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Post by becca67 on Oct 4, 2021 18:21:18 GMT
While reading Malcolm Searles' great book I've been playing the music along from the times I'm reading about and had forgotten what an excellent and pivotal album this one is! Unfortunately it didn't sell in the numbers the preceding Sing Dylan album did and there are some grumblings about the cover photo being out of step with the times (if perhaps a little ahead of retro-Brit inspired U.S. groups like The Raspberries). It is very bright though, not the most attractive of colours to me as someone who never took to marmalade (not the group though, I like them lots, and also that record label that existed fairly briefly). Anyway... I've decided the main flaw is the running order in parts and have come up with my own 'version' of the album (replete with a cover using the best colour photo of the time I could find).  The Hollies Sing The Hollies (my way) 1. Why Didn't You Believe?
2. Don't Give Up Easily
3. Look At Life
4. My Life Is Over With You
5. Marigold
6. Gloria Swansong
7. Do You Believe In Love?
8. You Love 'Cos You Like It
9. Goodbye Tomorrow
10. Please Let Me Please
11. Reflections Of A Long Time Past
12. 'Cos You Like To Love MeDropping both Please Sign Your Letters and Soldiers Dilemma and adding the B-side track 'Cos You Like To Love Me with separation to Marigold and Gloria Swansong in each having it's own track number on CD but the former still fading into the latter. I see three of Allan's songs as being post-Graham downers to be gotten out of his and the group's systems and have tried to balance them with the more upbeat and forward looking tracks as answers. I really lover Bernie's instrumental and have kept that, it's a great finish leading into the underrated Hicks B-side I think! What do you have to say about this generally well above average album? Is it flawed? A fan of the two pieces I dropped? I wouldn't be without this release, but it had mostly sat neglected until I started reading Malcolm's biography. Is there a less demo sounding Marigold? A longer take of Gloria Swansong? I would want a live performance of those two as a CD bonus track I'm thinking. |
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Post by ahkyahnan on Oct 4, 2021 20:37:12 GMT
That’s funny you posted this. I just listened to it for only the 2nd time so far last Monday and was going to discuss it a little, but couldn’t find a previous thread. Now we have one!
I really like this album. I mentioned in another thread after my first listen that there were elements here and there that made me think of things I recall hearing on the radio in the early 70s. Some of the country pop crossover artists like BJ Thomas maybe. Can’t think of any specific songs but just the overall style and writing approach here and there. So maybe a more influential album among artists than previously thought.
My version is the 2014 Japan SHM CD with a bunch of bonus tracks. So just over 70 minutes long.
I haven’t heard it enough times to comment on your revised track list, other than to note it would be a little short since you’re really only replacing 1 of the 2 dropped songs. About 4 minutes shorter than the original.
Thanks for starting this.
Mark
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Post by thejanitor on Oct 4, 2021 21:07:01 GMT
I've sort of said this before, but I mostly view their 1969 output as them finding their footing again after Graham's departure and settling Terry in. Across the two albums and singles for that year, it seems to me like they were uncertainly trying their hand out in all kinds of genres and styles (pop, rock, country, folk, cabaret etc.) to find anything that stuck as well as struggling to figure out whether they should continue appealing to teenyboppers or make the move towards a more mature audience. I think the success of He Ain't Heavy gave them the confidence to do the latter and bounce back more ambitiously with Confessions, Distant Light, and on their subsequent singles.
On HSH: not one of my favourites, but it's an okay album and I'd say I like about half of it (My Life Is Over With You, Goodbye Tomorrow, Please Let Me Please, Look At Life, Soldier's Dilemma, Reflections). She Looked My Way is a nice bonus outtake from the era, I probably would add that to the track list along with Heavy and 'Cos You Like To Love Me.
Marigold/Gloria Swansong is good but I feel like it would be much better if the whole track was orchestrated rather than just the second half. The rest of the songs don't really do anything for me, I'm afraid.
