The Life', which was more of a happy accident than deliberate. 

I still find it a little boring. Maybe I need to take some acid instead of just drinking tea... 

[distantlight]

I agree with Cameron. Within You Without You is a brilliant song! When I was a kid it was also the song I would skip or at least enjoy the least. But now I love the beauty and indeed the genius of it. Only A Northern song is nice but for me comes not even close. But yes - of course Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane would have made great additions.

I also needed some time to understand how good SF Sorrow is. I always liked it but only came back to it once in a while but always when I did I realized how much I loved it. But to let that feeling really sink in took a while. Definitely one of my favourite LPs of all time.

As for The Who Sell Out - I love the concept and the whole vibe of it but for me musically it doesn't really live up to my expectations. Lot's of cool little songs on it but somehow it still doesn't really move me the way I would want it. Bought an original almost mint copy a couple of weeks ago and tried it again. Nice record but it wouldn't make one of my lists. Who's Next is quite obviously the moment where they peaked as a mature album-band I think. The sound is great and everyone really knows what he's doing. In a way it reminds me of the step the Hollies took between Confessions and Distant Light. Tommy also has a lot of great stuff on it but somehow also doesn't completely live up to its promise and just sounds a bit weaker than it should.

What are your other favourite psychedelic albums? We already had Sgt. Peppers, Evolution and S.F. Sorrow.

For the softer side I would add Bee Gee's 1st and Days Of Future Past. Two wonderful records with the first one just having so many great songs and cool arrangements and the latter just being a great statement with admittedly some weak orchestral interludes mixed with some great ones. Actually probably the greatest softer psychedelic statement might be Love's Forever Changes.

On the tougher side two (or three) big classics that I love are the first two Doors records and Disraeli Gears by Cream.

All admittedly pretty obvious choices. One much obscurer record is The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds. Lot's of spoken words and surely not for everybody but it has a cool concept and lot's of very pretty and also very groovy moments. Probably something Cameron would like.

[dirtyfaz]

Love the Bee Gees 1st. I actually play that more often than most LPs. Never could get into the Moodys. Love's Forever Changes is enormous as is Disraeli Gears.

[gee]

For me the real heroes on Sgt Pepper are George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Ken Townsend the team behind it's recording which is incredibly ground breaking

song wise Pepper is something of a mixed bag for me

'She's Leaving Home' (owing a lot to Mike Leander's skilled strings arranging plus John's surprisingly emotive moving characters vocal as 'the parents') and 'A Day in The Life' (with a different Paul song slipped into the middle) I find the real 'classics' on Pepper

otherwise a few rather ordinary by Beatles standards songs like the aimed at another generation 'When I'm Sixty Four', the guitar hook centered 'Getting Better' (which Mal Evans never got credited for co-writing it seems) the Ringo song Joe Cocker did better, George's only song which I too find a bit forgettable to be honest - what you might hear in an Indian restaurant ! and John's hastily scribbled off a poster 'Mr. Kite'(where the backroom boys shine) and his incomplete 'Good Morning' - inspired by a Corn Flakes TV commercial and apparently minus an ending hence the animal parade (love the way the guitars suddenly 'surge in' tho' - again those backroom boys shine)

'Lucy' is rather over rated as a song I feel and Elton John's cover rather added to the atmosphere later on

Sgt Pepper / Reprise are both snippets of songs that do work well with a great guitar riff at the start but are just snippets rather than a solid number

'Fixing A Hole' is o.k. but by their high standards only that - few have covered it while 'Rita' is likewise for me

contribution wise unlike 'Revolver' or 'Rubber Soul' it's hardly a full team effort - John and Paul did a song for Ringo while George went from THREE songs and lookng a real third songwriting force on the preceeding LP to the lone 'allowed a song' figure he was back on 'With The Beatles' in 1963 !

in truth John Lennon is sadly almost a peripheral figure here re his own works - 'Lucy' aside his 'Mr. Kite' and 'Good Morning' are really rather quick off the cuff throwaway songs by his high standards (not on the 'Blue' 67-70 2LP album are they ?)and even his undeniable one true epic contribution ADITL does require a Paul song snippet inserted to pad it out...and lift it even higher - imagine....no Paul bit in the middle !

Paul is VERY much the guy pulling the strings, calling the shots, and leading them here

- John even said;
'we were Paul's sidemen...'

so we get rockin', wistful, nostalgic, experimental McCartney Beatles - and credit Paul for doing so much work here, he's SO much the driving force behind HIS idea 'Sgt Pepper' - apparently inspired by Mal Evans mis-hearing a request to pass the SALT 'n' pepper ! LOL

Paul was behind the imaginative idea - tho' John pointed out 'as a concept it goes nowhere...' (there is a big announcement made of the main figure  here: 'BILLY SHEARS'....tho' thereafter he's never mentioned again on the album) - and I feel it's a very innovative recording with an unforgettable cover but there is quite alot of GREAT "Style over Substance" here if you compare Pepper to 'Revolver', 'Rubber Soul' (even 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'Help !') or what came after song wise other Beatles albums I think had far greater consistant quality plus were more of a fuller team effort overall as on 'Pepper' Paul is clearly very much in charge as Lennon observed

