Hollies Tony Bobby.

[anthony]

Firstly Bob's book was a great read. Liked the part when he wrote the Hollies head hunted Tony to join the band.

Been thinking Tony's been in the band from 1963, 57 odd years. Bob's joined not long after lets say 56 years, then the longest would be Allan who left 20 years ago,

I would imagine that Ray would be next with years of service.

Gee not many bands could boast that type of longevity from its members.  Only the Stones would surpass that I would imagine.

They don't have two versions of the Band like HH, The Sweet, The Searches apart from a short lived Eric's version of the Hollies.

Amazing to think they are not part of the 60's shows and can demand still have concerts in their own right.

They sure are an amazing band.

[eric]

What also amazes me Anthony is that Tony was only 17 years old when he started his recording career with The Hollies. Prior to him turning 19 he had 4 Top Ten singles and 2 LP’s under his belt!

His contemporary guitarists were generally older than him, for example: Hank Marvin (4 years older), George Harrison (nearly 3 years older), Keith Richards (2 years older), Eric Clapton (9 months older) and Pete Townshend (7 months older). Tony was making hit records before Clapton and Townshend.

By the time he reached his milestone 21st birthday he had contributed significant guitar parts to the hits “We’re Through”, “Yes I Will”, “I’m Alive”, “Look Through Any Window”, “I Can’t Let Go” and “Bus Stop” and, of course, the brilliant banjo sound on “Stop! Stop! Stop!”. All of these parts were varied and imaginative and, importantly, they enhanced the sound of the band.

I believe that Tony’s body of work is up there with the best. He never repeated himself. He was always looking for ways to add colour and texture to The Hollies sound and to try new sounds (fuzz, banjo, and sitar). That he still plays brilliantly to this day is an amazing feat and an absolute testament to his immense talent.

[thejanitor]

It's disappointing the amount of greatest guitarist lists I've skimmed over and not seen a mention of Tony. I'm sure many of his friends and contemporaries that appear over and over (Tony becoming neighbours and good friends with George Harrison in the 80s, Clapton praising his "The Air That I Breathe" intro, teaching Jimmy Page guitar parts during the Two Yanks sessions and Hendrix owning a copy of Hollies Sing Dylan makes me think he was most likely an admirer of Tony's playing) would even make the argument for him to join them on some kind of official list.

You've also got to respect and admire his and Bobby's true dedication to the group and its legacy. Feel free to prove wrong, but I think both have participated in little to no other side projects in all their years since joining - the only one that comes to mind is Tony's collaborations with Kenny Lynch, but even then, as Cameron has detailed, other Hollies were usually not too far from participation on those also!

Finally, to paraphrase what I think someone once said here, Tony also had the amazing ability of looking 17 up until he was about 40! 😂

[baz]

As discussed before where Tony is concerned, unlike most guitarists he wasn't interested in hogging the limelight nor showing off with lengthy solos. Tony has always been economical - he plays what is needed for the song and the band, not for himself. A rare quality which goes some way to explaining why he's rarely listed amongst "the greats". When one also thinks of all the styles he's played in, he's not too easy to categorise either. His restraint, no doubt believing that "less is more, more is less" definitely makes him unique and individual.

[Mevrouw Bee]

Apr 7, 2020 22:31:07 GMT anthony said:

Firstly Bob's book was a great read. Liked the part when he wrote the Hollies head hunted Tony to join the band.

Been thinking Tony's been in the band from 1963, 57 odd years. Bob's joined not long after lets say 56 years, then the longest would be Allan who left 20 years ago,

I would imagine that Ray would be next with years of service.

Gee not many bands could boast that type of longevity from its members.  Only the Stones would surpass that I would imagine.

They don't have two versions of the Band like HH, The Sweet, The Searches apart from a short lived Eric's version of the Hollies.

Amazing to think they are not part of the 60's shows and can demand still have concerts in their own right.

They sure are an amazing band.

Probably not as internationally known, but just as treasured in the Netherlands -- Golden Earring have been around since 1961. Which probably beats them all. Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboards) and George Kooymans (vocals and guitar and main songwriter) were founding members, but have been with Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drummer extraordinaire) since 1970. Saw them unplugged in 2009. SUBLIME. Totally recommend their back catalogue, especially from the mid-60s to mid-80s.

[distantlight]

I'll get a bit off topic here but good point about Golden Earring (named Golden Earrings in the '60s) - they are probably best known for their harder rocking '70s output like "Radar Love" but they released some cool psych pop records in the '60s that are worth checking out. My favourite from that era is "Miracle Mirror" from 1968.

