Hollies | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 1974 | |||
Recorded | 7 August–17 December 1973 [1] | |||
Studio | EMI Studios, London | |||
Genre | Rock, pop | |||
Length | 41:42 | |||
Label | Polydor (UK) Epic (US) | |||
Producer | The Hollies, Ron Richards | |||
The Hollies chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B− [3] |
Hollies is the 14th UK studio album by the English pop rock group the Hollies, released in 1974, marking the return of Allan Clarke after he had left for a solo career. It features the band's cover of Albert Hammond's ballad "The Air That I Breathe," a major worldwide hit that year. The album has the same title as the band's third album from 1965.
The Hollies used some songs recorded for their previous LP Out on the Road as the basis for the album. Out On The Road was released only in Germany and Spain, after which it was cancelled and some songs were re-recorded with Allan Clarke. They also added a comeback single written by Clarke, a worldwide hit The Day that Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee (Top 30 hit in the UK and No. 1 hit in the Netherlands). Clarke himself wrote several new songs for the record, including the country-pop hybrid Rubber Lucy and the ballad Don't Let Me Down (not to be confused with the Beatles song). Love Makes the World Go Round and Falling Calling, both written by Clarke and Terry Sylvester, were older tunes from the abandoned stage musical Oh Flux!. [4] Song Tip of the Iceberg, written by Kenny Lynch and Tony Hicks was omitted from the album and was not released until "The Hollies at Abbey Road (1973 to 1989)" CD compilation in 1998, another unreleased tune from the album sessions, "Burn Fire Burn" by Bobby Elliott, was released as an album bonus track in 2008.
Ron Richards served as producer, while the recording engineer was Alan Parsons. British art group Hipgnosis designed the album cover. Session musicians on the album included Duffy Power (harmonica on Down on the Road) and Jim Jewell (tenor saxophone on It's A Shame, It's A Game and Transatlantic Westbound Jet).
When the band was working on the opening track Falling Calling, Paul McCartney visited them at the Abbey Road studios and subsequently asked Hollies' drummer Bobby Elliott if he wanted to join his band Wings. Elliott declined, however, and went on to work with the Hollies. [5] [6] The most famous track from the album is the love song The Air That I Breathe (previously recorded by the composer, Albert Hammond and also by Phil Everly on his 1973 solo album, Star Spangled Springer). The orchestral arrangement of the song (and several others on the album) was the work of composer Christopher Gunning. The single became Top 10 hit in many countries, such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. The non-album track from these sessions named No More Riders, written by Terry Sylvester and Cat Stevens' elder brother David Gordon, was issued as the B-side of the single.
Hollies got some positive reviews (for example in NME) and put the band back on the charts for the first time in four years. With the help of the worldwide success of the single The Air That I Breathe, the album charted in the UK, Canada, the United States and Australia.
Record World said of "Don't Let Me Down" that "[the Hollies'] patented harmonies build into a colossal culmination by song's upper end." [7]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Falling Calling" | Allan Clarke, Terry Sylvester | 3:11 |
2. | "It's a Shame, it's a Game" | C. Horton Jennings, Tony Hicks | 3:41 |
3. | "Don't Let Me Down" | Allan Clarke | 4:20 |
4. | "Out on the Road" | Kenny Lynch, Tony Hicks | 2:54 |
5. | "The Air That I Breathe" | Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood | 4:11 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
6. | "Rubber Lucy" | Allan Clarke | 4:06 |
7. | "Transatlantic Westbound Jet" | Bobby Elliott, Terry Sylvester | 3:12 |
8. | "Pick up the Pieces Again" | Terry Sylvester | 3:58 |
9. | "Down on the Run" | C. Horton Jennings, Tony Hicks | 3:49 |
10. | "Love Makes the World Go Around" | Allan Clarke, Terry Sylvester | 3:43 |
11. | "The Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee" | Allan Clarke | 4:25 |
The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed 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. As well as Clarke and Nash other members have included lead guitarist Tony Hicks, rhythm guitarist Terry Sylvester, bassists Eric Haydock and Bernie Calvert, and drummers Don Rathbone and Bobby Elliott.
Harold Allan Clarke is an English rock singer, who was one of the founding members and the original lead singer of the Hollies. He achieved international hit singles with the group and is credited as co-writer on several of their best-known songs, including "On a Carousel", "Carrie Anne", "Jennifer Eccles" and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress". He retired from performing in 1999, but returned to the music industry in 2019. Clarke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Evolution is the first of two albums released in 1967 by British pop rock band the Hollies. It is their sixth UK album and peaked at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart.
For Certain Because is the fifth UK album by the Hollies and their second released in 1966. It was the first Hollies album in which all the songs were written by members Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, and Tony Hicks, and the first on which they did not use the songwriting pseudonym "L. Ransford". It was also the first Hollies album recorded with new bassist Bernie Calvert replacing Eric Haydock. In Bobby Elliott's book It Ain't Heavy, It's My Story, he explains how he came up with the title For Certain Because by taking the three words from the children's song "Teddy Bears' Picnic".
