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Post by sandy on Jun 9, 2020 19:38:33 GMT
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Post by sandy on Jun 9, 2020 19:51:48 GMT
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Post by cameron on Jun 9, 2020 20:27:18 GMT
Some interesting points here, of course, all to be taken with a pinch of salt because there was a fair amount of ego involved.
I didn't realise that they were tied into personal contracts with the Hollies, though Allan could have been referring to the get-out with EMI around 1971. I don't know if this happened before or after he left.
Secondly, I can't believe how they all talk despairingly of 'Distant Light' (including the writer of the article) whereas now its generally considered one of their absolute best works! Interesting how Bernie Calvert talks of tensions between Allan and the rest of the band, but I don't understand it because he didn't have a lot of those songs for 'My Real Name Is 'Arold' until AFTER he left the group. And I always felt like 'Arold' was a smoother follow up stylistically than 'Romany', which was a hop in a further, more evolved direction, so I was always under the impression that 'Distant Light' was largely Allan's doing. But the article is correct, he barely wrote any songs for the album, and 'Long Cool Woman' was a throwaway filler that they recorded quickly to pad out the album!
The comments about the Rickfors Hollies at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium echo what just about everyone else said who saw the Rickfors Hollies. Too many ballads/slow songs, no pace to the set and an unconvincing performance of their past hits without Allan. I felt they were a little harsh on them in the article, because the Rickfors Hollies rocked hard, but then again, so did 1970/71 live Hollies.
Interesting that Allan recalls the Hollies recording 'Be Yourself', which of course wouldn't be released by Graham Nash until 1971. I find it so interesting that just about all of Graham's best material was written while he was with the Hollies and he managed to spread it out over CSN for three or four years! Allan is wrong about erasing Nash's contributions though, it's not possible. The Hollies themselves weren't operating the tapes! EMI would never allow such a practice at the band's insistence, an engineer would just copy the tape over from the previous multitrack.
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Jun 9, 2020 22:29:51 GMT
Two thoughts:
1. Really glad my opinions from when I was in my 20s were never documented anywhere. Must be tiring when you still have to see and often deal with that stuff 50 years later.
2. Why do so many articles end the same -- "Nash left and the Hollies still had hits on their own until they didn't the end". Otherwise, that second article was quite decent.
Edit: No, THREE thoughts.
3. I was just listening to "Promised Land." And then there's "Long Dark Road." Lack of harmonies on Distant Light? What about For Certain Because because of "What Went Wrong," "High-Classed," "Tell Me To My Face," "Clown"...
And let's not get started on the "boring" part with one of my favourite albums.
I remember a long time ago seeing somewhere a review of Romany by Robert Christgau which just basically said, "Imagine the Hollies without Graham Nash. Now imagine them without Allan Clarke." That was about it.
Why I tend to take critics with a huge block of salt...
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Post by gee on Jun 10, 2020 14:47:28 GMT
or the LACK of group harmonies on Butterfly too
- Nash does his own harmonies or sings solo on his four songs, Hicks likewise on 'Pegasus' while Nash and Clarke duet on a few songs
only five songs; 'Dear Eloise', 'Would You Believe', 'Step Inside', 'Charlie and Fred' and 'Try it'- less than half the album - use the full vocal harmony team of Clarke-Hicks-Nash
'Distant Light' was unusual in that the female backup singers were used on three tracks, again the solo balladeer (Terry in place of Graham) handles his songs vocals; 'Cable Car' and 'Pull Down The Blind' himself
Allan sings solo on 'Look What We've Got', most of 'Hold On' and of course 'LCW'
but there ARE full harmonies on 'To Do With Love', 'A Little Thing Like Love' (which was considered as the single at first)...and as stated 'Promised Land', 'Long Dark Road' (where the girls...and even Bobby and Bernie joined in on the singalong outro)
also the main song and ghostly bridge section of 'You Know The Score' has harmonies as indeed did 'What A Life I've Led' (plus the girls too)
- that's SIX tracks with Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester harmonies on 'Distant Light' out of eleven tracks in total
so Butterfly had just less than half tracks with full group harmonies while Distant Light had just over half
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Jun 10, 2020 18:03:33 GMT
or the LACK of group harmonies on Butterfly too - Nash does his own harmonies or sings solo on his four songs, Hicks likewise on 'Pegasus' while Nash and Clarke duet on a few songs only five songs; 'Dear Eloise', 'Would You Believe', 'Step Inside', 'Charlie and Fred' and 'Try it'- less than half the album - use the full vocal harmony team of Clarke-Hicks-Nash 'Distant Light' was unusual in that the female backup singers were used on three tracks, again the solo balladeer (Terry in place of Graham) handles his songs vocals; 'Cable Car' and 'Pull Down The Blind' himself Allan sings solo on 'Look What We've Got', most of 'Hold On' and of course 'LCW' but there ARE full harmonies on 'To Do With Love', 'A Little Thing Like Love' (which was considered as the single at first)...and as stated 'Promised Land', 'Long Dark Road' (where the girls...and even Bobby and Bernie joined in on the singalong outro) also the main song and ghostly bridge section of 'You Know The Score' has harmonies as indeed did 'What A Life I've Led' (plus the girls too) - that's SIX tracks with Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester harmonies on 'Distant Light' out of eleven tracks in total so Butterfly had just less than half tracks with full group harmonies while Distant Light had just over half Kind of doubt critics of the time (or any time) bothered to listen that closely.