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Oct 4, 2021 21:16:05 GMT
Whatever the merits of the content I do prefer your version of the sleeve design.. !!
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Post by becca67 on Oct 5, 2021 1:19:06 GMT
I wouldn't want to use She Looked My Way (or He Ain't Heavy) only because they weren't written by Hollies. I definitely think Marigold/Gloria Swansong could have had a much smoother totality... I saw there was a newer mix on a compilation titled Changin' Times but haven't heard it to compare. My HSH is the digipack UK EMI one with no extras. I have a couple of Magic editions of the first two Hollies Parlophone albums with extras, but then all mono/stereo combined with no extras CDs from Hollies to Butterfly. Then I have original vinyl LPs for Distant Light to the calculator number one, so a right dog's breakfast is my 'collection'.  |
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Oct 5, 2021 13:41:25 GMT
I've sort of said this before, but I mostly view their 1969 output as them finding their footing again after Graham's departure and settling Terry in. Across the two albums and singles for that year, it seems to me like they were uncertainly trying their hand out in all kinds of genres and styles (pop, rock, country, folk, cabaret etc.) to find anything that stuck as well as struggling to figure out whether they should continue appealing to teenyboppers or make the move towards a more mature audience. I think the success of He Ain't Heavy gave them the confidence to do the latter and bounce back more ambitiously with Confessions, Distant Light, and on their subsequent singles. On HSH: not one of my favourites, but it's an okay album and I'd say I like about half of it (My Life Is Over With You, Goodbye Tomorrow, Please Let Me Please, Look At Life, Soldier's Dilemma, Reflections). She Looked My Way is a nice bonus outtake from the era, I probably would add that to the track list along with Heavy and 'Cos You Like To Love Me. Marigold/Gloria Swansong is good but I feel like it would be much better if the whole track was orchestrated rather than just the second half. The rest of the songs don't really do anything for me, I'm afraid. Finding their footing or doing what was expected in the mid-60s--being versatile? I think back to For Certain Because and you can't really say it's got only one genre! Unfortunately, variety wasn't fashionable by the end of the decade anymore... |
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Post by JamesT on Oct 5, 2021 20:08:00 GMT
The two ''Cos' tracks are amongst the ghastliest twee nonsense the band ever recorded, in my opinion. Imagine putting one of them on the b-side of 'He Ain't Heavy'...! Absolute sacrilege. This is purely my opinion of course! I even prefer 'Wiggle That Wotsit' over them 😄
'My Life Is Over With You' and 'Goodbye Tomorrow' are amongst the very best the band recorded. I also really like 'Why Didn't You Believe? and 'Please Sign Your Letters'.
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Post by baz on Oct 5, 2021 21:36:45 GMT
Finding their footing or doing what was expected in the mid-60s--being versatile? I think back to For Certain Because and you can't really say it's got only one genre! Unfortunately, variety wasn't fashionable by the end of the decade anymore... True but the big difference between For Certain and Hollies Sing Hollies is the earlier album had a strong unity via the Clarke-Hicks-Nash setup whilst the latter album is rather fragmented where songwriting is concerned and as a result, much more varied in terms of songwriting quality and musical variety. I don't dislike the album but its not a favourite either. We were recently debating 1968 and the confusion that went down over their direction and unfortunately, that dilemma continued into and across 1969 not helped by the Dylan album proving so popular - that had a unity that the band couldn't achieve where their own material was concerned immediate post-Nash. When one looks at all that's been issued from 1969 (Dylan album apart) I sense a band uncertain about what they were doing and which direction to go in... even the two singles have the same problem as "Suzanne" is to my ears, sickly bubblegum pap yet the B side is much better and more serious in tone then blow me, they reversed it for "Heavy" - a serious A side and one of the sickliest pieces of banal bubblegum on the B side. Then the album and outtakes are plainly all over the place and you know the band were having a crisis when they allowed Bernie's instrumental on the album... no, not knocking that track as for me, its one of the