The Hollies

Sand · November-26th-2005, 07:30 PM

I rarely - or rather never - listen to anything I used to listen to in the 60'ies. All I remember rebuying on CD must have been Pentangle and A Hard Road with the Bluesbreakers.

Then I suddenly wanted to go back to the Hollies from 1965 or something.
Every time I've seen Graham Nash I've been aware of where he came from, but never gave it much thought. Tilll now.

singles: bus stop - and others

letchhausen · November-26th-2005, 08:17 PM

"Long Cool Woman in Black Dress" still gets me every time.....

Brian Olewnick · November-26th-2005, 09:18 PM

I've mentioned before, "Bus Stop", the 45, was the first record I ever owned. Still think it's a fine pop song.

BFrank · November-27th-2005, 02:46 AM

Don't forget "Look Through Any Window", "Pay You Back with Interest", "Carrie Ann" and "On a Carousel"

Gary Sisco · November-27th-2005, 08:41 AM

True story: CSN came to play Burlington once, and the shelter where I worked was located immediately next door to the theater's stage door. So whoever's busses were always parked in front of the shelter.

So, I come to work one day and Graham Nash is making small talk with the guys hanging out out front, like a normal human. So, I say on my way by, "Hey, I liked The Hollies." "I did, too," he replied.

Later on, Crosby wanders into the shelter, clearly spaced. He's looking all around, not knowing where he is or why. So I say, "Hey, man, I know it's been a while since you had a hit and all, but I don't think you're ready for this place yet." So he wanders out and down the street (away from the downtown section, into the neighborhood), still not knowing where he is.

Still later, stagetime, Stills shows his face for the first time (they each have their own bus) while walking, quickly, to the stage door, looking neither left nor right. Same thing on the way back, right to the bus.

The stagehands told me later that Stills literally walked in, grabbed his guitar from a roadie, and walked out on stage, no hanging about, and then did the same in reverse.

Nash is a guy who knows how to cultivate and keep a fan base.

I still like to hear The Hollies, every great now and then.

Lenny D.Guitarist · November-27th-2005, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by letchhausen

"Long Cool Woman in Black Dress" still gets me every time.....

The intro to that song is very innovative, and fun to play on a guitar,either fingerpicked or with a plectrum.

Gary Sisco · November-27th-2005, 08:43 AM

It was a standard for my high-school band.

steve(thelil) · November-27th-2005, 08:49 AM

Carrie Ann is probably the only US hit record to have a steel drum solo.

Gary Sisco · November-27th-2005, 08:52 AM

Had a friend from London who told me that when she first came to the States, late 60s, she was in a bar that had The Beatles playing on the jukebox. Guy asks her, "So, how do you like American music?"

Lazz · November-27th-2005, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Had a friend from London who told me that when she first came to the States, late 60s, she was in a bar that had The Beatles playing on the jukebox. Guy asks her, "So, how do you like American music?"

I don't get it.
I was once in a bar where they served alcohol only to be engaged in a conversation about food.
What was the problem?

steve(thelil) · November-27th-2005, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazz

I don't get it.
I was once in a bar where they served alcohol only to be engaged in a conversation about food.
What was the problem?

We are to assume that the guy in the bar is asking the question because he thinks the Beatles play American music, and, therefore the point is that the anecdote illustrates how stupid and myopic Americans are.

Unless, perhaps, the point is the subtle irony that maybe the British girl, like the Beatles, loved American music - and that the Beatles thought of themselves as a band which (although not Americans) specialized in American music.

This reminds me of something one of the Beatles said during a press conference when they were about to leave England to tour America for the first time. Their success here had happened so fast that they really weren't sure that they would get a good reception in the States. When asked about whether they were looking forward to the trip, one of them said something to the effect that "Even if we don't go over well it will be great to get a chance to go to American record stores."

Gentle Giant · November-27th-2005, 08:42 PM

Hollies had some good songs, but also a lot of shitty material. If you bring up CSN, you have to admit that while the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield were seminal, highly influential bands, the Hollies were really just another British pop group. And Nash's role in CSN was to provide the pop hits.

Give me the Zombies anyday.

GoodSpeak · November-27th-2005, 11:08 PM

A Taste Of Honey

The Hollies

A taste of honey...... Tasting much sweeter than wine

Yours was the kiss that awoke my heart
And lingers still, though we’re far apart
A taste of honey . . . (honey, honey)
Tasting much sweeter..

