The Hollies :: View topic

Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 7 Location: Charleston SC, USA!

Man! What a great song! I'm so glad I bought the 3 Hollies at Abbey Road cd's. So many great songs. I wish I'd been able to see them perform with Graham. That's some of the best backup singing I've ever heard...If not the best.

Graham's got to be the best singer to ever sing backup. I just couldn't imagine doing any better than that.

Great song! Great band!

Level8Drummer

PS. "Have you ever ridden horses through a rainstorm
or led a LIon through a busy street bazaar!"

I also like "Man With No Expressions", very cool song. They should have recorded one more album together in 1968... I'm sure they had enough material!

I agree that a 1968 album would have been fabulous. For me, "Butterfly" was easily their most adventurous album up to that point and the handful of completed tracks that have surfaced from the 1968 album project are amongst my all time fave Hollies songs... "Wings" is absolute heaven, "Relax" is very charming, "Man With No Expression" is a great song and then theres "Tomorrow When It Comes" with the Hollies rocking out with wah wahs and manic harmonies... fantastic track!

I always felt it was such a shame Graham Nash chose to move on at that time... I don't blame him either having those songs passed over in favour of Dylan covers. I also intensely dislike "Jennifer Eccles" and "Listen To Me" the last two Nash era singles in the UK - true, they are catchy and have a certain period charm but the best of The Hollies they are not and in my view contradict their true capabilities as writers... "Listen To Me" was their first single by an outside writer in quite some time... their respective b'sides, "Open Up Your Eyes" and "Do The Best You Can", both originals are much better songs though undeniably less commercial.

Maybe I'm wrong but I always believed that after the commercial failure of "King Midas" and "Butterfly", that Allan and Graham wrote "Jennifer Eccles" as a joke!

Its interesting that almost everyone views the Dylan album as being one of their worst... for me it certainly is and though "Hollies Sing Hollies" is patchy, it is a relief to hear them getting back to some sort of form on "Confessions".

I don't particularly like Jennifer Eccles it is way too cute but I think it's the production not the song. If you heard somebody just play it with acoustic guitar it might be much more impressive.

Actually, I think it has some of the finest Hollies poetry ever

White chalk written on redbrick,
Our Love told in a heart,
it's there drawn in the playground

That's very simple ane elegant IMO.

Micheal

And let's face it, it's one ANYBODY can sing along to! I used to hate it, but it's actually grown on me.

Very true about the names Jennifer and Eccles!

I just recall the classic 1988 Record Collector piece and that Allan Clarke said something about he and Nash feeling down and the overall tone of what he said (sadly I no longer have a copy) hinted that "Jennifer Eccles" was written with tongue in cheek! The two videoclips I have of them performing the song also are rather tongue in cheek...

I do agree with the replies to my remark about "Jennifer Eccles" - it is catchy and those first few lines are great - it does have some merit. I don't mind hearing it every so often but the la-la-la bits grate on me somewhat!

Speaking of the song heard acoustically have any of you heard the version done by The Eels a couple of years back? It was a b'side on one of their CD singles and they did it acoustic and slowed it down - it was really good too.

At the end of the day, Nash and Clarke had a job to do and that was to sell records and they certainly proved with "Jennifer Eccles" they had a knack for writing very commercial songs, a talent not to be sniffed at to be truthful even if one dislikes it. For instance, I hate "I Just Called To Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder, but you can't help buit admire the man for writing something that is universally popular with people of all ages. After all isn't that what music supposed to do - entertain and unite?

Jennifer Eccles may be a quite simple song but it´s nice anyway... In an interview with Allan Clarke from the mid-90s, Allan admitted that he didn´t like the song too much anymore until he realized that it still earned him money. That changed his opinion for the better.