highlights and its a lovely piece but sat within a grab bag of tracks with no sense of unity its still rather illfitting and some fans must had wondered what on earth was going on. Yes, Terry was the perfect replacement for Graham vocally but where the songwriting was concerned, the split of the Clarke-Hicks-Nash arrangement had Clarke and Hicks scattering to the winds and its telling that Clarke did collaborate with Terry whereas Tony didn't, eventually hooking up with Kenny Lynch. I don't know... I do find 1969 just as curious as 1968. Two years during which a lot of ideas were tried out and whilst Confessions and Distant Light were more unified and better listening experiences, never again would The Hollies be as daring to try out so many styles and I think this album possibly harmed whatever chances they had afterwards as an album act as it was too diverse and housed in that godawful cover, it wasn't an album many would be proud to be seen carrying around with them! I do feel thankful they quickly ditched the Country album idea as that's a form of music I loathe yet having said that, had they gone down that road... its hard to guess or tell but it surely would have hung together far better than 'Hollies Sing Hollies' did. Thats why I rate the 1974 'Hollies' set so highly - a mix of styles that wasn't so jarring and the band sounded totally in harmony with each other. |
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Post by Mevrouw Bee on Oct 6, 2021 15:27:10 GMT
Finding their footing or doing what was expected in the mid-60s--being versatile? I think back to For Certain Because and you can't really say it's got only one genre! Unfortunately, variety wasn't fashionable by the end of the decade anymore... True but the big difference between For Certain and Hollies Sing Hollies is the earlier album had a strong unity via the Clarke-Hicks-Nash setup whilst the latter album is rather fragmented where songwriting is concerned and as a result, much more varied in terms of songwriting quality and musical variety. I don't dislike the album but its not a favourite either. We were recently debating 1968 and the confusion that went down over their direction and unfortunately, that dilemma continued into and across 1969 not helped by the Dylan album proving so popular - that had a unity that the band couldn't achieve where their own material was concerned immediate post-Nash. When one looks at all that's been issued from 1969 (Dylan album apart) I sense a band uncertain about what they were doing and which direction to go in... even the two singles have the same problem as "Suzanne" is to my ears, sickly bubblegum pap yet the B side is much better and more serious in tone then blow me, they reversed it for "Heavy" - a serious A side and one of the sickliest pieces of banal bubblegum on the B side. Then the album and outtakes are plainly all over the place and you know the band were having a crisis when they allowed Bernie's instrumental on the album... no, not knocking that track as for me, its one of the highlights and its a lovely piece but sat within a grab bag of tracks with no sense of unity its still rather illfitting and some fans must had wondered what on earth was going on. Yes, Terry was the perfect replacement for Graham vocally but where the songwriting was concerned, the split of the Clarke-Hicks-Nash arrangement had Clarke and Hicks scattering to the winds and its telling that Clarke did collaborate with Terry whereas Tony didn't, eventually hooking up with Kenny Lynch. I don't know... I do find 1969 just as curious as 1968. Two years during which a lot of ideas were tried out and whilst Confessions and Distant Light were more unified and better listening experiences, never again would The Hollies be as daring to try out so many styles and I think this album possibly harmed whatever chances they had afterwards as an album act as it was too diverse and housed in that godawful cover, it wasn't an album many would be proud to be seen carrying around with them! I do feel thankful they quickly ditched the Country album idea as that's a form of music I loathe yet having said that, had they gone down that road... its hard to guess or tell but it surely would have hung together far better than 'Hollies Sing Hollies' did. Thats why I rate the 1974 'Hollies' set so highly - a mix of styles that wasn't so jarring and the band sounded totally in harmony with each other. That wasn't to say that I thought Hollies Sing Hollies was brill or anything. It's not my favourite either. Lots of mid-60s British bands fell by the wayside because they didn't adapt to FM radio rock at all (Dave Clark 5, Herman's Hermits)...others totally embraced it and became rock legends (the Kinks, the Who, The Stones)...and the Hollies were smack in the middle...teeter-tottering between both pop and rock. |
