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The Hollies Forum Index » Words and Music » Romany Expanded EMI Edition - Review
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James Towill Post subject: Romany Expanded EMI Edition - Review
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Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 928
Location: Dunfermline, Fife

I decided to call in to my favourite music shop (Lost In Music, Glasgow) early this afternoon on the off-chance that they would have the expanded Romany in stock, and lo-and-behold, it was! It’s a great shop because as soon as they receive the stock, it goes on the shelf and usually most items can be picked up early.

I know EMI have taken some flack from Hollies fans in the past (a great deal from me!) but this release is absolutely brilliant. No more, no less. It’s all there – jewel case, beautifully presented booklet and superb remastering knocking the spots off previous editions. Then there are those rarities…!

Firstly, Papa Rain. Listening to this track, I come to the same conclusion as when I first heard Samuel, Sign Of The Times or Tip Of The Iceberg on the ‘At Abbey Road’ sets of the late ‘90’s: ‘how on earth could this not have been released before?’ It is a really great song, a bit of a slow-burner featuring strident harmonies and a passionate lead vocal from Mikael Rickfors. Bobby plays the drums with brushes, there’s some vibes on there, a touch of echo and a superb guitar sitar solo near the end. Heaven! Witchy Woman and the Sylvester version of Oh Granny I had heard before, but on this release they are so much more vibrant.

The booklet is very well presented, featuring excellent sleevenotes and track-by-track commentary courtesy of our own Geoff Coles and there’s the album visuals reproduced and session date information.

I would urge everyone to pick up a copy of this excellent release. I – and the shop assistant – was somewhat surprised to find out that the CD is a full price EMI catalogue edition (I paid £12.99) rather than mid-price, but with a product such as this who cares! EMI and all those involved have done a magnificent job and this edition is 100 times better than the Magic Records edition of a few years back, which to my ears was half way to mono!

The shop also had the Buddy Holly release in stock (I didn’t buy this) but it does indeed feature Take Your Time from the ‘60’s.

Well done to all those involved in this release, gold star, a tick and an early lunch!

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PostPosted:Fri Aug 10, 2007 19:30 pm
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snowflake Post subject:
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Joined: 02 Feb 2007
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Location: Delaware, USA

Thanks for the review, James. Amazon.com says it will be released here on August 20; I'll be away on vacation when my pre-order arrives Sad

Can't wait to hear "Papa Rain" -- it sounds lovely. I've never heard the Hollies do "Witchy Woman" either. And a booklet featuring Geoff's commentaries on each track -- who could ask for more Very Happy

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PostPosted:Fri Aug 10, 2007 20:49 pm
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James Towill Post subject:
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Joined: 16 Jan 2004
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Location: Dunfermline, Fife

You're in for a treat, snowflake! Their cover of Witchy Woman is pretty faithful to the original.

snowflake wrote:
Thanks for the review, James. Amazon.com says it will be released here on August 20; I'll be away on vacation when my pre-order arrives Sad

Can't wait to hear "Papa Rain" -- it sounds lovely. I've never heard the Hollies do "Witchy Woman" either. And a booklet featuring Geoff's commentaries on each track -- who could ask for more Very Happy

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The Last Wind... don't eat curries late at night
PostPosted:Fri Aug 10, 2007 20:52 pm
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Knut Post subject:
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Joined: 18 Jan 2004
Posts: 616
Location: Oslo, Norway

Thanks James, that sounds very promising. I have read other complaints on Magic releases. It seems EMI UK has done the proper job!
Nice that Geoff with his knowledge gets the proper recognition here!

I pre-odered from amazon UK so my copy should not be far away?

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Would you believe the Hollies had power to stay by evolution of their style from Buddy Holly ? That's for certain because they follow what goes around, write on and go out on the road. They did it then, they do it now - please do it always.
PostPosted:Fri Aug 10, 2007 21:09 pm
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Knut Post subject:
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Joined: 18 Jan 2004
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Location: Oslo, Norway

Got Romany and Buddy Holly from Amazon UK before the weekend. I do agree that the sound is very clear. But what I really would like to express is that our Geoff has done such a great job with the sleeve notes. He can write an encyclopedia on the Hollies anytime. (Great idea, by the way.)

_________________
Would you believe the Hollies had power to stay by evolution of their style from Buddy Holly ? That's for certain because they follow what goes around, write on and go out on the road. They did it then, they do it now - please do it always.
PostPosted:Tue Aug 21, 2007 20:17 pm
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carlane3 Post subject: Re: Romany Expanded EMI Edition - Review
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Joined: 06 Sep 2007
Posts: 45
Location: USA

James Towill wrote:
I decided to call in to my favourite music shop (Lost In Music, Glasgow) early this afternoon on the off-chance that they would have the expanded Romany in stock, and lo-and-behold, it was! It’s a great shop because as soon as they receive the stock, it goes on the shelf and usually most items can be picked up early.

I know EMI have taken some flack from Hollies fans in the past (a great deal from me!) but this release is absolutely brilliant. No more, no less. It’s all there – jewel case, beautifully presented booklet and superb remastering knocking the spots off previous editions. Then there are those rarities…!

Firstly, Papa Rain. Listening to this track, I come to the same conclusion as when I first heard Samuel, Sign Of The Times or Tip Of The Iceberg on the ‘At Abbey Road’ sets of the late ‘90’s: ‘how on earth could this not have been released before?’ It is a really great song, a bit of a slow-burner featuring strident harmonies and a passionate lead vocal from Mikael Rickfors. Bobby plays the drums with brushes, there’s some vibes on there, a touch of echo and a superb guitar sitar solo near the end. Heaven! Witchy Woman and the Sylvester version of Oh Granny I had heard before, but on this release they are so much more vibrant.

The booklet is very well presented, featuring excellent sleevenotes and track-by-track commentary courtesy of our own Geoff Coles and there’s the album visuals reproduced and session date information.

I would urge everyone to pick up a copy of this excellent release. I – and the shop assistant – was somewhat surprised to find out that the CD is a full price EMI catalogue edition (I paid £12.99) rather than mid-price, but with a product such as this who cares! EMI and all those involved have done a magnificent job and this edition is 100 times better than the Magic Records edition of a few years back, which to my ears was half way to mono!

The shop also had the Buddy Holly release in stock (I didn’t buy this) but it does indeed feature Take Your Time from the ‘60’s.

Well done to all those involved in this release, gold star, a tick and an early lunch!


I wonder if EMI has any plans to release more of the 70's Hollies albums with unreleased tracks . Question
PostPosted:Sat Sep 08, 2007 2:29 am
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sherb Post subject:



Joined: 20 Sep 2009
Posts: 21
Location: Sydney, Australia

I got bored. Laughing

So I updated the Wike page on Romany with the details of the CD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romany_(album)

I haven't done much editing on Wiki, but I managed to bumble my way through it. Very Happy

Couldn't be bothered tracking down the songwriters for bonus tracks (well, those that weren't obvious), so I left the songwriting details out altogether.

I don't know enough about Wiki to know why the article "may require cleanup".
PostPosted:Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:10 am
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