VOX POP

just when i think i've tracked down
pretty much all of the best sixties material
the other day i come across a lil something in the local library
a hollies compilation seedy, dontcha know?
now a couple of things have always put me off the hollies
firstly their name
which conjures up images of pretty boys singing fluff
like the tremeloes or herman's hermits
(for some reason i've always erroneously linked them
with the truly dreadful 'glad all over'
actually by the dave clark five)
and secondly some of their seventies output
which receives most radio play
treacly middle of the road fare like 'the air that i breathe'
and to a lesser extent 'he aint heavy, he's my brother'
which rips off 'the long and winding road'
a mccartney song i've never dug
but to be honest i was largely ignorant
of the boys' mid-60s heyday
when their inhouse songwriting triumvirate
of messrs clarke
graham nash (later of crosby, stills & ... fame)
and tony hicks
really came into their own
now in a lot of ways
this stuff is the antithesis
of classic mid to late sixties stuff like jimi hendrix
rock it definitely ain't
looking for a purple haze?
forget it!
these lads (with the exception of our friend gnash)
weren't into psychedelic drugs
always preferring a pint of ale down the local pub
which eventually caused a fatal rift
between gnasher and the others
however their summer of love output
has many of the trappings of the era
and the more i think about it
these guys had an awful lot in common with the byrds
which makes it all the more mysterious
why it's taken me so long to get into them
for a start there were five of them
like the byrds
instead of the usual beat group quota of four
(the byrds of course weren't a beat group at all)
alan clarke was ironically the gene clark figure
restricted to some of the lead singing duties
and shaking his hips and tambourine
gnasher was analagous to david crosby
his fairly inconsequential rhythm guitar contributions
more than compensated for
by that lovely soaring tenner voice
and how about tony hicks as a young jim mcguinn?
no don't laugh!
easily the most accomplished player in the group
with his jangling twelve-string rickenbacker work
chet atkins licks
and ability to add unusual folk instrumentation
like the dulcimer and banjo
(a bit of a brian jones / george harrison too!)
but the most obvious comparison?
the magical three-part harmonies of course
which surely equal the byrds and surpass even the beatles
of course the analogy with the byrd bros has its limitations
the hollies were never as experimental or iconoclastic
as their transatlantic cousins
the manc boys always followed the trends
rather than being in the vanguard
at heart the hollies were a 'pure pop' group
always on the look out for a catchy song
not particularly worried if someone else had written it
as long as it was memorable
and displayed a remarkable lack of ego
often content to write the b-side
while topping the charts with 'i'm alive'
or 'look through any window'
but as we arrive in the heady climate of the 1966-67 season
that brief 'toppermost of the poppermost' zenith
when dylan, jimi, los beatles
los byrds, los stones, los kinks et al
were churning out brilliance on a daily basis
the hollies also get into their stride
coming up with some fantastic a-sides
it's a difficult choice
but if i have to pick only one
'carrie anne' just eases out its predecessor 'on a carousel'
two catchier pop ditties it is impossible to find
the beatles were doing strawberry fields forever
lucy in the sky
a day in the life
the hollies?
it may have been the spring of 1967
but they just carried on exactly as before
synthesising their 3-minute pop symphonies
so what about carrie anne?
well it kicks off with an unusual calypso intro
guiros and tropical sounding percussion
almost acapella
before diving into the first verse
the subject matter is the classic boy meets girl
but with a twist
as the narrator's sweetheart grows up
she loses interest in him
and sadly goes off the rails
the boy can't understand it
and pines for her
clark, thicks and gnash each sing a verse
in their similar-sounding voices
then everything reaching a climax
in the exquisitely catchy chorus
harmonic nirvana surely attained
as our boys plead in unison:
'hey carrie anne
what's your game now?
can anybody play?'
and we sing joyously along
(never has doing the washing-up been so much fun!)
if you are unmoved by this song
you are made of musical stone
an unusual calypso instrumental played on steel drums
breaks up the choruses
and as if all this is not enough value for your money
our heroes round things off
by chucking in a truly gorgeous 3-part harmony outro
reminiscent of but actually predating
the kinks 'waterloo sunset'
altogether a work of rare beauty
if you haven't heard it
go out and get it
now!