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Post by becca67 on Oct 6, 2021 18:38:42 GMT
The two ''Cos' tracks are amongst the ghastliest twee nonsense the band ever recorded, in my opinion. It's funny, I made a comment about disliking the lyrics of a Beatles song once and there was a crush of people insisting they never pay any attention to lyrics and saying how the track was one of their absolute favorites. Here I would be saying how musically I really like 'Cos You Like To Love Me, so I guess I'm saying the music is more important to me? But yes, the Hollies and particularly Tony, have had some really cringingly twee lyrics, it's just I can think of worse even though I don't get the hate for Pegasus often expressed. I like good bubblegum pop. Lyrics may be profound on something like Soldiers Dilemma, but if I don't want to sit through it again often... I have a significantly higher quality bmp file of 'my' cover if anyone were to want it, I could email it. Seems too large to upload here. If I ever di burn/print myself an alternate I would put the dropped tracks and probably some of the non-Hollies written one on as 'bonuses'. |
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Post by ahkyahnan on Oct 6, 2021 20:05:39 GMT
It's funny, I made a comment about disliking the lyrics of a Beatles song once and there was a crush of people insisting they never pay any attention to lyrics and saying how the track was one of their absolute favorites. Here I would be saying how musically I really like 'Cos You Like To Love Me, so I guess I'm saying the music is more important to me? … I like good bubblegum pop. Lyrics may be profound on something like Soldiers Dilemma, but if I don't want to sit through it again often... I’m tempted to say I’m more of a music person than a lyric guy, but I’ve recorded myself so I guess I’d say I’m more of a total production guy. I try to listen to a song as a complete thing and grasp everything that’s going on. Words, music, singing and playing, what the guys in the control room are adding, mixing choices, etc. Even when the lyrics may be a little “light” The Hollies have so much going on in all other aspects that it’s almost always a good listen to me. Like “The Games We Play” off Evolution; the lyrics aren’t particularly heavy but it’s such an energetic and well played/sung song that I always find myself jamming to it. I’d dare say some of The Hollies stuff could be described as early power-pop maybe. Mark |
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Post by ahkyahnan on Oct 6, 2021 20:18:52 GMT
Finding their footing or doing what was expected in the mid-60s--being versatile? I think back to For Certain Because and you can't really say it's got only one genre! Unfortunately, variety wasn't fashionable by the end of the decade anymore... Yeah I’d go with variety. They do a number of different things on HSH but the overall production ties it together. As you say, like other 60s bands were doing as well. Revolver had rock, soul with horns, chamber music, Indian music and so on, and I wouldn’t describe it as The Beatles trying to find their way. Mark |
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Post by cameron on Oct 8, 2021 8:58:43 GMT
I've always thought of 'Hollies Sing Hollies' as being patchy at best - some real high points like the wistful and dramatic 'My Life Is Over With You', pure bubblegum 'Please Let Me Please', pop perfection with 'Goodbye Tomorrow' and 'Don't Give Up Easily' and even borderline soul with 'Why Didn't You Believe?' but there's some low points like the overly twee and boring 'Please Sign Your Letters' and 'You Love Cos You Like It'. I'm not really keen on 'Reflections of a Time Long Past' either. But the production on this album is probably the best of all their 1960s output, the mix is stunning. Every ounce of the sound is captured beautifully and the detail in the rather spread out stereo mix is fantastic.
I've never been keen on the cover art. I'm certain someone on this forum remembers meeting the Hollies on their first proper tour of Australia in late 1969/early 1970 and thrusting them a copy to sign, and Allan remarked that he'd not seen the cover yet! I also don't like the inner gatefold how its a constructed photo of the group - surely there were many great shots of the band from this era instead of piecing one together? It's the awkwardness of Allan's arm in Tony's legs on the cover plus those dated looking outfits.
