The Hollies: "Changin' Times" Track By Track Discussion Thread

Thanks to RedRoseSpeedway for his excellent thread on the 'Clarke Hicks & Nash Years' boxset. Many thread followers have expressed desire for a thread following the next boxset in the series, 'Changin' Times', which covers their post-Nash career from 1969 - 1973. There's a lot of material here that's going to be unknown to many people who followed the old thread, but this, for me, is the most consistent part of their career. So buckle up for the next few months as we delve into 'Changin' Times'...

First up on disc one, is 'Sorry Suzanne', which was found by their producer Ron Richards as their first recording to be released with new harmony singer Terry Sylvester. It's a lightweight pop song, but the Hollies did these best. It's a flawless production with a terrific rolling tempo, urgent lead vocal from Allan Clarke, and some superb guitar work from Tony Hicks. I can see why this raced to near the top of the charts virtually all over the world, panic over that the Hollies wouldn't survive Graham Nash's departure... 5/5 for me.

 

Sorry Suzanne picks up right where Listen To Me left off, a truly nicely chosen cover. I do wish that Allan, Tony, Bernie, Bobby and Terry had been able to set out with an original, but this song did a nice job of introducing the new line-up. 4.4/5

And a huge thank you to @Cameron.39 for picking up the torch!!

 

'Sorry Suzanne' - this is a long-time favorite of mine. Definitely one of the best of the Sylvester-era Hollies songs. It had to be devastating to lose Nash, but this performance shows how good the Hollies were, and gives us an indication that there was much more good music still to come from them. 5/5

Thanks @Cameron.39 for starting this thread.

 

Sorry Suzanne is an absolutely perfect pop song. 5/5

 

Thanks @Cameron.39 for continuing our Hollies journey. Here is a performance clip of Sorry Suzanne from the Tom Jones Show. Graham may have left, but they still have their suits and bow ties.

 

Yes THANKS to Red Rose Speedway and a THANK YOU to Cameron for now duly taking over....just as Terry once did from Graham

Graham Nash said he passed his white suit on to Terry Sylvester - and it fit him perfectly which is rather apt as Terry proved to be a magnificent choice to take over as Hollies high harmony vocalist when Graham departed to the USA and CSN

Liverpool born - and Liverpool Football club mad - Terry was of course a known figure on the UK pop scene having been a second generation Merseybeat musician of noted pedigree - aged 14 this 'scouse' had worked as a panel beater for George Harrison's brother

Terry with his 'Beatle' hairstyle was a good looking lad full of personality who was 'co-frontman' vocalist/guitarist with The Escorts who had a minor UK chart hit with a version of 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' in 1965 on Fontana records

- The Escorts opened for The Beatles on their last gig at the Cavern Club, and Terry became friends with the 'Manchester' band who took over the residency at the Cavern when the Fab Four relocated down to London - The Hollies

Allan and Graham once even made a guest appearance as 'honory Escorts' alongside Terry at The Hit House in Munich Germany in 1965 when two of The Escorts were unwell for a show where The Escorts were opening for The Hollies

Terry featured on a handful of Escorts singles on Fontana including their cover of 'I Don't Want To Go On Without You' - eclipsed by The Moody Blues chart version - and was on a nice cover of The Everlys 'Let it Be Me' reflecting how Terry too was an Everlys fanatic

When Ralph Ellis quit The Swinging Blue Jeans in 1966 Terry was picked to replace him and featured on a few later SBJ singles tho' their chart days sadly were over - he sang on the unusual titled; 'Sidney Gotta Draw The Line' !

In 1968 when it became known that Graham Nash intended to depart The Hollies Terry wisely got himself a copy of 'Hollies Greatest' and made a point of learning all Graham's high harmony and lead vocal lines...

The Hollies and their management were doing auditions when Terry apparently presented himself to Hollies manager Robin Britten brazenly saying;

'I am your new Hollie...!'

talk about over confidence....but it worked while Allan Clarke observed;

'we were wondering who could replace Graham in the band...when suddenly we realised he was right under our noses...'

their young 'old friend' from Merseyside probably never occurred to them as Terry was a co-lead singer, singer, guitarist in both Escorts and Swinging Blue Jeans NEVER a high harmony vocalist as far as they were aware - or probably Terry either !

anyway they tried a few Hollies hits with Terry...and he slotted in perfectly, already knowing 'Graham's vocal parts' plus he knew all that rock'n'roll and the beat group 'standards' of the day while in turn The Hollies already knew Terry was a seasoned performer and capable rhythm guitarist

A delighted George Harrison gave Terry a hug at Abbey Road studios saying to the young kid he knew from Liverpool now a 'Hollie';

'congratulations on your new boast !'