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Post by cameron on Jun 11, 2020 9:13:52 GMT
This article is nothing compared to a similar one Allan did in 1978 when he left the second time! He was SCATHING!
I don't know if 'Distant Light' is their most viewed album on Spotify purely for the LCW link, but I don't even think that's one of the best songs on the album! There's no filler on DL (apart from that weird long pause in the middle of 'You Know The Score') and it seems like such a well conceived album and a definite step in a more progressive direction. I don't know why the Hollies "distanced" themselves from it at the time, unless it was because of the internal struggles behind the scenes?
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Post by baz on Jun 11, 2020 10:18:47 GMT
There's no filler on DL (apart from that weird long pause in the middle of 'You Know The Score') and it seems like such a well conceived album and a definite step in a more progressive direction. I don't know why the Hollies "distanced" themselves from it at the time, unless it was because of the internal struggles behind the scenes? Very likely. Barry Gibb has difficulties accepting the love and acclaim for the Bee Gees' "Odessa" album because it was made as the Gibb brothers were falling apart and not getting along so the memories are painful for him. Quite likely then the conflicts within The Hollies coloured their view of "Distant Light" as regardless of what followed, it did mark a downturn commercially for the band. It was their first album project minus Ron Richards, nor were they at Abbey Road so can imagine the making of the album was a strange experience for them. They probably knew they were splitting from EMI as well... The inner gatefold pictures, Allan looks utterly miserable. When LCW hit big in America, neither side - Clarke and The Hollies with Mikael Rickfors - were happy about the situation. The American record company said "no" to Allan helping promote it whilst The Hollies had to tour minus the singer who sang and wrote the song, so that would be connected with the album as well - their big chance in America only now they had a new singer who wasn't really comfortable with the heritage hits, so one can imagine some of the chaos and confusion that resulted. So, an era of change and uncertainty that sadly, didn't go at all well. Musically, it's a great album which holds up really well and most would agree the Rickfors era was also good musically, but for The Hollies, it was a commercial disaster which rocked them to the degree they had to get Allan back into the band. So, all the turmoil behind the scenes would definitely colour their views regardless of the quality of the music.
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Post by sandy on Jun 11, 2020 11:07:04 GMT
Distant Light is a great album, but in a way it's kind of lucky it holds together as a whole album at all! There's only one track ,I think, written by all three of the in house team ,(You know the score), with all the others done in little huddles,either individually (Cable Car, Pull down the blind, Hold on),or by members with outside writers. I don't know if they were under pressure to produce this album for their contract fulfillments, but you could look at it as a very much cobbled together album, at a time that they definitely had internal problems, and obviously spending no time together for writing purposes.......a real wonder that it came out, as far as a lot of fans are concerned,as a great album.Contractual pressure would explain why they themselves all seemed so scathing.( Didn't that happen with A Crazy Steal too?)