Anthony Christopher Hicks is an English guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British rock/pop band the Hollies since 1963, and as such was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. His main roles within the band are lead guitarist and backing singer.
Terence Sylvester is an English musician and songwriter. He is a former member of the Escorts, the Swinging Blue Jeans (1966–1969), and the Hollies. In the latter role, he took on the high parts formerly sung by Graham Nash, who had left the band in December 1968.
Distant Light is a 1971 album released by the Hollies, their 11th UK album and their last before brief departure of lead vocalist and founding member Allan Clarke, and reputedly the first album to come out of AIR Studios. The album spawned two hit singles: the Allan Clarke penned "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", which peaked at number two in the US and number 32 in the UK; and Tony Hicks penned "Long Dark Road", which reached number 26 in the US. The US version of the album peaked at number 21 in the album charts. The summer scene on the cover is rendered as a winter scene on the next Hollies album Romany.
Robert Hartley Elliott is an English rock drummer, best known for playing with the Hollies. He has been described as "one of the very finest drummers in all of pop/rock".
The Hollies' Greatest Hits is a compilation of singles by the Hollies, released on Epic Records in April 1973. It includes hit singles by the group on both the Epic and Imperial labels over a time span of 1965 to 1971. It spent seven weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 156.
Confessions of the Mind is the tenth studio album by the Hollies. It was released in the United States as Moving Finger, with a different track sequence and the tracks "Separated" and "I Wanna Shout" replaced with the Clarke/Sylvester penned "Marigold: Gloria Swansong" saved from the previous album and "Gasoline Alley Bred". In Germany, it was released by Hansa as Move On with an alternate track sequence with "Gasoline Alley Bred" added. The UK version peaked at number 30 in the charts and the US version at number 183.
Hollies Sing Hollies is the ninth studio album released in the UK by the Hollies. It was released in November 1969 by Parlophone. It was their second album that year, coming 6 months after an entire album of Bob Dylan covers. It was their first album of original compositions since the departure of Graham Nash. It was also the second album by the Hollies to feature Terry Sylvester and the first to feature his compositions, as well as an instrumental by bassist Bernie Calvert. The US version, titled "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", included the hit single of the same name, while omitting the tracks "Soldier's Dilemma" and "Marigold/Gloria Swansong". The UK album did not chart, but its US version peaked at number 32.
Hollies Sing Dylan is a 1969 cover album featuring songs written by Bob Dylan and performed by the Hollies. It is their eighth UK album. It was also released in the US as Words and Music by Bob Dylan with a different cover but using the same band image and track order. First released on compact disc in West Germany in the late 1980s, it was not released in that format in the rest of Europe until 1993. For this issue, two bonus tracks, the single version of "Blowin' in the Wind" and a live version of "The Times They Are a-Changin'". A later remastered issue in 1999 added a third bonus track, a live version of "Blowin' in the Wind".
Another Night is the 15th UK studio album by English rock/pop band, the Hollies. It is the band's second album with returning vocalist Allan Clarke who rejoined in 1974 for the album Hollies, after leaving for a solo career in 1972. The album is made up of original material, with the exception of "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" by the relatively unknown Bruce Springsteen.
Write On is the first of two 1976 studio albums by the English rock/pop band, the Hollies, and their 16th UK studio album. Like the previous one, this album has mostly songs written by the group's songwriting team. The final track of the album is the only one not composed by them. This album was not issued in the US.
Russian Roulette is a 1976 self-produced album by English rock/pop group, the Hollies, and their 17th UK studio album. This is the band's second release in 1976. It was composed entirely by the group's songwriting team. The album was not issued in the US.
A Crazy Steal is a UK studio album by English rock/pop group the Hollies. It includes their version of Emmylou Harris' "Boulder to Birmingham", which had been released two years prior, reaching number 10 in the charts in New Zealand. Three other songs from this album were released in 1977, and 1978 as singles, yet failed to chart anywhere.
Five Three One - Double Seven O Four is the 19th UK studio album by the English rock/pop group the Hollies. When rendered as digits, the album title is the band's name upside down in digital number view. The idea is credited to guitarist Terry Sylvester.
What Goes Around... is the 21st studio album by English rock/pop group, the Hollies. It includes their version of The Supremes' "Stop! In the Name of Love", which became their last US hit single. The Hollies reunited with Graham Nash for this album and for the following US tour. The LP was the band's first and last album with Nash since Butterfly (1967) and also their last one with lead singer Allan Clarke. Among the guest musicians, you can find Brian Chatton who was formerly keyboardist for The Warriors with Jon Anderson, and Flaming Youth with Phil Collins.
Hollies Live Hits is the first live album by the Hollies, released in 1977. It reached number four on the UK Album Chart.
Out on the Road is the 13th album by the British band The Hollies and the second to feature Mikael Rickfors as lead singer. The song "Slow Down Go Down" was released as a single in Australia and became a Top 100 hit. By the time the album was released in some European countries, the original singer Allan Clarke had returned to the band and the album was therefore not released in the UK and US. For this reason it is sometimes not listed in the official discography.