Thus Terry Sylvester was announced in January 1969 as the 'new' Hollie - and their first single with him 'Sorry Suzanne' shot to no.3 in the UK chart - being another 'simplistic' but not simple song performance

a carefree singalong number like 'Listen To Me' it's interesting to see the vocal performance with sections sung in turn by Clarke, Clarke-Hicks, Clarke/Sylvester...and Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester - a vocal performance where everyone has to get their respective parts spot on as the number never breaks in tempo at all thus there is NO room for any vocal errors like most Hollies songs

After this success Terry got to work with his new band colleagues on those Dylan backing tracks - which would result in a no.3 UK chart album - an album Jimi Hendrix loved !

then later in 1969, with Terry's more emotive pathos tinged high harmony voice so important now to the band would come a massive change in the Hollies Style...

on BBC TV's 'Top of The Pops'

 

and on German 'Beat Club'

 

Yes he fitted in perfectly in the Hollies.

 

Replacing Graham with Terry proved to be a good choice and led to a pretty seamless transition. You get a better rhythm guitarist but of course lose some songwriting and that unique voice. This prompted more songwriting from Tony in particular and Clarke/Sylvester would team up to help write many of the songs moving forward.

Sorry Suzanne is very good but not as good as Listen to Me to close out the previous set. 4.5/5

 

I think "Sorry Suzanne" is a fine pop song. I performed it in my acoustic duo for years, though I sang the harmony parts rather than the lead. Alas, with the passage of time, I just can't hit those high notes any more, so we were forced to drop the song.

Without any disrespect toward Graham Nash, who could hit at time stratospheric high notes, it must be said that Terry Sylvester was at least his equal if not his superior in the world of high harmony singing. It can be reasonably argued that The Hollies' trademark harmonic blend actually improved when Terry joined.

And as much as I love classic Nash-era Hollies, there are going to be any number of great songs coming down the pike in this thread. I look forward to discussing them.

 

Terry Sylvester would prove to be a fine songwriter in due course however back in 1969 he was only just starting to write songs with 'Gloria Swansong' being his first

Allan Clarke took Terry 'under his wing' as it were re the songwriting hence the Clarke/Sylvester team emerged which in turn helped Clarke to get over losing Nash both as a 'brother' in his life and as a songwriting companion

what is significant is how besides a couple of joint efforts Clarke and Hicks rather drift apart in 1969 as composers until Terry like Graham earlier pulls them back together in late 1974 and then the Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester songwriting team emerges

however over 1969-71 Allan and Tony essentially write either solo or with other songwriting partners which helps strengthen them as songwriters individually tho' it is noticeable that Graham was very much a 'driving force' behind the group pushing them onwards even if at times like the venture into psychedelia it didn't always guarantee chart success

I think the natural balance of the group itself was more affected by Nash's exit than their actual performing ability as it was then firmly down to Allan and Tony to lead the band - look at Allan visibly sweating in that Golders Green concert from February 1969 that BBC televised where he looks more ill at ease at times having to be THE onstage frontman than Terry the enthusiastic 'new boy' so happy to be a part of The Hollies ever does

Allan would become more confident and the songwriting would develop with Terry Sylvester proving to be an asset over time

 

It's nearly miraculous that the Hollies found someone as good as Terry Sylvester to replace Graham Nash, and were able to carry on at such a high level. The odds were certainly against it.

 

Terry S. had a good voice, I like his lead vocal on his own Indian Girl song. I think The Holls with Terry are definitely worthwhile (and with M. Rikfors as well). If Nash left because he felt they were being passed by or behind the times doing that album of Dylan material they soon showed the error in that recording a lot of music that still holds up today and is in demand for tv adverts!

Great info again Billo, thank you for your efforts here and in the past thread!

