OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 95
Maybetheechointherehelpedthe
soundofit.I playedit tothemand
theysaid,“That’s fantastic! Can you
doa demo?”
NASH:Whenhegaveusthedemo
it wascompletelyarranged.The
Holliesjusttookhisarrangement
fromwhenheplayedit forus.
CLARKE:I readlaterthatGraham
Gouldman’sdadwrotethefirst
verse.Wethoughthe’dwrittenthe
wholesong,buthisfatherwasa
musician.Atthesametime,I’mnot
takinganythingawayfromGraham.
GOULDMAN:Mydadusedtohelp
mewithlyricsandheactually
presentedmewiththatfirstverse.
It’salmostpoetic.Healsocameup
withsongtitleslike“NoMilkToday”
andhelpedwiththelyrictoo.“Art
ForArt’sSake”wasanotherone
ofhistitles.I livedinBroughton
ParkinSalfordandtheideafor
“BusStop”initiallycametome
becauseI usedtotraveltowork,at
a men’soutfitterscalledBargains
Unlimited,onthebuseveryday.I
didn’thavea particulargirlinmind,
it wasjustanideafora songabout
romanceblossomingatthebusstop.
WhenI gothome,I wentintothe
bedroom and just wrote the verses
andallthemusic.It tookminutes
ratherthanhours.It happenstome
veryrarely,wherethewholething
comestomealmostfullyformed.
That’swhenyouknowyou’reonto
somethinggood.Allsongwriters
willtellyouthatthebeststuffcomes
reallyquickly,becauseit’skindof
pre-formed.You’rejusttheconduit.
It’sobviouslygotsomethingtodo
withthesubconsciousat work. It’s
afabulousmystery.
TONYHICKS:Priortogoingintothe
studioatAbbeyRoad,werehearsed
“BusStop”ina hotelinLondon.
I rememberthatwehad Klaus
Voormannonbass.
CLARKE:Wewerehavinga bitof
troublewithEric[Haydock], ourbass
player,aroundthattime.Therewas
somethinggoingoninhisheadthat
hedidn’tlikeandhe was refusing to
cometowork.
E LLI OTT:A coupleofdaysearlier
we’dbeeninthestudiowithBurt
Bacharach,doing“AfterTheFox”,
thetitlemusicforthefilm[a Peter
Sellersheistcomedy]. Ericdidn’t
turnup,soinsteadweusedJack
Bruce,whowasjustabouttoform
Cream.ThenwedidSundayNight
At The London Palladium withKlausVoormannonbass.
HICKS:I rememberKlaushaving
someinputonthesoloof“BusStop”,
ina counterpointsituation.
E LLI OTT:Klauswasintheframe
atthatpoint,butwhenwegotto
MondayTonysaidtome,“Whatdo
youthinkaboutBernieCalvert?”
BeforeTheHollies,Berniehad
playedinthesamebandasTonyand
I – TheDolphins.Hewasworking
ontheshopflooratBurcoDean
[appliancefactory] inBurnley,so
Tonyaskedhissistertophonehim:
“WouldyouliketojoinTheHollies?”
Thefollowingdaywedrovedown
toAbbeyRoadwithBernieand
recorded“BusStop”onanoldStuder
four-trackmachineinStudioThree.
NASH:Weknewwecouldmake
a greatrecordof“BusStop”and
possiblyhavea bighitwithit.
Everythingwasfour-trackatthat
point,sowewentinthereand
playedit live,leavingtwotracksto
putonvocalsanda solo.TonyHicks
is anunbelievableguitarplayer.His
abilitytoputa hookintheguitarpart
is amazing.For“BusStop”he came
upwitha fabulousintro.
HICK:Theintrohada classical
influence, maybe more like Bach- thatkindofmelodyandtheway
thecounterpointfollowsit round.It
wasdoneona 12-string.Downstairs
atAbbeyRoadtherewasa bigtrap
roomthathadallkindsofbellsand
whistlesandweirdthings.Soif we
evergotstuckonsomething,we’dgo
inthereandseewhatwecouldfind.
NASH:It onlytookusjustshortof
twohourstorecordtheentirething.
I reckonit wasabout an hour and
50 minutes.
E LLI OTT:I thinkGraham’sbeinga bit
dramatic– it tookus 45 minutesto
record“BusStop”.It wasveryquick.
CLARKE:Wehada three-hourslot;
it wasn’tlikewewereTheBeatles
andcouldbeinthereallday.The
Holliesalwaysknewwhatwewere
goingtodobeforewegottothe
studio.Soit wasa caseofgoin,have
a cupofteainthecanteen,rehearse
thesongupstairs,thenstart
recording.I wasthekindofsinger
that,if I didn’tgetit withinthree
goes,I’dstartgettingbored.
NASH:RonRichardswasan
extremelycreativeproducer.Hehad
aninnatesense,aswedid,forwhich
thetakewas.Hewouldinstantly
knowwhichonewasthemost
commercial. He had a great ear.