The Hollies Movie
Graham Nash wrote "Teach Your Children", "Lady Of The Island" and "Right Between The Eyes" in one night. He was on tour with the Hollies, he was frustrated, he was sick of making pop music, he wanted to write songs with meaning…and these three came out.
After the movie tonight, Graham said all we’ve got is time. And he doesn’t want to waste ours.
I don’t want to waste yours. I realize this is the third missive from me today. But I just came back from the Aero Theatre from the premiere of this Hollies movie and I’m buzzed. Because they made such great music. And they really knew how to play and sing. And they were at it for years before they did their best work.
They were Mancunians. Graham and Allan Clarke. Best buddies since age six they were infatuated by the Everly Brothers and chased them all the way back to the Midland Hotel from a gig. And stayed up talking so late that they missed the last bus home, they had to walk nine miles.
But they didn’t care.
You see they had a passion. Encouraged by their parents. It’s a baby boomer thing. We were the first generation who could be something more.
And sure, Graham and Allan are just a little bit older, but they were the leaders, the progenitors.
Actually, they followed the Beatles into the Cavern Club. Which Graham labeled a "death trap". There was only one way in, it was the same way out. And one night, a thug came up on stage while they were playing and walked right off with Tony Hicks’s amp. No one could stop him. It was just that kind of place.
And discovered by producer Ron Richards, they went down to London and started to record.
And there were changes in the band. Jazz-influenced Bobby Elliott now pounded the skins and the bass player got married and was replaced. Keeping a band together is hard. Eventually Graham left. The turning point? "King Midas In Reverse". It wasn’t a hit. But the throwaway "Jennifer Eccles" was. Is there no justice? Beware of creating a niche, you just might get locked up in it.
And Graham went on to even bigger success with Crosby and Nash. But Allan Clarke and the rest of the troupe triumphed too. Although "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" was considered a throwaway, it’s one of the great singles in rock and roll. I can still picture driving on Route 30 in Vermont as it blasted out of the dashboard. Like "All Right Now", it was indelible.
And now it’s nearly fifty years later. And Allan’s voice is questionable, at least in his own mind, and Bobby and Tony are still fronting an edition of the Hollies and Nash is still palling around with David Crosby. Oh, what a long strange trip it’s been.
It was different back then. Music was the glue. The way to connect. It was a way out of the drudgery. You might have done it to get noticed by the opposite sex but the money was secondary. It was a lark. Not meant to be forever. But when the Beatles started experimenting and getting strange, the public followed, that was the power of the tunes.
The film has got twenty two complete performances.
And it’s not like "Behind The Music", there’s no dirt.
But you marvel at how great the voices are, the technical skills of Tony and Bobby. If these guys were on "American Idol" or "X Factor" they’d win. They needed no auto-tune, no technical help. They could do it live.
And they did.
You watch this old footage and your heart palpitates. You were there, when music changed the world.
And when the lights came up and Graham and Allan were there to answer questions, they did not appear to be seventy year old men but Gods, still walking this Earth.
They made this music. They’ve aged, but it has not. One day they’ll be gone, but the records will last forever.
So if you want to play this creative game know that you’ve got to start young. And you’ve got to have the fire in your belly. And if success comes too fast, it probably won’t last. But if you need to make it. If you can’t do anything else.
You will.
