The Hollies

[Lotobear]

Slightly before my time but I've been taking in some of their back catalogue of late and, wow, what a talented group they were!

Better than the Beatles?... perhaps not, and quite different musically, but certainly as talented in my opinion.

Graham Gouldman certainly helped with some of their songs, and what a talented writer that man was too.

[MitchT]

Saw them live a few years ago - they were brilliant. I'd never realised just how many instantly recognisable songs were theirs until I heard them all performed live.

[sidewinder500]

They had great and different enough singers for a broad range, and an outstanding drummer.
Old live cuts show their harder edge when the Beatles were tame and the Stones not good enough musically from 67 onwards.
Great tunes as well, just not enough to shake the hierarchy

[Lotobear]

sidewinder500 said:

They had great and different enough singers for a broad range, and an outstanding drummer.
Old live cuts show their harder edge when the Beatles were tame and the Stones not good enough musically from 67 onwards.
Great tunes as well, just not enough to shake the hierarchy

I agree their drummer was outstanding, some might say he over played but for me he was a hallmark of their earlier stuff

[Skyedriver]

Allan Clarke was a very competent singer and of course Mr Nash was a decent songwriter for them before departing to the USA and joining some band called CSN (&Y).

[gazza285]

Always had a soft spot for them, mainly due to my mother being a fan. They wrote some great catchy pop songs, and the vocal harmonies were perfect.

They possibly suffered from being seen as a bit safe, they lacked the experimental nature of The Beatles, and the outrage of The Stones and The Kinks.

[Wacky Racer]

Graham Gouldman is still going strong in 10cc after 54 years, I've seen virtually every 10cc tour since 1973,

Graham of course wrote the Hollies massive hit mid 60's "Bus stop"

[pitboard]

Bobby Elliot was the best drummer of the beat era.
He drove the Hollies like a big band drummer.

[Glosphil]

I've seen the Hollies live 3 times. Convinced the wife to come with me the third time. She thought they were great & then regretted she hadn't come the first two times.

Just read that back. No sexual jokes, please.

[sidewinder500]

Lotobear said:

sidewinder500 said:

They had great and different enough singers for a broad range, and an outstanding drummer.
Old live cuts show their harder edge when the Beatles were tame and the Stones not good enough musically from 67 onwards.
Great tunes as well, just not enough to shake the hierarchy

I agree their drummer was outstanding, some might say he over played but for me he was a hallmark of their earlier stuff

Didn't they all overplay a wee bit when they had the ability...? There’s a reason some guys didn't because they couldn't...
But Bobby Elliot's playing live was on a different level, as pitboard said pushing as in a big band, a force!

[sidewinder500]

Here you go
https://youtu.be/2zu6jsu6qxc?feature=shared

[pitboard]

Bobby Elliot was the best drummer of the beat era.
He drove the Hollies like a big band drummer.

[Chauffard]

They took a while to start writing their own hits, then when Nash left became reliant on songwriters again for material.

With 32 chart hits and two No.1s, it's a not bad run for a bunch of Mancs.

[Roofless Toothless]

I think The Tremeoes were better. Top this if you can.

Edited by Roofless Toothless on Saturday 24th August 10:26

[Lotobear]

Roofless Toothless said:

I think The Tremeoes were better. Top this if you can.

Edited by Roofless Toothless on Saturday 24th August 10:26

A good song, and a good band, but the shear number of hits and consistent quality The Hollies had trumps them IMO

[suthol]

My drummer from days of yore posted this on FB, he still has a wonderful voice and now plays guitar
____________________________
A year or two ago I worked out the song by the Hollies, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother. This morning while making my coffee I picked up a guitar and played it. What an amazing piece of music it is. It crosses music-theory boundaries with major and minor chords that normally are not in the same key. Goodness knows how a tuning app would handle this masterpiece

[jet_noise]

suthol said:

My drummer from days of yore posted this on FB, he still has a wonderful voice and now plays guitar
____________________________
A year or two ago I worked out the song by the Hollies, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother. This morning while making my coffee I picked up a guitar and played it. What an amazing piece of music it is. It crosses music-theory boundaries with major and minor chords that normally are not in the same key. Goodness knows how a tuning app would handle this masterpiece

Still didn't make me buy Miller Lite though

Sky Arts had a good doc. on the Hollies. Such things tend to be repeated, catch it next time.

[williamp]

My Dad is of the age to see them (and many others) in their prime back in the 60s. He still says they were one of the few bands he saw who sounded exactly like their records, which he thought was very professional.

[Roofless Toothless]

suthol said:

My drummer from days of yore posted this on FB, he still has a wonderful voice and now plays guitar
____________________________
A year or two ago I worked out the song by the Hollies, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother. This morning while making my coffee I picked up a guitar and played it. What an amazing piece of music it is. It crosses music-theory boundaries with major and minor chords that normally are not in the same key. Goodness knows how a tuning app would handle this masterpiece

Elton John played piano on that.

[LR90]

One person who I feel never properly gets their due is Tony Hicks. We really was (and still is) a fantastic guitarist.