Uncut UK – October 2019

96 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019

E LLI OTT:Ronwasn’tcreativelikeGeorge

Martinwas.Hewasmoreofa TinPan

Alleyman,hecouldspotthehits.Hewas

a fatherfiguretous,hewasheadmaster.

Andwelookeduptohimbecausehe

wastheguywhofirstsawthebandat

theCaverninLiverpoolin1963.Hewas

quitestrictwithus,butwerespected

that.Andhelikedworkingquickly,

gettingthingsdoneonthefirstorsecond

take.Toa certainextent,it alsorevolved

aroundopeninghours,orclosingtime,

attheAbbeyTavern.Butworkingunder

pressurewasgoodforallofus.

CLARKE:Wedidhavesongsofourown,but

it wasalldowntoRonRichardsastowhat

wedidanddidn’tdo.Hehadthefinalsay.

HICKS:Recordingwasalwaysa pleasure.

It wasexcitingseeingotherartistsofthe

timegoingintothestudio.Quiteoften,

we’dbeinthereandTheBeatleswould

beinthenextroom.I rememberPauland

Georgecomingintolistentowhat we were

upto.Theywerehappydays.

E LLI OTT:We’dgetPaulMcCartneycoming

intooursessionsquitea bit,tellingus

aboutwhathe’dwrittenorsittingatthe

piano.Georgewouldpopinoccasionally,

butLennonwasa bitcatty.I didn’thave

anygoodexperienceswithhim.Inour

earlycareer,we’dtravelledovertoLeeds

withBrianEpsteinonetimeandhebought

uslunch.I thinkhewassniffingarounda

bit.WeheardonthegrapevinethatLennon

didn’tlikethatandwarnedhimoffus.

GOULDMAN: They sent me an acetate of

TIMELINE

Writtenby:

Graham

Gouldman

Recordedat:

EMIRecording

Studios,Abbey

Road,London

Producedby:

RonRichards

Personnel:Allan

Clarke(lead

vocals),Tony

Hicks(leadguitar,

vocals),Graham

Nash(rhythm

guitar,vocals),

BernieCalvert

(bass),Bobby

Elliott(drums)

Released:

June17, 1966

Highestchart

position:

UK 5; US 5

FACT FILE

December1962:The

Holliesmaketheirlive

debutatManchester’s

OasisClub

August 1963: Signed to

Parlophone,thegroup

landtheirfirstbigUKhit

with“Searchin’”,a cover

oftheoldCoasterstune

September 1965:Graham

Gouldman’s“Look

ThroughAnyWindow”

is TheHollies’seventh

Top 10 successathome

May 1966:They record

“BusStop”atEMIStudios

onAbbeyRoad.It’sissued

asa singlea monthlater

J u ly1966:In theUS,“Bus

Stop” enters Billboard’s

Top100.BySeptember,
followinganappearance
onABC-TV’sAmerican
Bandstand, it has peaked
CYRUS ANDREWS/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES at No 5

“Theweekend

startshere!”:The

HolliesonReady

SteadyGo! i n 1966

NASH:Weendedupgoingbacktothe

Statestotour.Allofuswereenamoured

withAmerica,thoughmeprobably

morethananybody.I sawa country

that I wantedtobea partof.It wasvery

energetic,it wasvery

forward-looking.Youcould

speakyourmindthere.

HICKS:“BusStop”was

thefirstsinglethatreally

establishedusthere,sowe

startedgoingoverinourown

rightanddidtheGreyhound

sleeper-bustour.Thebeauty

ofthatwasthatwewere

listeningtoAmericanradio

allthetime,peoplelikeThe

Lovin’Spoonful,TheDoors

andTheMamasAndThe

Papas,whobecamegreat

friendsofours.I remember

GrahamandI goingtoa

LosAngelesrecording

studiotowatcha

MamasAndThe

Papassession.

Afterwards,I went

tomeetupwiththe

restofourboysat

theWhiskeyA Go-Go

inLA,whileGraham

wentoffintothehills

withMamaCass.Andhe

nevercameback,really!

E LLI OTT:Casstravelledonthetour

buswithusatonepoint.Shewasprobably

closertoGrahamthananybody,because

thewholeAmericanthingwooedhimand

he’dsplitwithRose,hiswifeoverhere.

Grahamwanteda newlifeandmeeting

peoplelikeCassand[photographer] Henry

Diltzopenedthedoorforhim.

NASH:I nevertalkedtoDavid[Crosby] and

Stephen[Stills] aboutTheHollies,justas

DavidnevertalkedtomeaboutTheByrds

andStephennevertalkedtomeabout

BuffaloSpringfield.ButI’vebegunto

realiselatelyhowverydecentTheHollies

were.TheHollieswerea reallygreat

harmonyband,basedonAllanClarkeand

I singing,withTonyHicksasa thirdvoice.

CLARKE:I’dknownGrahamsinceI was

sevenyearsold,sowe’dbeensingingfor

a longtimebeforeweactuallygotintoa

recordingstudio.It wasjustsecondnature

forhimtoputa secondharmonyontop

instantly.WhenTonycameinwehadto

doa lotmorerehearsing,butheaddedto

whatGrahamandI weredoing.Theywere

differentharmoniestothoseofTheBeach

BoysorTheBeatles.I feelTheHolliesreally

left our notch on the bedpost with all that.

“BusStop”

andI wasjust

blownaway,

particularly

bytheguitar

solo.It was

absolutelybrilliant.

TheonlythingI wasn’t

sureaboutwasthatthey’d

changeda chordandI’mveryfinicky

aboutchords.Atthesametime,I know

whytheychangedit.WhenI’dsungit with

justa leadvocal,it workedreallynicely.

Butwhenyouaddedharmonies,it sortof

clashedslightly.Asthesongwentupthe

chartsthough,themoreI gottolikeit!

NASH:Onceyougetintothechartsin

theStates,theworldopensupforyou.

“BusStop”madeit overthereandwas

a newmilestoneinourcareer.When

youfirststartoutasa band,youwantto

besuccessfulinyourlocaltown,then

Londonandthentherestoftheworld.

E LLI OTT:Wealwayssay“BusStop”was

ourfirstinternationalhit.Wewerea bit

latefortheBritishInvasion,butit wasa

goodonetohavefortheStates.We’dfirst

goneovertoAmericaa yearearlier,in

Easter1965,playingTheSoupySalesShow

attheParamountTheatreinNewYork,

butthesuccessof“BusStop” just made

everythingeasierforus.

CLARKE:It openedthedoorstogoingto

thewestandeverybodywasveryexcited

aboutwantingtodothat.We were just in

awe of being in America.