 

Looking back it's obvious why Graham Nash became so unhappy - 'Butterfly' had failed to chart, 'King Midas...' had been a relative chart failure making only no.18 in the UK and missing the USA chart completely

the decision to revert to a safer more commercial style on singles with 'Jennifer Eccles' / 'Listen To Me' - and next up after Nash departed with 'Sorry Suzanne' - also seeing a return to outside songwriters would have seemed a dead end creatively and on an artistic level

Today 'Tribute' albums are the norm but back in 1969 it was not a known avenue for bands to take - true The Four Seasons around that time did an album of songs by Bacharach, David and Dylan with a side devoted to each composer(s) and instrumentally Duane Eddy had done an almost entire album of Bob Dylan tunes but for a name vocal group to do an entire album of one composers songs was then unusual

Graham Nash would have seen it as a massive step backwards creatively - tho' ironic the arrangements were pretty imaginative in the end

also Nash would have been acutely aware of what was going on around him with The Beatles 'White Album', Stones 'Beggars Banquet', The Who 'Tommy', Kinks 'Village Green Preservation Society', Small Faces 'Ogden's Nutgone Flake' Zombies doing 'Odyssey and Oracle', Bee Gees 'Horizontal' and 'Idea', Cream 'Wheels of Fire', Hendrix 'Axis: Bold as Love', Procol Harum 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', Pink Floyd 'Piper At The Gates of Dawn'.. plus The Byrds 'Notorius Byrd Brothers' etc...the sheer creativity was amazing then

....and Tony Hicks wants them to do an album of Dylan songs ?

we can see why it was the last straw for Nash having reluctantly just sung
'Blo-blo-blow...' against his better judgement...!!

and with David and Stephen quietly waiting for him....once that Epic record deal thing was sorted, plus his marriage to Rosemary having now collapsed - well his choice was clear

However with Graham departed there WAS 'life after Nash' for The Hollies - certainly we knew that instrumentally they would be as strong as ever, Hicks guitar, Elliott's drums...no problems there

on the vocal front Terry added a very important new aspect of a 'pathos' tinged emotive high harmony to their sound while Tony's lower harmony dovetailed quite perfectly with Terry's voice into one mature sounding harmony

if Allan and Graham's voices were naturally made for each other....Tony and Terry's were as well - just listen to 'Look at Life' where Tony sings lead and Terry harmonises

Allan of course was the key lead voice and now firmly supported by two emapthic harmony voices a new style Hollies sound emerged

Graham's dynamic and haunting voice was more of that of a lead vocalist who took high harmony superbly - thus the Clarke-Hicks-Nash sound was in essence two lead singers - 'Ricky and Dane' - with a third harmony voice of Tony slotting perfectly between them to form the original 'Hollies sound' - hence 'Here I Go Again', 'Bus Stop', 'Step Inside' etc...

note how besides his solo vocal tracks Graham often also had a featured lead vocal spot in a song like on a bridge in 'So Lonely' , 'The Games We Play', 'Step Inside', 'Do The Best You Can' or even might take over as lead vocalist as on 'I've Got A Way of My Own' or for a segment of a song as on 'She Gives Me Everything I Want' - the transition from one lead singer to another was seamless as each of Clarke and Nash were really lead vocalists


now Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester were Clarke as the sole lead voice with two perfect harmony voices that blended surrounding him vocally which suited the 'wordier' songs of the seventies and gave them a new yet still totally recognisable slightly amended 'Hollies Sound' - they could still do the pop material such as 'Sorry Suzanne' and sound dynamic like the Nash era Hollies on numbers such as 'Wheels on Fire', 'Please Let Me Please' etc but also now could do a mature sounding seventies style reflective harmonised sound with a key tinge of pathos that particularly suited songs such as; 'He Ain't Heavy',
'I Shall Be Released', ' I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top', 'My Life is Over With You', 'Too Young To Be Married', and 'Gasoline Alley Bred' etc....

Terry's voice gave them a new musical avenue to explore while his songwriting skills were fast developing too

here is Terry 'settling' fast into his new band - this is done live with BBC TV sixties sound of course but note how Clarke's voice is naturally out in front with Hicks-Sylvester supporting which in the recording studio was honed to perfection

 

I can't say I agree.