Actually the whole Nederbeat scene had some great bands who recorded lot's of cool records that are not far behind some of the English and American classics. The most well known band might be Shocking Blue ("Venus") but others like The Outsiders (their classic album is called CQ from 1968), Q65 (Netherland's garage heroes), Ro-d-Ys (a bit on the Kinks side), Group 1850 (far out psychedelia), Cuby + Blizzards (more bluesy) or The Motions (maybe the most Hollies-like with their catchy pop sound) are worth checking out, too.

With Holland being close to England and being such a small country that for example movies weren't synchronised but instead came with subtitles they seemed to develop a good feeling for the English sound and language. Better than bigger countries like France, Spain, Italy or Germany - so in a way the Nederbeat scene is less unique than some of the stuff that came out of other bigger European countries because of it. But it's the scene (together with the Swedish stuff of the time) that came closest to their influences and is easy to get into for listeners who might have a bit of trouble to cross the language barrier of some of the other scenes.

Also the eastern block countries had some incredibly interesting Beat & Psych scenes in the late '60s, too but that's another story. If anyone wants a couple of recommendations for great albums produced outside Great Britain and the US don't hesitate to ask.

[Mevrouw Bee]

Totally agree! I might add the earlier stuff by the Cats to that list (The Dude told me they were kind of considered the Dutch Hollies, especially with songs such as "Sure He's A Cat," (written by Cooke and Greenaway) "Lea," "Marian" and "One Way Wind") and the Buffoons.

The lyrics always gave me a giggle; they pretty much boil down to "Honey, he may look good, but he ain't ever going to be into you! *cough*"

[thejanitor]

That's from 1967!? 😯 Their fashion looks a couple of years ahead (unless that is a later promo)! But that's a sweet little song. 😊 I could hear it fitting nicely alongside some Hollies Sing Hollies album tracks.

[Mevrouw Bee]

Apr 23, 2020 16:55:09 GMT thejanitor said:

That's from 1967!? 😯 Their fashion looks a couple of years ahead (unless that is a later promo)! But that's a sweet little song. 😊 I could hear it fitting nicely alongside some Hollies Sing Hollies album tracks.

Good point! Although the 60s rock bands tended to adopt long hair before their British or American counterparts (Phil May of the Pretty Things being the obvious exception), that looks more like a '69-'70 video, doesn't it? 

For example, this is the Outsiders in 1966, lead singer Wally Tax looking more like mid-70s Robin Gibb. 



But this is the cover from the Cat's single in '67 and they were still looking pretty Nederbeat here. 

[distantlight]

Yeah - this video clip seems to be from a later period. I just checked my copy of their 1968 album and there they still have shorter hair. I would also guess 1970. Good little tune - I remember it from that "Nederbeat 63-69 Beat, Bluf & Branie" compilation.

[Mevrouw Bee]

Apr 23, 2020 17:40:47 GMT distantlight said:

Yeah - this video clip seems to be from a later period. I just checked my copy of their 1968 album and there they still have shorter hair. I would also guess 1970. Good little tune - I remember it from that "Nederbeat 63-69 Beat, Bluf & Branie" compilation.

Oh we have that compilation! We also have a 5-disc compilation of the Cats. They get a little too cheesy for my taste as the 70s go on...

[distantlight]

True - they were always a bit cheesy but '60s cheesy is different to '70s cheesy. Some interesting tunes and they were quite successful but not the most interesting Nederbeat band for sure. Unfortunately they didn't make the transition to a rougher '70s sound but instead got even more commercial.

[glovenet]

I was in Germany from 1971 to 1973 in the Royal Air Force stationed near the Dutch border and spent a lot of time in Holland mainly because they spoke good English unlike the Germans back then. I used to visit Venlo and Nijmegan a lot and bought quite a few records there. I loved The Cats but also Earth & Fire who should have had UK hits with Memories or Maybe Tomorrow. Also bought De Wolf by Peter En Zijn Rockets which was fantastic even sung in Dutch. Have an album of his too. The Dizzy Man's Band was good too. Mustn't forget Bonnie St Clair & Unit Gloria. So many great Dutch bands then.

[thejanitor]

I listened to a couple more Cats tunes (from a greatest hits compilation on YouTube) since that last post and yes, I can definitely hear a similarity to The Hollies. They remind me a little of the early 70s Tremeloes too!

[knut]

I have compiled Earth and Fire in addition to Golden Earring and Focus. Also Brainbox.