The Hollies - Hollies - Hollies Greatest Hits

Easily The Most Variable Of The Many British Invasion Groups

Before they became The Hollies, lead vocalist Allan Clarke and guitarist Graham Nash, both from Manchester, England, had performed as a duo calling themselves The Guytones. Then, with the addition of two more they changed briefly to The Fourtones, then The Deltas and, in 1962, The Hollies, with bassists Eric Haycock and drummer Don Rathbone. A year later they got a contract with the famed British label, Parlophone (part of EMI) and a fifth member, guitarist Tony Hicks.

In May that year they had their first U.K. hit, a cover of The Coaster's Ain't That Just Like Me which, b/w Hey, What's Wrong With Me, reached # 25 on the British charts, and in August followed that with another Coasters cover, Searchin' which hit # 12 b/w The Whole World Over. From there until 1971 they would then post 21 straight Top 20 U.K. hits. Their initial North American hit came in May 1964 when their cover of the 1963 Doris Troy hit, Just One Look, squeaked into the Billboard Pop Hot 100 at # 98 on the Imperial label b/w Keep Off That Friend Of Mine. In the U.K., the A-side was a # 2 smash. By this time Rathbone had been replaced by Bobby Elliott.

Their next Hot 100 wouldn't come until late 1965 with Look Through Any Window (# 32), still with Imperial and b/w So Lonely, but in the U.K. it was a # 4. In between they had Here I Go Again (# 4), We're Through (# 7), Yes I Will (# 9) and I'm Alive (# 1) all reach hit status in the U.K., as well as the second of two U.K. albums, In The Hollies Style (their first was Stay With The Hollies in early 1964), and in September 1965 Parlophone issued the third album, The Hollies. Another U.K.-only hit, If I Needed Someone, hit # 20 in December 1965, and in January 1966 their fourth LP, Hear! Here! came out in the U.K. After I Can't Let Go made it to # 2 in the U.K. and # 42 in North America in March, still with Imperial, Haycock left and was replaced by Bernie Calvert.

Unfortunately, that was not a part of the original vinyl LP that came out in 1973 (and now represented by this CD release) which concentrates only on 12 of their North American hits, and with other significant gaps there as well after including each their next seven in the Hot 100: Bus Stop (# 5 in both U.K. and N.A. in summer 1966); Stop Stop Stop (# 2 U.K./# 7 N.A. November 1966); On A Carousel (# 4 U.K./# 11 N.A. spring 1967); and Pay You Back With Interest (which was not released in the U.K. and made # 28 on the Hot 100). All were on the Imperial labe, and on the last twp they used session drummer Donnie Weight as Elliott was ill. In personal appearances they also used Clem Cattini.

In summer 1967, Carrie-Anne hit # 3 U.K. and # 9 Hot 100 for their new North American distributor, Epic, following which Imperial re-released Just One Look, and this time it reached # 44 Hot 100 in October. That same month, with the band jumping on the psychedelic bandwagon, the pretentious King Midas In Reverse got to # 11 in the U.K., but only # 51 Hot 100, and they then closed out the year with Dear Eloise which was not released in the U.K. and again finished a disappointing # 50 Hot 100. This album then skips over Jennifer Eccles (# 11 U.K./# 40 Hot 100 in spring 1968) as well as the minor hit, Do The Best You Can (not released in U.K./# 93 Hot 100 in September 1968. In December, Nash left to join Davis Crosby and Stephen Sills and was replaced by former Swinging Blue Jean member Terry Sylvester. Also, Elliott returned and both are heard on Sorry Suzanne, a # 3 U.K./# 56 Hot 100 in May 1969, but also omitted here.

Then came perhaps their best tune which was based on Father Flanagan's Nebraska Boy's Town, He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, which made it to # 3 U.K./# 7 Hot 100 in late 1969/early 1970. The album skips over the July 1970 # 7 U.K./# 82 Hot 100, I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top, and finished with their two 1972 hits, Long Cool Woman (In A Dark Dress) and Long Dark Road, which finished at # 2 Hot 100/# 32 U.K. and # 26 Hot 100/# 31 Adult Contemporary (AC) respectively.

But The Hollies, with more personnel shuffling, would go on to post another 8 U.K. hits to 1993, and 5 more on the Hot 100, including one of my favourites, their 1974 cover of an Albert Hammond album track, The Air That I Breathe, which got to # 2 U.K. and # 3 AC and # 6 Hot 100 on the Billboard charts.

As mentioned in a number of the other reviews, the sound quality in this leaves much to be desired and, in terms of that and content, there are now much better Hollies compilations available. Search around. October 5, 2008

best 60s English rock band

I was a big Hollies fan back in the day and this CD met all my expectations. For anyone searching for good English rock bands, this is the CD to get. August 28, 2008

Wish I could see them

Since some of the Hollies have moved on to successful careers with other bands, this group's contributions to pop music have been short-changed. They were just brilliant. This collection is highly recommended. I really wish they would get back together. This is a reunion tour I would pay big money to see. May 31, 2008

A Pretty Comprehensive Collection

The Hollies always reminded me of The Beatles - interesting, inventive melodies; folky, jangly guitars; multi-layered harmonies - and that's probably why they caught my attention in the first place. This collection has the obvious hits you would expect: the excellent folk-rockish "Bus Stop", "He Ain't Heavy", "Long Cool Woman" and the gorgeous "Air That I Breathe". But it also includes songs that I remember as rather big hits that aren't heard frequently on radio these days, namely "Stop, Stop, Stop" and "Look Through Any Window". And lesser hits that I remember fondly, like "Just One Look" and "Pay You Back With Interest". Even a couple that I don't remember at all are pretty good: "Dear Eloise" and "King Midas in Reverse". The sound is mostly sharp and clear. "Bus Stop" sounds especially good. However, be forewarned that "Bus Stop" and some other tracks, like some Beatles tracks, have the vocals on one side of the stereo and the instruments on the other. That might bother some people, but I'm used to it. All in all, I'm satisfied and very happy that I bought this CD. I can't think of any significant song that was omitted from it. May 24, 2008

SKIP THIS FOR THE RAVEN IMPORT, FAR BETTER AUDIO

This is, of course, by far the biggest selling Hollies "best of" disc.

However, a much better-sounding alternative import single-disc compilation, On a Carousel, 1963-1974: The Ultimate Hollies, made available by Australia's Raven Records label.

The remastered audio on the Raven disc is far and away superior to this disc, even though it was re-vamped just a few years ago.

The Raven CD has every track on this disc, but has nearly double the music, 25 tracks vs. the paltry 13 here.

The import is a little extra money, but eminently more worth it. May 12, 2008

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