Terry is/was a really fine harmony singer. I would say the harmonies were sweeter with him and he sort of had more emotional depth in his voice. Nash couldn't have done such a good job on The Air That I Breathe for example.

However, Nash was a creative force and Terry doesn't appear to have been. Nash by and large pushed the Hollies into "cooler" territory, Terry didn't Possibly because he was the junior member and couldn't and maybe because they'd had their fingers burned with Graham and were playing it safe. Terry wasn't the guy to push them on artistically IMO. Also, he could probably play a bit more guitar than Graham but didn't really appear to add much their either.

If you take Marmalade, a very similar group, when they lost Junior Campbell, their artistic leader, they added Hugh Nicholson, a natural songwriter who immediately penned a bunch of hits and added some edge on lead guitar. The Hollies didn't add that creative bounce. They only time they did was when Mikael Rickfors joined and really seemed to push the band on instrumentally.

Back on topic, Tony's solo on Sorry Suzanne is just sh!t hot! So good!

 

This thread for a while will be good for me as I own Hollies Sing Hollies and Confessions of the Mind in the Original Album Series box, but I haven't played them yet, so I'll go along with this thread, with each track being fresh. I might even revisit Hollies Sing Dylan!

For now though, a great and confident start with Sorry Suzanne. As is so often the way with Hollies, an immaculately sung, played, arranged and produced unpretentious pop song. The kind of thing they excelled at. It's not among my favourite Hollies singles, but as it's such a strong start to a new era as well as a big hit, it's a 5/5 from me. I'll second Tony Hicks solo being fantastic too.

I really wish they hadn't gone for the square and cabaret looking white suits and dickie bows though. I don't know why a still young band with so much talent became so uncool so early.

 

They definitely needed to drop the suits at least after 1966. It was pretty common around then. So who was in charge of the fashion show? Was that Tony's gig also?

 

Ironic but it was actually Graham Nash who really took them into the white suits, smart stage suits and bow ties 'uncool' look !

look at the Croatia 1968 concert

Graham suggested they try doing cabaret hoping for a more mature audience who would not just scream over the songs - and that cabaret stage suits look was accordingly a part of the new band image

We need to bear in mind that Terry Sylvester was a bit younger and had little if any songwriting experience when he joined the group - Terry has said 'Gloria Swansong' on 'Hollies Sing Hollies' was the first song he ever wrote

Graham Nash began with 'Whole World Over' way back....and he'd come so far since then

Terry does in fact develop quite quickly penning songs and his joint efforts initially on Allan's songs then as a full partnership with Allan Clarke are pretty decent early efforts and their songs on 'Confessions' and 'Distant Light' were notably strong numbers of the same standard as Tony Hicks songs

Terry emerges as more of a reflective solo balladeer writer in 1971 with his wistful 'Cable Car' while the guitar led 'Pull Down The Blind' showed another more intimate style with both songs sung completely solo giving The Hollies another solo balladeer in the band - in this Terry was following what Graham Nash had earlier also done - remember 'Fifi', 'Clown', 'Stop Right There' etc

Terry was of course the 'new boy' - probably regarded as that by the 'senior' Hollies for way too long, and he had little chance to really help guide band direction where as group co-founder Graham their original band leader, then co-leader with Tony had been allowed to guide them - tho' after 'Butterfly' failed to chart even Graham had been 'reeled in' by the band re psychedelia however they still did 'listen to me' re his next idea about smartening up and doing the cabaret circuit...!

so we can't really criticise Terry Sylvester for not doing the same 'driving force' job Graham Nash had done for the band as he just wasn't either experienced enough as a songwriter at that time nor was he in the same 'senior Hollie' position within the band - tho' Terry was to prove a fine ambassador for The Hollies then always positive and very pro his new band in any interviews - and during the 'Rickfors Hollies' era Terry rose to be a strong group figurehead member even handling Allan's 'Long Cool Woman' in his absence on US Television and on that early seventies USA tour

In late 1974 Terry pulls Clarke and Hicks back together as a songwriting team again as Graham Nash did ten years earlier

 

I'm not really criticizing Terry for being what he was. I'm just pointing out that they chose to replace a creative force, with not a creative force.

