The Hollies
The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and rhythm guitarist/singer Graham Nash founded the band as a Merseybeat-type group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north, in east Lancashire. Nash left the group in 1968 to co-form Crosby, Stills & Nash, though he has reunited with the Hollies on occasion. In addition to Clarke and Nash, members have included lead guitarist Tony Hicks, rhythm guitarist Terry Sylvester, bassists Eric Haydock and Bernie Calvert, and drummers Don Rathbone and Bobby Elliott.
The Hollies enjoyed considerable popularity in the UK and Europe during the mid-1960s with a string of hits that included "Just One Look", "Here I Go Again", "I'm Alive", "Look Through Any Window" and "I Can't Let Go", although they did not achieve US chart success until "Bus Stop" was released in 1966. The group went on to have periodic success on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean over the next decade with hits such as "Stop Stop Stop", "On a Carousel", "Carrie Anne", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" and "The Air That I Breathe". "He Ain't Heavy" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart following a 1988 re-release. Overall, the Hollies had over 30 charting singles reach the UK Singles Chart, 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and 21 on the chart of RPM magazine in Canada.
The Hollies are one of the few UK groups of the early 1960s, along with the Rolling Stones, who have never disbanded and continue to record and perform. In recognition of their achievements, the Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Origin
The Hollies originated as a duo formed by Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, who were best friends from primary school and began performing together during the skiffle craze of the late 1950s. Eventually Clarke and Nash became a vocal-and-guitar duo modelled on American duo the Everly Brothers, working as "Ricky and Dane Young"; under this name they teamed up with a local band, the Fourtones, consisting of Pete Bocking on guitar, John 'Butch' Mepham on bass, Keith Bates on drums, and Derek Quinn on guitar. When Quinn quit to join Freddie and the Dreamers in 1962, Clarke and Nash also quit and joined another Manchester band, the Deltas, consisting of Vic Steele on lead guitar, Eric Haydock on bass guitar, and Don Rathbone on drums, which had just lost two members including Eric Stewart, who left to join a "professional" band, the Mindbenders. During these periods the group were managed and promoted by Michael Cohen, a music enthusiast and clothing retailer from Oldham.The Deltas first called themselves the Hollies for a December 1962 gig at the Oasis Club in Manchester. It has been suggested that Eric Haydock named the group in relation to a Christmas holly garland, though in a 2009 interview Graham Nash said that the group decided just prior to a performance to call themselves the Hollies because of their admiration for Buddy Holly. In 2009, Nash wrote, "We called ourselves The Hollies, after Buddy and Christmas."
1963–1969
1963–1965
In January 1963, the Hollies performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where they were seen by Parlophone assistant producer Ron Richards, who had been involved in producing the first Beatles session. Richards offered them an audition with Parlophone, but Steele did not want to be a "professional" musician and left the band in April 1963. For the audition, they brought in Tony Hicks to replace the departing Steele. Hicks played in a Nelson band called the Dolphins, which also featured Bobby Elliott on drums and Bernie Calvert on bass. Not only were the Hollies signed by Richards, who continued to produce the band until 1976 and once more in 1979, but a song from the audition, a cover of the Coasters' 1961 single " Just Like Me", was released as their debut single in May 1963 and hit No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart.Their second single, another Coasters cover, this time 1957's "Searchin', hit No. 12. At this point, after recording only eight songs for Parlophone, Rathbone also decided to leave the band, and Hicks was able to arrange for his Dolphins bandmate Bobby Elliott to replace him as the Hollies' new drummer in August 1963. They then scored their first British Top 10 hit in early 1964 with a cover of Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay", which reached No. 8 in the UK. It was lifted from the band's Parlophone debut album, Stay with the Hollies, released in January 1964, which went to No. 2 on the UK album chart.
The Hollies became known for making cover versions, and they followed up with "Just One Look", a song that had already had top 10 success in the US for Soul star Doris Troy. The hits continued with "Here I Go Again". At this point, there was some North American interest in the group, and versions of Stay with the Hollies, with these two singles added, were issued in both Canada and the US, with the title changed to Here I Go Again. Like their Parlophone labelmates the Beatles, the Hollies' albums released in North America were different from their UK counterparts.
By this time, the Hollies were writing and performing a substantial amount of original material, written by the group's songwriting team of Clarke, Nash, and Hicks, and producer Richards finally permitted the group to release its first self-penned hit, "We're Through" . This was followed by two more cover versions, "Yes I Will" and finally the Clint Ballard Jr.-penned "I'm Alive". Their second album, In the Hollies Style, did not feature in the Record Retailer top ten album chart, although it did reach the top ten of the New Musical Express chart. None of the tracks from the album were released in the US, although a version of it was released in Canada, with the addition of the British singles.