Contrary to reports in Graham Nash's autobiography that he severed all ties with the Hollies on December 8th 1968, he was quoted in NME or something similar at the time saying "if we'd have been recording music like [Hollies Sing Hollies], I'd have never have left" or words to that effect.
As others have pointed out, it is a transitional album. Sadly nowhere near as adventurous/stimulating as 'Butterfly', but every bit as slick and polished as 'Hollies Sing Dylan'. I think by 'Confessions of the Mind', they'd truly found their way. There was the aborted 'Hollies Sing Country' album that was tangled amongst the sessions for HSH too. In terms of the non-album tracks, I love 'Cos You Like To Love Me', its very catchy and very much in the Hollies' segment of the dartboard. Perhaps deliberately the B-side to 'He Ain't Heavy' to show the public that the Hollies could still make music that they were known for, with 'He Ain't Heavy' being a huge departure for the band, stylistically. As both tracks were recorded right in the middle of the albums' sessions ('He Ain't Heavy' was completed sans orchestra and choir in the same session as 'Please Let Me Please'), I really think that the album would have benefitted from the inclusion of both. Interestingly, 'Too Young To Be Married' was also attempted during the HSH recording sessions. Other outtakes not used at the time include 'She Looked My Way', 'The Race Is On', 'Louisiana Man', 'Dang Me' and 'Kentucky Woman', before sessions for 'Confessions of the Mind' commenced less than a month after the final HSH session *before* the album hit the shops! So it certainly was a prolific period for the group.
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Post by gee on Oct 16, 2021 14:39:31 GMT
An uneven but interesting album - HSH maybe ought to have been titled say 'Marigold' rather that Hollies SING Hollies which is not only a rather weak album title but has a rare Hollies instrumental on the set too...! Please Sign Your Letters has a country style about it maybe an original song with the 'Sing Country' project in mind (?) the album has a couple of Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester team efforts (neither that great I felt) one Clarke-Hicks effort, Terry's first song 'Gloria' which Allan helped him complete hence the key 'Clarke/Sylvester' team were formed that bonded and creatively boded so well up to 1971 and later Tony has a lone but very nice song written maybe for Allan ? ('Don't Give Up Easily') featuring powering harmonies , great Elliott drumming and a early synth' - very probably the one Mike Vickers and George Harrison programmed for 'Abbey Road' which looked like a telephone receptionist board ! - I would guess either Mike or Alan Parsons played it (AP I think it was) Clarke-Sylvester's charming 'Look At Life' was an ecology themed number (something like 'Signs That Will Never Change' had earlier been) again re changing seasons etc and saw a rare but so welcome Tony Hicks lead vocal with sublime Hicks/Sylvester harmonies Allan's 'half bitter half sad' laments re losing Graham from his life were stand out songs written straight from the heart full of raw emotion and pain - making Lennon's rather vicious and hypocritical 'How Do You Sleep ? blast at Paul McCartney the following year look both pathetic and in very poor taste by comparison However despite the musical values...the cover with it's virtually identical posed in 'smart stage outfit' identical clothes all on the floor like little children awaiting a story front and rear gatefold sleeve pics was utterly AWFUL - the worst along with 'A Crazy Steal' out of all their album sleeves for me ! I heard Allan was out of it...hence his 'cheesy grin' and his arm placed between Tony's legs !! (Tony's expression says it all...) now hold up HSH...and CSN covers (the latter so cool sat casually on a couch) and which looks more in keeping with the times  the often lack of or decent image re The Hollies must have cost them with the wider public back then - whilst the music was often very much in keeping with the times becca 67's revised cover with a great colour pic of them playing instruments is a terrific idea - can the cover be substituted for that photo on a future version ?? |
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