May 192011
Coming home last night with the fam from dinner, The Hollies‘ “The Air That I Breathe” came on. My wife commented that when she was younger she always thought it was Bowie. To which I replied that I always thought “Long Cool Woman in a White Dress” was CCR. Which got me thinking, how could this band make both of these songs which are 1) stylistically night and day and 2) both kinda rip-offs, if you ask me.
I’m not a big Hollies know-er. Little help?
I dunno…the problem with this question is that you and your wife may be the only people in the world who think “Air That I Breathe” sounds like anything other than the Hollies. I think it’s the 70s Hollies hit that is most true to what that band always was. “Long Cool Woman” is certainly the oddity in the Hollies’ catalogue, one of the very rare Hollies songs to be based around a single lead vocal rather than harmonies.
because they are a derivative, second or third tier rock act with very little originality.
as are:
Golden Earring
Edison Lighthouse
Crabby Appleton
10 Years After
Conway Twitty
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Dukes
I don’t hear Bowie in “Air That I Breathe”. To me that song is the logical follow-up to “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” which is pretty much classic Hollies.
Ever since Graham Nash left in 1968, the Hollies seemed to be stumbling around looking for a sound to call their own and the radio hits became scarcer, so they seemed to adopt a try-anything-once attitude. It didn’t help that lead singer Allen Clarke left for a while. “Long Cool Woman” was an aberration that somehow managed to click and become a hit.
Like pudman13, I’d never considered “Air That I Breathe” sounding anything like Bowie, but now that you’ve said that I can hear what you’re hearing; the entire song seems to rise consistently and sharply as the song progresses, the way so many of Bowie’s song do. I don’t know that I would consider that typical of The Hollies’ earlier hits.
If you click the tag link to this post you’ll find an earlier piece I did assessing whether I actually liked The Hollies more than The Byrds. I believe I posted mp3s of a few of their more-typical songs. I think the band nicely split the difference between mid-period Beatles and classic Byrds. Or imagine early Bee Gees with pubic hair. Totally solid second-rate British Invasion band, if you ask me!
For the Hollies after 1968, I agree with you. However, the earlier Hollies had a sound and style that was unmistakably their own. Listen to “Look Through Any Window”, “Bus Stop”, “Carrie Ann”, or “King Midas in Reverse” and there’s absolutely no doubt that it’s the Hollies.
I don’t quite hear the Bowie or CCR overtones of those two songs, but no matter. My enjoyment of the Hollies, though not insubstantial, has never extended beyond the safe confines of The Hollies’ Greatest Hits, a compilation of their biggest (American) hits. At a dozen songs (a baker’s dozen on CD with the addition of the aforementioned “The Air That I Breathe”) it contains only one song (“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”) that I consistently need to skip. I’ve had that lp (and now CD) since I was a kid and still enjoy it. I am told that the Hollies of tons of other great singles and lp tracks. Maybe. Some time ago a friend got a 2 CD Hollies collection and we agreed that it was way, way too much Hollies. The only thing about the CD that irks me is that on the original lp each song had a visual representation on the collage cover with the number of the song helpfully placed next to the image. The CD not only adds a song but changes the running order, so that some of the images no longer match the correct song number. Yeah, I know, it shouldn’t really irk me as much as it does. I’ll seek counseling.
i certainly will. Thanks!
By the way, Crabby Appleton might not have been a terribly original band but their one hit, “Go Back”, was still a damn fine single that seemed better suited for 1966 or 1978 than 1970, the year when it was released.
That pretty much nails it. For a few years the Hollies were a top-notch singles band. As an “album” group? Not so much. A single CD’s worth of Hollies songs is all that 99% of music fans need. “King Midas in Reverse” was their last great song in their classic style.
For the most part, this is true, but BUTTERFLY, which was not released in the US, is a truly excellent 60s psychedelic pop album. I’ve listened to a lot of their (non-compilation) albums and this is the only one that I would recommend, but I think it’s great.