The media worshipped 'Pepper' and TOLD the world how MUCH they must love it - only Frank Zappa dared to question at the time and for decades no one DARED ever speak anything less than mega praise for the 'wonderous work' - tho' in latter years Pepper's crown has rather slipped somewhat in the eyes of some people as 'Revolver' grew in status

we know that Tony Hicks felt 'Abbey Road' was stronger than 'Sgt Pepper' - tho' Paul felt otherwise (but then he would as 'Pepper' was so much his baby)

and I do wonder had say a group like The Hollies done something like 'Pepper' would the music press have crucified them for it...?

note how Paul's next big idea - 'Magical Mystery Tour' - WAS really slagged off with glee by the press critics in the UK

[baz]

Jan 29, 2020 8:13:56 GMT distantlight said:

What are your other favourite psychedelic albums? We already had Sgt. Peppers, Evolution and S.F. Sorrow.

For me the definitive one is Pink Floyd's "Piper At The Gates of Dawn"! Another Abbey Road gem so with "Pepper" and "Evolution" being recorded during the same era, Abbey Road sure were pushing the boundaries so let's not forget engineer Peter Bown playing a major part with The Hollies and the Floyd. Toss in the fact The Zombies recorded most of "Odessey and Oracle" during summer and autumn at Abbey Road (along with The Hollies' "Butterfly") and the Pretty Things started work on "SF Sorrow", there was some extraordinary things going on in Abbey Road in 1967.

[Deleted]

I've never been able to get into 'Piper', but then again I guess I'm more a fan of what they now refer to as 'Freakbeat' than out and out psychedelia.

Must admit, I do like most of 'Their Satanic Majesties Requests', though I admit it is also deeply flawed. Like 'Pepper', it would've been greatly enhanced by dropping more self-indulgent tracks and including both sides of a single, in The Rolling Stones' case 'We Love You'/'Dandelion'.

I guess many of us have opinions on music that don't go with what is general accepted. The Rolling Stones? I'd choose 'Between The Buttons' over any of their albums. As for The Beatles, probably 'A Hard Day's Night'! For John Lennon fans, he never dominated a Beatles album more than this, and I just love his "shouting" rock 'n' roll voice that he seemed to drop (or could no longer do in quite the same way) after 1965.

[cameron]

I think it’s a big misconception that Love’s “Forever Changes” is psychedelic. It’s soft pop/folk with a summer of love vibe. Ditto the Doors’ first album.

I get Pink Floyd’s ‘Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’, but I don’t listen to it often. It’s a bit on the weaker side of psychedelia for my liking. Quite sparse sounding.

Psychedelia starts with two gems in 1966: firstly, ‘The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators’ which is pure psyche freak eat with an electric amplified jug to boot. Weird, acid drenched and full of transient sections of nagging guitars and pounding bass lines. Still a freakish record today, but best heard in mono.
Secondly, Donovan was the trailblazer with ‘Sunshine Superman’. He bridges the gaps between folk, pop, jazz and ties it all together with eastern elements and fuses everything together nicely. That to me is psychedelia - the unconventional blend of old sounds to make new ones.

Some of my favourite psychedelia albums are:

1) Rainbow Ffolly ‘Sallies Fforth’ (1968) this was released by an obscure band from High Wicombe on Parlophone. They recorded a demo to send to EMI and EMI loved it so much that they released the demo tape exactly as it was. People mused at the time that it was the Beatles recording a “far out” album under an alias, because it definitely has a Beatles vibe to it. This is such a fine line of comedy, sound effects and straight up great catchy songwriting. The artwork is superb as well. My favourite psychedelic offering of all time, other than ‘Butterfly’ by the Hollies of course... it was recorded in stereo and folded to mono, so opt for the stereo version.

2) Jimi Hendrix Experience ‘Axis: Bold As Love’ (1967). This one needs no introduction, but some of the first uses of full stereo phasing and other psychedelic effects. It’s more experimental than Hendrix’s other output. Definitely one to get in stereo, the mono mix is rubbish.

3) The Moody Blues ‘In Search of the Lost Chord’ (1968). Following the huge success of ‘Days of Future Passed’ in 1967, the Moodies went back into the studio and told the orchestra to leave them alone! The whole LP is decorated only with instruments that they played, mostly underpinned by Mike Pinder’s mellotron. There’s songs about psychedelic musings like time travel and inner peace. The closing track ‘Om’ is absolutely mesmerising. It’s far more psychedelic than ‘Days of Future Passed’.

4) Tomorrow ‘Tomorrow featuring Keith West’ (1967) again on Parlophone and recorded at Abbey Road, this is some top drawer psychedelia with all the key elements. Some great catchy songwriting too. One to get in mono, the stereo mix was mostly fake as the masters were discarded. Most cd issues are stereo, so hunt carefully for the much superior mono mix, it is out there.

5) Mamas And Papas ‘People Like Us’ (1970). This was a throwaway contractural obligation that worked out well. So laid back, they almost fall over! Lovely fat bass and some of the premier Wrecking Crew playing on it. Lovely gentle vocals and not really what you expect from the M&P’s.

