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Post by JamesT on Apr 17, 2020 6:53:37 GMT
All interesting ideas. I took from the book that Bobby and Bernie (and Eric) were certainly far from typical rock stars, and enjoyed the comfort of home in 'The North' too much and craved a quick return there. Who can blame them - a lovely part of the world in the Ribble valley and surrounds.
With Bobby and Bernie apparently living so close to each other, I wonder if they ever met up post-1981?
Re: the north/south comments, try living in Scotland, it's another world - and I'm three miles from the border with England! It really irks me when 'UK Tours' are announced by some artists. Often, it's just England, and in one case (it'll come back to me who it was at some point...) it was three dates along the lines of Bristol, Southampton and Nottingham! In my approaching middle-age, I've got into some folk artists in the past few years. I had a conversation with artists after a gig to which I'd travelled about three hours to. I asked if they'd play further north and there was some concern as to how a Scottish (or even Cumbrian) audience would take to them. This was despite the fact that at least four songs they're associated with have origins there, and band members have lived there too! In general, 'THE NORTH' seems to be regarded as some cultural and social backwater.
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Post by moorlock2003 on Apr 17, 2020 7:21:39 GMT
What's so shocking about the re-recorded vocals in 72? That story had been out for decades.
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Post by cameron on Apr 17, 2020 8:02:12 GMT
Re: the north/south comments, try living in Scotland, it's another world - and I'm three miles from the border with England! Scotland is practically the back of beyond - very beautiful though. I remember once arriving at a campsite (this is only about ten years ago) and the village was so secluded that they had just a general store and an enormous book shop. Apparently TV signal was poor in that area, so all the villagers just accepted it and read books for entertainment instead! I'm surprised they even had electricity to their homes! Of course, some places in the highlands still don't! It is strange how varied the UK is for such a small island that's only 800 miles in length. I had an American friend who flew to Kent and asked me if we could meet up for lunch! I live in Nottinghamshire, so it's about a 200 mile drive each way. She seemed confused as to why I wouldn't do it, of course a 400-mile round trip is nothing for Americans! Over here, with all our congestion and small roads, that's probably a ten hour return trip at least. Reading Bobby's book, the journeys they undertook in their little Ford Thames van in the early days to get to gigs must have been absolutely exhausting. This was in the days before motorways and bypasses. Just driving from the Midlands to the coast was a big enough ordeal in those days to be seen as an annual holiday! We'd think nothing of it now, and be there in about three hours. A Ford Thames with six/seven guys and their equipment would have been maxed out at 50mph and far from a quiet experience. Funnily enough, Tony and Bobby got to relive this experience last year at the Motorhome Show. Me and my friend went snooping backstage when they did their soundcheck to see if we could get a glimpse of them and were expecting to find a massive tour bus or Winnebago style RV. There were just two small (very small) motorhomes parked there, which we assumed were just visitors. It turned out that the Motorhome Show had promised the Hollies and the Manfreds a motorhome each, which the Hollies assumed would be huge like I thought, and when they arrived they found these two tiny 20ft four-berth motorhomes to squeeze six of them in plus their crew for about six hours!
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Post by stuball on Apr 17, 2020 15:13:13 GMT
Re: the north/south comments, try living in Scotland, it's another world - and I'm three miles from the border with England! It really irks me when 'UK Tours' are announced by some artists. Often, it's just England, and in one case (it'll come back to me who it was at some point...) it was three dates along the lines of Bristol, Southampton and Nottingham! In my approaching middle-age, I've got into some folk artists in the past few years. I had a conversation with artists after a gig to which I'd travelled about three hours to. I asked if they'd play further north and there was some concern as to how a Scottish (or even Cumbrian) audience would take to them. This was despite the fact that at least four songs they're associated with have origins there, and band members have lived there too! In general, 'THE NORTH' seems to be regarded as some cultural and social backwater. James, your piece above reminded me of an trivial but unforgettable experience I had in Edinburgh as a young man touring Britain. I was staying in a B&B run by an elderly (in their 60's) couple. They were quite pleasant, and once my ear had acclimated to their brogue, we had some good chats. Anyway, one morning after breakfast, the gentleman was quite helpful, pointing out some places of interest I should really see before leaving. I think it may have been Edinburgh Castle he was referring to, when all of a sudden his voice turned downright nasty, almost threatening: 'And that's where the Sassenachs hung our brave young boys!' He almost spit the words out! In my ignorance, I had to ask who the 'Sassenachs' were, and he growled 'the English!' He was so incensed, I wondered if they had hung his own boy! When he told me it had happened something like 600 years ago, I almost fell over. Talk about nursing a grievance! If if this attitude of long-held historical slights holds true across the country, and are passed down through the generations, no wonder regions become so insular and close-minded.
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Post by davidm on Apr 17, 2020 16:28:07 GMT
Having read the book, this is my review.
This is the long awaited inside story of the Hollies from their drummer. His early years of growing up in '50's Britain, leaving school to become an apprentice in a coal mine, whilst playing drums in his spare time are for me the most moving and interesting part of the book. The life of a '60's band on the road is well re-counted and clearly taken from his diaries of the time. Their visits to the USA are another highlight, and an extract of this is in this month's Shindig magazine. We also learn of his take on the various personnel and management changes. I would have liked to have read a bit more about the recording of the singles and albums, and a bit less about their '70's tours. This is Bobby's story and he has chosen to end it in 1981, leaving out the details of the final departure of Allan Clarke and the other band changes since then. There is scope for a sequel, but maybe not much demand for one. Overall this is a good read for fans of '60's music, and an essential read for Hollies fans.