I would say Long Cool Woman is more Stealer’s Wheel, and Air That I Breathe and He Ain’t Heavy are more Air Supply. I’m not a fan of post-Nash Hollies.
Yup — The Hollies greatest hits package rules — except, as kids, the over-the-top vocals of He Ain’t Heavy . . . were fun to mock, so we never skipped it. We also thought Long Cool Woman was a really rocking song, not unlike Cliff Richard’s Devil Woman. We, of course, were idiots.
I don’t go for that post-Nash stuff, either, but early on, I’d put them in the category of 1st Rate British Invasion Band. Clearly identifiable sound, fab harmonies, interesting arrangements and guitar parts, and, if you pay attention, one of the best drummers to come out of that scene.
Seems a little generous. I think to break into the first rank you need to have several albums’ worth of clearly first-rate material. The Beatles. Stones, Kinks, Who–obviously. Small Faces, Yardbirds, Pretty Things, Zombies–very nearly. Hollies, Searchers, Animals, Bee Gees, Moody Blues (version 1.0)–solid second tier, nothing to be embarrassed about. Gerry & the Pacemakers, Herman’s Hermits, Manfred Mann, etc., etc.–special pleading required beyond a few singles.
Like misterioso I also have higher standards for first-tier British Invasion bands, maybe a notch more stringent thatn misterioso’s. Along with X amount of first-rate albums I think you need to touch people in a special way. The Big Four he lists do that, but who’s ever quoted Small Faces, Yardbirds, or Pretty Things in their yearbook or diary? The Zombies and Hollies, I’d say, do have meaningful singles, but the Zombies had – what – 2 albums, the first of which was the standard British Invasion debut of half Motown/soul covers? A strong second-tier British Invasion band is nothing to be ashamed of or feel inadequate over, but let’s not lower the bar.
Mod, I am not sure if using the high school yearbook quote as a critical benchmark is evidence of higher standards, because by that indicator, Night Ranger must have been in the first-tier of 80s bands ’cause they got quoted many times in my high school yearbook. (No, not by me.) But I allow for your maybe having gone to a better high school than I did.
But I agree that those “nearly” first level bands I listed are not in the same class as the Big Four; yet I elevate them above those that come after them. They are upper second-tier.
Let me add that the Zombies have touched me. I was Touched by a Zombie. I loved that show.
I’m not judging by your yearbook or LP criteria…singles are fine with me, and they had plenty of great ones. Let’s be honest; early albums by “The Big 4” have a fair amount of second rate filler on them, too…easily as much as these guys.
Plus, I think “For Certain Because…”, “Evolution” & “Butterfly” ARE first rate long players….so there!
Just get that Hollies Greatest Hits record. It’s got all their good songs, but it sounds like shit. But I haven’t heard any Hollies albums that don’t sound like shit, even if they have a few good songs. But Hollies GH will be your favorite thing in the world for two weeks, then you’ll put it away forever. It’s worth three bucks for that, I’m sure!
I like Golden Earring. At least I like Moontan and that song with the video where the girls smokes a whole cigarette in one long drag. The rest of their stuff is pretty nondescript, but it’s not offensive.
Here’s a fun fact about “The Air That I Breathe”: It was originally written for a Phil Everly solo album.
This post inspired me to play my Sundazed CD version of Dear Eloise/King Midas In Reverse in my car last night, which is a pretty good album. I also noticed that EMI UK has just released a 6-CD box set of the Hollies’ entire output from 1963-1968 @ a half decent price.
Finally one of my favorite obscure Hollies songs is “Wings” from the same charity album that contained the original version of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxANMSqpWmY
Did people write “Don’t tell me you love me, love me, love me, yeah!” in your yearbook?
Something like that.
Jeez, I am willing to believe (ok, in fact, I know) that there is more good Hollies than fits on a single lp, but 6 cds would send me well over the edge.
I’d be curious to hear the 1CD of material they left out of such a complete box set.