#60 The Hollies- Hollies’ Greatest

The real sound of the 60s, for better and worse…

(Parlophone)

Released: 1^st August 1968

Producer: Ron Richards

Topped the chart:

6^th October 1968 (for 6 weeks)

24^th November 1968 (for 1 week)

7 weeks total

The wider public didn’t know it yet, but The Hollies’ debut greatest hits compilation was marking the end of an era. Founder member Graham Nash was on his way out to link up with some other musicians you might have heard of in LA, and so this record acts as a singles collection for the band’s Nash years.

But it represents the end of an era in other ways, an early 60s sound that the world had moved on from—The Hollies were essentially Merseybeaters but with a slightly wider taste in LPs, Some of the more generic songs here (We’re Through, Here I Go Again, Jennifer Eccles) could have been recorded by King Size Taylor or The Remo Four. The songs are often matched with a tinny mono production, Ron Richards lacking the soundscape vision of a producer like George Martin. In a world that had discovered drugs, free love and the birth of the Manson family, The Hollies’ early singles would have felt quant, even in 1968.

However, it’s where those other influences creep in that things get a little more interesting. Carrie Ann, for one, starts with a blast of Frankie Valli falsetto harmonies, before randomly erupting into steel drums after the chorus, where Carousel matches a fat Stax-style bass with a Buddy Holly-like lick to great effect, evoking the feel of its namesake. King Midas In Reverse is perhaps the best of the lot, boasting a more complicated arrangement, pulling from American folk and hints of The Byrds (though it was hugely out of step with what the public wanted- it was a flop on release).

Compare these songs to the likes of Here I Go Again, which sounds like a rejected 1963 Beatles B-side, and the leap in ambition and quality is startling. I’m Alive is the exception: a song that bleeds 1965, but brought up a notch thanks to a soaring vocal and an ascending melody in the pre-chorus that feels unusual.

Without their two biggest hits that would come in the next five years (1969’s He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother and 1974’s aching The Air That I Breathe), Hollies’ Greatest is a far from essential listen with more complete sets available today. However, when it comes to representing what the early 60s actually sounded like beyond The Beatles, it’s an impressive artefact that feels like breaking open the amber and inhaling the wonders of 1965.

Score: 7/10

Tracklisting:

SIDE A

1.      I Can’t Let Go

2.      Bus Stop

3.      We’re Through

4.      Carrie Ann

5.      Here I Go Again

6.      King Midas in Reverse

7.      Yes I Will

SIDE B

8.      I’m Alive

9.      Just One Look

10.  On a Carousel

11.  Stay

12.  Look Through Any Window

13.  Stop Stop Stop

14.  Jennifer Eccles