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Post by JamesT on Apr 18, 2020 18:34:00 GMT
Re: the north/south comments, try living in Scotland, it's another world - and I'm three miles from the border with England! It really irks me when 'UK Tours' are announced by some artists. Often, it's just England, and in one case (it'll come back to me who it was at some point...) it was three dates along the lines of Bristol, Southampton and Nottingham! In my approaching middle-age, I've got into some folk artists in the past few years. I had a conversation with artists after a gig to which I'd travelled about three hours to. I asked if they'd play further north and there was some concern as to how a Scottish (or even Cumbrian) audience would take to them. This was despite the fact that at least four songs they're associated with have origins there, and band members have lived there too! In general, 'THE NORTH' seems to be regarded as some cultural and social backwater. James, your piece above reminded me of an trivial but unforgettable experience I had in Edinburgh as a young man touring Britain. I was staying in a B&B run by an elderly (in their 60's) couple. They were quite pleasant, and once my ear had acclimated to their brogue, we had some good chats. Anyway, one morning after breakfast, the gentleman was quite helpful, pointing out some places of interest I should really see before leaving. I think it may have been Edinburgh Castle he was referring to, when all of a sudden his voice turned downright nasty, almost threatening: 'And that's where the Sassenachs hung our brave young boys!' He almost spit the words out! In my ignorance, I had to ask who the 'Sassenachs' were, and he growled 'the English!' He was so incensed, I wondered if they had hung his own boy! When he told me it had happened something like 600 years ago, I almost fell over. Talk about nursing a grievance! If if this attitude of long-held historical slights holds true across the country, and are passed down through the generations, no wonder regions become so insular and close-minded. You do get them, and also in England about the Scottish as well. Here's a little funny from one of our most famous comedians which almost mirrors your hotel experience: 🤣
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Post by JamesT on Apr 18, 2020 18:35:20 GMT
Having read the book, this is my review. This is the long awaited inside story of the Hollies from their drummer. His early years of growing up in '50's Britain, leaving school to become an apprentice in a coal mine, whilst playing drums in his spare time are for me the most moving and interesting part of the book. The life of a '60's band on the road is well re-counted and clearly taken from his diaries of the time. Their visits to the USA are another highlight, and an extract of this is in this month's Shindig magazine. We also learn of his take on the various personnel and management changes. I would have liked to have read a bit more about the recording of the singles and albums, and a bit less about their '70's tours. This is Bobby's story and he has chosen to end it in 1981, leaving out the details of the final departure of Allan Clarke and the other band changes since then. There is scope for a sequel, but maybe not much demand for one. Overall this is a good read for fans of '60's music, and an essential read for Hollies fans. Just how likely is that sequel? There's demand for it I'd think, at least amongst hardcore fans.
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Post by davidm on Apr 18, 2020 21:21:26 GMT
I agree, as a fan I would buy any follow up. The current book does appear in an Amazon sales ranking. It is number 48 in rock music books (number 8,051 in all books). That looks quite good to me.
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Post by anthony on Apr 19, 2020 14:56:01 GMT
What's so shocking about the re-recorded vocals in 72? That story had been out for decades. Lip sinking in the end, looks like they were a fake band, no good live, looks like they were to embarrassed to play live gigs in their home country the UK. explains why Tony and Bob were happy to invite Allan back. the Hollies always prided themselves on being a great live band, they needed to get back to being that, it was never going to happy with Rickforce, so welcome Home Allan.
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Apr 22, 2020 14:46:40 GMT
I agree, as a fan I would buy any follow up. The current book does appear in an Amazon sales ranking. It is number 48 in rock music books (number 8,051 in all books). That looks quite good to me. Apparently not available in Canada (so I assume the US) until September so that's not a bad tally so far!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2021 7:36:23 GMT
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Post by Malc on Jan 1, 2021 7:59:47 GMT
...and one of mine, the previous year. Here's hoping he's a tad more generous on his Hollie-thoughts at the end of 2021 !
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Post by johnt on Jan 1, 2021 15:44:09 GMT
...and one of mine, the previous year. Here's hoping he's a tad more generous on his Hollie-thoughts at the end of 2021 ! How is your book on The Hollies coming along, Malc?
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Jan 1, 2021 16:30:08 GMT
Yours got a more positive review than Bobby's (although it's kind of like comparing apples and oranges). Good on you, Peter!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2021 17:41:40 GMT
Yours got a more positive review than Bobby's (although it's kind of like comparing apples and oranges). Good on you, Peter! Thanks Laura! Must confess that I still haven't read Bobby's book, but of those I'm familiar with, my 2020 No. 1 would be Andy Neill's 'Ready, Steady, Go!' book.
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Post by Malc on Jan 1, 2021 18:47:54 GMT
...and one of mine, the previous year. Here's hoping he's a tad more generous on his Hollie-thoughts at the end of 2021 ! How is your book on The Hollies coming along, Malc? Ready and rarin'! Currently waiting to be edited and then it goes to be laid out. Still on schedule for a spring publication. Subject to this damn virus... Initial sales will be through my own website before it hits the wider market...
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