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Post by gee on Jun 11, 2020 12:40:34 GMT
Sylvester-Clarke wrote 'You Know The Score'
aside from a few rather 'routine' team efforts on 'Hollies Sing Hollies' it's very noticeable that after Graham Nash departed Allan and Tony drift right away from each other from 1970 until 1974 with either Hicks or Clarke and later Sylvester writing the singles 'B' sides in turn over 1969-71
Tony either writes solo, or with Kenny Lynch and later Colin Horton Jennings
Allan either writes solo or with Terry plus seasoned tunesmiths Roger Cook, Tony Macauley then later with his guitarist Ray Glynn and bass player Herbie Flowers on solo works
Even after Allan returned to the band in late summer 1973 he and Tony continued to compose songs independently of each other and it's not until 'Hello Lady Goodbye'- recorded on 12 August 1974 - do Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester properly emerge as the second full team of songwriters for the group - hence why 'Another Night' has some Clarke/Sylvester songs besides the full team's works
very early on note Tony Hicks alone wrote 'When I'm Not There' in 1963 tho' re-cut and used later in 1964 on an EP also Hicks-Elliott wrote 'Keep Off That Friend of Mine'....with Nash-Clarke penning most early original material so there also had been a brief early period before Clarke-Hicks-Nash came together then as 'Ransford'
it would seem likely that first Graham Nash in 1964 then Terry Sylvester in 1974 properly pulled Allan and Tony together as songwriters
we do know they also wrote separately under the team banners during those two eras - Nash writing his songs, Tony 'Pegasus', Allan 'Lullaby To Tim' etc plus a few duo efforts especially circa 'Butterfly' - while in 1976 Allan alone composed 'Samuel' but overall re the full team efforts it seems first Graham later Terry were the chief members who pulled Allan and Tony together as songwriters
when both Nash then Sylvester left there seemed to be a drifting apart creatively of Clarke and Hicks with just a few very sporadic later joint works (Bobby told me only Tony Hicks wrote 'Hillsborough' despite Allan Clarke getting a label credit, while Tony wrote 'Naomi' with his son Paul Hicks and Allan teamed up with Vale and Leeson too)
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Post by gee on Jun 11, 2020 13:05:48 GMT
Distant Light
With Ron Richards absent due to ill health it seems as if on producing themselves at AIR studios with engineer John Punter in overall charge during a long period over 6 April to 30 July 1971 with some breaks in between they got rather more 'off the lesh' and became more rock ambitious with songs not always reliant on the three way harmonies plus some noted guest musicians adding a more rock style sound
Bernie also fell ill during this time so Tony played bass on several tracks
Songs from Allan, Terry, Allan/Terry plus a couple of co-efforts by Allan with Cook and Macauley were completed by some more rock styled Tony Hicks-Kenny Lynch efforts so creatively it was something of a mixed bag rather than any focused direction with the rock style chiefly uniting the work
As later 'Romany' started off acoustic/harmonies...but had three driving electric rockers cut late on added on (one in place of 'Papa Rain') so it appears after 'Distant Light' seems to have started off very rock orientated (Bobby's drums and the wailing organ on 'Hold On' the guitar led 'You Know The Score', the harmony less LCW and 'Look What We've Got', the lean guitar of Terry's 'Pull Down The Blind' etc)
however they seem to have suddenly felt it was wiser 'not to go too far...'
more commercial pop styled numbers such as Allan's 'A Little Thing Like Love', Tony's 'To Do With Love' and Terry's lush gentle ballad 'Cable Car' (like the three late electric rock tracks on 'Romany') look to have been added to balance the album out more with both Allan and Tony's more commercial tracks sounding far more typical Hollies re the vocal harmonies if not the more ambitious production style
Recording session details are vague for this period so we can't be 100% sure if, as next with 'Romany', the three more commercial sounding numbers were recorded last and added on or if they were just used as balancing counter tracks to maintain a degree of more 'Typical Hollies' style on the album offsetting the more ambitious rock flavoured styled songs
Ron Richards return - complaining re the echo on Allan's voice on LCW - probably arrested too much rock ambition and while he was credited as producing a number of tracks probably more than anything oversaw the final mixing of the album
certainly far more of a contemporary more progressive rock orientated approach with greater emphasis on instrumentation, use of echo on Clarke's lead voice, notable double tracking on Terry's (on 'Pull Down The Blind'), less complete use of the trademark three way harmonies (a few tracks featuring the additional female backup singers notably) was then countered by three more typical love song lyrical sounding songs by Allan, Tony and Terry in turn that were less progressive rock more either pop/rock or MOR ballad
Allan had various 'issues' then plus I believe some outside 'friends' telling him he WAS The Hollies and if Nash could make it outside the band obviously he could too ...maybe that was why Allan looks so 'alone' and frankly miserable just slumped in the chair unable to raise a smile in the innersleeve photos on 'Distant Light'...
Question - would it have been wiser to open 'Distant Light' with 'Long Cool Woman' rather than 'What A Life I've Led' ?
I do suspect on both 'Distant Light' and 'Romany' musically they got three quarters through in a specific approach...then decided to broaden the appeal more by adding three tracks of a wider format style accordingly
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