Regards,
Michael

It is songs such as "Jennifer Eccles" & "Bus Stop" that gave the Hollies the "sweet/lighter" band image amongst some music fans compared to other 60's groups like the Stones.
I am not a huge "J. eccles" fan either, & only wish "King Midas" was a bigger hit for them.
What a great song Cool

OK, let me chime in here. As for high harmony singers, I think Terry Sylvester tops Graham Nash. Give a listen to "Gasoliine Alley Bred" for instance. Terry's vocal, solo and harmony, is wonderful. I think the harmony blend was better with Terry. As for "Jennifer Eccles" and "King Midas..", I actually prefer the covers from the "Sing Hollies in Reverse" CD by E and The Posies, respectively. E's version of "Jennifer Eccles" I heard live at a show here in LA promoting the CD, and it brought tears to my eyes. Such a simple, touching lyric in its slowed-down rendition by E. The Posies take "King Midas.." and rock out with it, resulting in a really terrific cover. Now as for "Listen to Me", I think it's one hell of a great single by The Hollies, as was its UK B-side, "Do the Best You Can", released in Germany and the USA as an A-side. The "Butterfly" album I like, but there are a few twee tunes on there, don't forget. The Dylan album was a mistake, but "Blowin' In The Wind" still knocks me out. "...Sing Hollies" is a fine album, not patchy to my ears.

Where should I start? First, I must admit I jumped on the Hollies bandwagon, because everyone was digging the Beatles and the Stones. Then came I'm alive and I was lost forever. I would never be a Beatles fan again. This was just superior. Then how should a fan handle the changing styles of the end of the 60's? I can say I did not feelmistreated by Jennifer Eccles. in fact I found it rather catchy, and wrote a Norwegian text to it. But did this era bring credit to the Hollies in the long run? Not really. Later I was enchanted by Sandy, Write on, Russian roulette and other strong songs from the 70's. Somehow I lost interest during the late 70s. But this was not to last. What really brought me back was Hollies playing live in the 80's, listening to great songs like Too many hearts get broken, and I was back where I was in the 60's.

Now where does this bring us? Hollies sing Hollies is a very good album, listen to the recent rerelease by French Magic. This is Hollies way up among the best! Today I feel Graham is giving the Hollies a hell of a lot competition with his excellent solo album Songs for survivors and the Crosby-Nash double CD. Only trouble is that you always know the Hollies would have done the best songs of Graham even better, just listen to Wasted on the way on Archve alive!

Hi There,

This is my first post here. I'm a big Beatles fan (though my hero is Jerry Lee Lewis!), but feel much of THEIR music became light-weight & unadventurous after 'Pepper'. Check out 'Hello Goodbye', 'Alltogether Now', 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da', 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer'... So, although 'Jennifer eccles' will never be my favourite song, I think it's criticism is a little unfair when the majority of their rivals were doing similar things post-psychedelia. Even 'tough' bands like The Who were releasing singles like 'Dogs' before Pete Townshend came up with 'Tommy'...

Regarding Graham Nash / Terry Silvester, I agree that Terry's harmonies blended in better. But I also think he sounded a little anonymous compared to Graham, who's voice was (& is) every bit as distinctive as Alan's. To me, The Hollies were the ONLY group to rival The Beatles in creativity, particularly during 1966-1967. 'For Certain Because' & 'Evolution' are two of the greatest albums ever made as far as I'm concerned, though 'Butterfly' & all the earlier albums (with the possible exception of 'Stay With The Hollies') are also extremely strong, as were all the A's & B's during this period. I do like some of the post-Nash material too, but for me they often became a little too serious & 'adult' for me after this.

Peter

PS. Is it just me, or can't anyone access the Complete Recording Session Listing on here?

PPS. Does anyone know where I can download 'Devi Avere Fiducia In Me' & the alternate version of 'Yes I Will'? These appear to be the only two Nash-era tracks that I still need, & I'm reluctant to pay £50+ for the Japanese reissues featuring these...

Bass Guitar Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 98 Location: Rugby

I love 'Man with no Expression' and it is a pity that it was locked away for nearly 30 years, it makes you think what other brilliant material EMI have locked away.