Finally, the Hollies broke through in North America with an original song that they requested from Manchester's Graham Gouldman. "Look Through Any Window" broke the Hollies into the US Top 40 and into the Canadian top 10, both for the first time. Their follow-up single, an original recording of George Harrison's new song "If I Needed Someone", was undercut when the Beatles decided to release their own version on the UK album Rubber Soul; it only reached No. 20 in the UK and was not released in North America. Their third album, simply called Hollies, hit No. 8 in the UK in 1965 but, under the name Hear! Here!, failed to chart in the US despite its inclusion of "Look Through Any Window" and "I'm Alive".
1966–1969
The Hollies then returned to the UK Top 10 with "I Can't Let Go". Their fourth album, Would You Believe?, which included the hit, made it to No. 16 in 1966. Released in the US as Beat Group!, it also failed to crack the US top 100.At this point, a dispute between the Hollies and their management broke out over what bass guitarist Eric Haydock contended were excessive fees being charged to the group by management. As a result, Haydock decided to take a leave of absence from the group. While he was gone, the group brought in the Beatles' good friend Klaus Voormann to play on a few gigs and recorded two singles with fill-ins on bass: the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song "After the Fox", which featured Peter Sellers on vocals, Jack Bruce on electric bass and Burt Bacharach himself on keyboards, and was the theme song from the Sellers film of the same name, and "Bus Stop", another Gouldman song, which featured Bernie Calvert, a former bandmate of Hicks and Elliott in the Dolphins, on bass. Calvert also played a tour of Yugoslavia with the band in May 1966.
"Bus Stop" gave the Hollies their first US top ten single. As a result, a US/Canadian Bus Stop album, made of the single mixed with unreleased songs from earlier in the band's career, climbed to No. 75—the group's first album to enter the US Top 100. Although Haydock ultimately proved to be correct about the fee dispute, he was sacked in early July 1966 in favour of Calvert after "Bus Stop" became a huge hit.
At the time of Haydock's departure, Clarke, Nash and Hicks participated in the recording of the Everly Brothers' 1966 album Two Yanks in England, which consisted largely of covers of "L. Ransford" compositions. After the Everly Brothers album, the Hollies stopped publishing original songs under a pseudonym, and from this point until Nash's last single with the Hollies in 1968, all of their single A-sides were original compositions, except the final Nash era single 'Listen To Me' which was written by Tony Hazzard.
In October 1966, the group's fifth album, For Certain Because, became their first album consisting entirely of original compositions by Clarke, Nash and Hicks. Released in the US as Stop! Stop! Stop!, it reached No. 91 there and spawned a US release-only single, "Pay You Back with Interest", which was a modest hit, peaking at No. 28. Another track, "Tell Me to My Face", was a moderate hit by Mercury artist Keith, and was also covered a decade later by Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg on their Twin Sons of Different Mothers album.
Meanwhile, the Hollies continued to release a steady stream of international hit singles: "Stop Stop Stop" from For Certain Because, known for its distinctive banjo arrangement; "On a Carousel" ; "Carrie Anne".
In mid-February 1967, Bobby Elliott collapsed on stage due to an inflamed appendix. The Hollies were forced to continue their touring commitments without him, using Tony Mansfield, Dougie Wright and Tony Newman as stand-ins for further live dates, and Wright, Mitch Mitchell and Clem Cattini when they began recording for their next album, Evolution, which was released on 1 June 1967, the same day as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was also their first album for their new US label Epic, and reached No. 13 in the UK and No. 43 in the US. The US version included the single "Carrie Anne". In addition, the Searchers and Paul & Barry Ryan each had a minor UK chart hit covering the Evolution song "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" in 1967.
Also in 1967, the Hollies participated in the Festival di San Remo with the song "Non prego per me", written by Italian songwriter Lucio Battisti and Italian lyricist Mogol.
File:The Hollies 1969.jpg|thumb|1969. Clockwise from top left: Graham Nash, Bobby Elliott, Allan Clarke, Bernie Calvert, Tony Hicks.
Nash's attempt to expand the band's range with a more ambitious composition, "King Midas in Reverse", only reached No. 18 in the UK charts. The Hollies then released the ambitious, psychedelic album Butterfly, retitled for the US market as King Midas in Reverse/Dear Eloise, but it failed to chart. In response, Clarke and Nash wrote a more conventional pop song, "Jennifer Eccles" , which was a hit. The Hollies donated a Clarke-Nash song, "Wings", to No One's Gonna Change Our World, a charity album in aid of the World Wildlife Fund, in 1969.