I dream of your first kiss, and then
I feel upon your lips and then
A taste of honey . . .(honey, honey)
Tasting much sweeter

I will return, yes, I will return
I’ll come back for the honey

Break

I will return, yes, I will return
I’ll come back for the honey and you

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa you
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa you
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa you

Lazz · November-27th-2005, 11:42 PM

Gee, thanks for your patience in explaining that, lilSteve.

In light of the Beatles playing on the juke-box, I just thought it more likely the barman was making honest enquiry about her opinion of their inspirational source - American music. Makes sense to me.

Not sure if you ever saw many of those '60s British pop bands, mister Gentle Giant, but most of 'em were pretty appalling live, in truth, however charming as cheecky chappies. I remember the Zombies as being pretty decent, even if relatively short-lived and kinda lacking in bollocks, amongst a mostly bland ocean of spotty amateur wank-froth. What stunned me speechless about the Hollies, though, was that in the pure pro terms of a gigging band, they delivered a consistent level of performing musicality that put them head and shoulders above the rest.

Gary Sisco · November-28th-2005, 09:21 AM

I don't "have to" do any musical "have to's," thanks, GG.

The bar story. It was actually a guy drinking at the bar who used the line as a come on. It's a good if unintentional joke, because of its various ironies -- of which she was aware though he not. He was just a drunk guy trying to get in her pants. Can't blame him, myself, but he was out of his class that night. She'd been a rocker (as opposed to a mod) in London (her native city) when you could go out to hear the Stones and The Beatles and so forth in clubs. She'd already heard more of them than the guy at the bar likely ever did and very likely more of the American music that inspired them as well.

She was of the crowd that was Stones only. Officially, at least. She told me that she did, a couple of times, sneak around to hear The Beatles without her rocker friends finding out.

She died this past spring, still in the States.

Chris D · November-28th-2005, 10:04 AM

Goin' round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round with you.
Up, down, up, down, up, down, too.
Top shelf craftsmen.

Root Doctor · November-28th-2005, 10:13 AM

I'm partial to Dave Davies' version of "Look Through Any Window."

VIBEr · November-28th-2005, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazz

... a mostly bland ocean of spotty amateur wank-froth.

Maybe I've lived a sheltered life, but that's the first time I've ever heard the term wank-froth applied to describing music. Priceless.

stereojack · November-28th-2005, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gentle Giant

Hollies had some good songs, but also a lot of shitty material. the Hollies were really just another British pop group. And Nash's role in CSN was to provide the pop hits.

Give me the Zombies anyday.

Nobody loves the Zombies more than me, but I think the Hollies deserve more credit than you're giving them. Their high harmony is absolutely first rate, even if their material gets a little schmaltzy at times. And they could do it live, unlike many of their contemporaries. Some of my personal faves: Look Through Any Window, Bus Stop, I Can't Let Go, Pay You Back With Interest, I'm Alive, He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother, I Can't Tell the Bottom From the Top, Wings. And they made plenty of good music after Nash left, especially the albums Moving Finger, Confessions of a Mind.

GoodSpeak · November-28th-2005, 09:00 PM

Zombies?

The Kinks, bay-bee

Gentle Giant · November-29th-2005, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

Zombies?

The Kinks, bay-bee

Granted, but the Kinks are two cuts above. I like the musical inventiveness of the Zombies, and I grant the vocal chops of the Hollies (surely another Nash talent of note), but in a more perfect world the Kinks would have achieved the same level of acclaim and success as the Stones and the Who.

steve(thelil) · November-29th-2005, 11:21 AM

In a more perfect world chocolate and breasts would be mentioned positively in several of the ten commandments.

rollhead · November-29th-2005, 11:28 AM

I had mole on chicken breasts Sunday night. tasty.

Doc Martin · November-29th-2005, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollhead

I had mole on chicken breasts Sunday night. tasty.

Hedgehog is tastier than mole.

steve(thelil) · November-29th-2005, 03:26 PM

It all depends on whether you use the proper ketchup. To me, mole tastes like weasel.

Gentle Giant · November-30th-2005, 10:45 AM

I'm listening to Epic Anthology: From the Original Master Tapes, my only Hollies CD (which doesn't, unfortunately, include Look Through Any Window, Bus Stop, Stop Stop Stop, On a Carousel, or Pay You Back With Interest. I need an earlier collection, apparently.

I've always loved He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother ever since I first heard it performed by the Osmonds in 1971!

Chris D · November-30th-2005, 11:06 AM

Look for the original greatest hits record, GG. It's got all the biggies.