I don't think the output of Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester is anywhere up to the output of Clarke-Hicks-Nash. In fact, I wish they'd kept up the outside collaborations with Kenny Lynch, Roger Cook, Colin Horton-Jennings etc.

 

Thanks for all your contributions folks! Sorry I've not been on here for a few days, life is quite hectic my end, but I'll "do the best I can"! Nice to see so many people tuning into this thread with open ears, perhaps unfamiliar with this era of the Hollies - you're certainly in for a treat! For me, the 1969-1973 (and a bit beyond) is the most polished and ambitious era of their career, so plenty to explore here....

We pick up with Track Two on Disc One - the B-side of "Sorry Suzanne", "Not That Way At All".



This is a solo writing credit for Allan, which I believe was his first solo credit as part of the Hollies. As we know, the Clarke/Hicks/Nash team had dissolved, and weirdly, it would take a while for Clarke/Hicks/Sylvester to come together. Tony seemed to be quite happy wandering off and working with Kenny Lynch around this time, and Allan carried on on his own, occasionally working with Terry.

Nothing ever is said of this track, other than Bobby's perhaps over enthusiastic raid on the percussion cabinet at Abbey Road on this one! I believe it's a throwback to the summer of love vibe; tin soldiers were of course all the rage! I actually really like it. I love the way it builds up from Bernie's confident bassline, Bobby's drumming is superb throughout and those all important harmonies come in sharp as a pin. Not quite up to the standard of a lead single, but an interesting and often overlooked track nonetheless. I give it 3.5/5, I just wish they'd have perhaps gone with a solo from Tony instead of the percussion, it doesn't really work for me.

 

All opinions of course tho' I think Terry Sylvester was a creative songwriter and the albums 'Another Night', 'Write On' and 'Russian Roulette' were very good works and rather underrated but a direct compare with the Nash era is difficult as then they were in their heyday it is true but then let's bear in mind the highly rated 'Butterfly' back in 1967 totally flopped !

also the highly rated more album orientated Rickfors Hollies 'Romany' with Colin Horton Jennings songs like 'Magic Woman Touch' - their first official single to miss the UK charts - also failed to chart in the UK later in 1972 too...

their hit singles dried up after 1974 in the UK probably as the group's directional forces - of which Terry was not a 'senior Hollie' - leaned far too much towards repeated slow ballads where as more uptempo numbers such as maybe say 'Time Machine Jive', '48 Hour Parole', 'Louise' etc might have stood a better chance of making radio playlists and it is true they leaned more towards a straighter pop or pop/rock style over the seventies...but they had also reverted to pop with Nash on singles in 1968 as well

the band still made the singles charts in other countries through the seventies

while of course it was a very different era tho' from the sixties - look at how Graham Nash's own songwriting over time went with CSN etc nothing like his Hollies days - and probably the two decades are not really comparable, also bear in mind many sixties acts disbanded at the end of that decade thus never faced direct comparisons with the sixties work - fellow surviving bands The Stones, The Kinks, The Who and most noticeably The Bee Gees all made very different style records in the seventies to what came from them back in the sixties and one could argue whether they became less creative or not - or just different in a later era where sixties creativity was then seen as rather outmoded, today we would likely find fault with that notion but back in the seventies things were suddenly SO very different

 

Re 'Not That Way At All' - they actually performed this long 'forgotten' B side in latter Clarke era Hollies concerts presumably as Allan could still sing it quite easily

Then they replaced Bobby's assorted percussion (which has shades of Manfred Mann's 'Funniest Gig' and Pink Floyd's 'Bike' about it) with a bluesy Tony Hicks guitar solo that would have gone well on the recorded item

again it features passages sung by Clarke, Clarke-Hicks, Clarke/Sylvester and the full harmony team and was another intro to their new vocal sound

 

Not That Way At All I’m mainly familiar with from the Other Side LP, and it’s an interesting addition, that I feel Nash would’ve got a kick out of hearing. I love how it goes off into another space entirely, then falls back to where it started with ease.

 

'Not That Way At All' - great B-side. The insistent bass line really makes this work. 4/5

 

Not That Way At All is another highlight of the Other Sides collection, I feel it fits in well with the original mater they were working on in 1968, and believe that it would have fit nicely on the album from 1968 that never was. 4/5