[thejanitor]

Although I love Sgt Pepper to bits and acknowledge the impact of had on the music scene thereafter, I would say I actually prefer Magical Mystery Tour. I know some fans don't consider it a proper full album in their discography, but to me, songs like "I Am The Walrus", "Flying", "Blue Jay Way" and the addition of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" to that collection, I would personally say represent The Beatles at the peak of their psychedelic powers to me more than Pepper.

Evolution, Butterfly, Pet Sounds, The SMiLE Sessions, The Bee Gees from 1st up to Odessa, Odgen's, Sell Out, Satanic Majesties (not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be!), Village Green, Waiting For The Sun, Buffalo Springfield Again and The Notorious Byrd Brothers, as well albums by some lesser known groups like July and Grapefruit are all pretty strong contenders for my favourite psych albums!

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2020 13:22:44 GMT thejanitor said:

Although I love Sgt Pepper to bits and acknowledge the impact of had on the music scene thereafter, I would say I actually prefer Magical Mystery Tour. I know some fans don't consider it a proper full album in their discography, but to me, songs like "I Am The Walrus", "Flying", "Blue Jay Way" and the addition of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" to that collection, I would personally say represent The Beatles at the peak of their psychedelic powers to me more than Pepper.

Evolution, Butterfly, Pet Sounds, The SMiLE Sessions, The Bee Gees from 1st up to Odessa, Odgen's, Sell Out, Satanic Majesties (not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be!), Village Green, Waiting For The Sun, Buffalo Springfield Again and The Notorious Byrd Brothers, as well albums by some lesser known groups like July and Grapefruit are all pretty strong contenders for my favourite psych albums!

See what I mean about us all having different (but equally valid!) opinions? To my ears, 'Flying' and 'Blue Jay Way' are the worse things The Beatles ever did, certainly up to 1967 anyway. I do like the 'Magical Mystery Tour' album overall though.

I'm not that familiar with all the albums that you or Cameron mentioned, but I certainly wouldn't call 'Village Green' or 'Odgen's' psychedelic (not really 'Sell Out' either apart from the first song).

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2020 11:42:49 GMT gee said:

In answer to Gee's post, this is why I rate 'A Hard Day's Night' so highly, as it was very much John's album. Of the 13 songs, only 3 feature lead vocals by Paul, 1 by George (on a Lennon-McCartney song) and 0 by Ringo!

By 'Rubber Soul', John and Paul were very much equals, and then from 1967 onwards it was Paul who dominated every album and most of the A-sides. As I generally prefer John's voice, this is at least partly the reason why I much prefer The Beatles' 'touring years' to their 'studio years'.

[baz]

Some very interesting thoughts above! No, I never regarded "Forever Changes" as psychedelia either and to this day is one of the most over-rated albums of that era in my books as I hate those Herb Alpert type arrangements!

"Tomorrow" - great album, great band and have to agree the mono version is the one to have and being a big stereo man myself, that says something!

Donovan... most of his work irritates me but love a handful of tracks and yes, "Sunshine Superman" was a groundbreaker as he recorded that in November 1965, a few days before The Byrds first attempted "Eight Miles High"! Same session also produced "Sunny South Kensington" which is cool as well. Unfortunately legal issues due to a split with management meant it wasn't released until one year later in the UK. My fave track of his will always be "Hurdy Gurdy Man" - great vibe and groove.

Nice to see some love for the much maligned "Satanic Majesties" here! That's my fave Stones album. Granted it does have some weaker ploddy moments but never again did the Stones dare to be so experimental and when it came off like the "We Love You" single and "2000 Light Years From Home"... magnificent and there's a darker edge as well as opposed to out and out whimsy many psych acts resorted to.

"Piper" is my fave for many reasons and I advocate the mono mix of that as that's got various extra bits missing from the stereo plus with the extra compression and none of the wild panning, it's much more in yer face. For me it's the textbook of British psych as it covers all bases - free form freakouts, whimsy, nursery rhyme stuff, freakbeat (Lucifer Sam!), pure nonsense (Bike) and stuff like "Pow R Toc H" are rather creepy. It's my all time fave album.

Practically all albums mentioned in this thread are in my collection and I enjoy them all. Just "Forever Changes" continues to elude me. Yeah, some great stuff across those early Bee Gees albums and did they ever get any trippier than "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" and "Red Chair Fade Away"? 1965 to 1968 is my fave era in music history and pretty much like Peter, it's my fave Hollies era. Then theres all the odd weird and wonderful singles straddling Freakbeat and psychedelia...

As for another obscure gem worth checking out (preferably in stereo) try "Look At Me I'm You" by Blossom Toes!

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2020 18:01:55 GMT baz said:

 1965 to 1968 is my fave era in music history and pretty much like Peter, it's my fave Hollies era.

It's certainly my favourite Hollies era, but my fave music era generally is probably 1963 to 1966.

Like many of us, I go through phases of listening/collecting different artists and genres. Over the past year or so it has been largely UK beat music, though there are exceptions; I bought a terrific Larry Williams CD a couple of weeks back, and my Coasters box-set from a couple of years ago still gets frequent plays!