The Hollies - Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years. April 1963 - October 1968 (@320)

 

The Hollies - Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years. April 1963 - October 1968

The Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years: The Complete Hollies (April 1963-October 1968) Review by Richie Unterberger.

Just as the subtitle says, this six-CD, 158-track collection has "The Complete Hollies April 1963-October 1968". That's everything recorded when singer Allan Clarke, guitarist/singer Tony Hicks, and guitarist/singer Graham Nash, who were the three constants in the band (though drummer Bobby Elliott was there for all but the earliest of these recordings, too). As such, it's a major British Invasion document. Even if it's missing some work postdating Nash's departure in late 1968 which is highly regarded by some fans (including their hits "He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother," "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," and "The Air That I Breathe"), most fans would agree that the Nash era is by far the band's most significant.

This package has all the hits from this period, of course; all the B-sides; every album track; some material that even big Hollies fans didn't suspect existed, like French versions of some of their songs (the ones of "Stewball," "We're Through," and "You Know He Did" are released for the first time here); their mucho obscure 1967 Italian-language single "Non Prego Per Me"/"Devi Avere Fiducia in Me," and rarities that have only appeared on the box set The Long Road Home 1963-2003, or out-of-the-way compilations. There are also eight previously unreleased recordings, most of them big hits, from a good-fidelity recording of a live performance on May 24, 1968. It's all presented in almost exactly the sequence in which the tracks were recorded, giving about as precise a record of their evolution as could be envisaged.

There are drawbacks, of course, to so much Hollies in bulk. It's a lot to listen to at once, even for serious fans. For every unheralded fine track (and there are a good number), there are unremarkable, sometimes even mediocre cover versions of rock & roll oldies, as well as some not-so-hot original tunes. And there's no escaping that the band did not artistically evolve nearly as much, or nearly as fast, as their main British Invasion rivals, such as the Beatles, did. They were still doing some run of the mill covers in early 1966, and their attempts to evolve with the times on post-1966 albums, while producing some good music, could not disguise that they were for the most part still writing fairly straightforward pop/rock songs. The frustration a listener feels at this relative lack of progress could be similar to the frustration Graham Nash himself felt when he was itching to go into more adventurous directions near the end of his time in the band, leading to his departure for Crosby, Stills, & Nash.

Still, any Hollies fan would be able to compile a fairly lengthy list of excellent songs here that are still largely unknown to most listeners, whether top-notch 1964 Merseybeat-style rockers like "When I'm Not There" and "When I Come Home to You"; the odd but excellent, offbeat cover, like their version of the little-known Gerry Goffin-Carole King composition "Honey and Wine," and their cover of Peter, Paul & Mary's "Very Last Day"; songs that grew out of the writing they did for the Everly Brothers, like the uncommonly hard-nosed "Hard Hard Year," and the occasional victory from the psychedelic era, like the 1968 B-side "Open Up Your Eyes." For such a big compilation, it's also quite affordably priced, and if that might be in part because the packaging isn't that elaborate, the liner notes do include an interesting Q&A with Graham Nash.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

 

1. Whole World Over (1997 - Remaster)

2. (Ain't That) Just Like Me (1997 - Remaster)

3. Hey What's Wrong With Me (1997 - Remaster)

4. Now's The Time (1997 - Remaster)

5. Little Lover

6. Zip A Dee Doo Dah (Song Of The South) (2011 - Remaster)

7. I Understand (2011 - Remaster)

8. Searchin' (2003 - Remaster)

9. Stay (1997 - Remaster)

10. Poison Ivy (1997 - Remaster)

11. Memphis

12. Talkin' 'Bout You

13. It's Only Make Believe

14. Lucille

15. Baby Don't Cry

16. Do You Love Me

17. Mr Moonlight

18. You Better Move On

19. Whatcha Gonna Do 'Bout It

20. What Kind Of Girl Are You

21. Rockin' Robin

22. Keep Off That Friend Of Mine (1997 - Remaster)

23. Just One Look (2003 - Remaster)

24. Candy Man

25. When I'm Not There (2011 - Remaster)

26. What Kind Of Love (2011 - Remaster)

27. Here I Go Again (2003 - Remaster)

28. Baby That's All (1997 - Remaster)

 

Disc 2:

 

1. Time For Love (1997 - Remaster)

2. Don't You Know (1997 - Remaster)

3. You'll Be Mine (1997 - Remaster)

4. It's In Her Kiss (1997 - Remaster)

5. Come On Home (1997 - Remaster)

6. Too Much Monkey Business (1997 - Remaster)

7. I Thought Of You Last Night (1997 - Remaster)

8. Come On Back (1997 - Remaster)

9. Set Me Free (1997 - Remaster)

10. Please Don't Feel Too Bad (1997 - Remaster)

11. What Kind Of Boy (1997 - Remaster)

12. We're Through (Alternative Arrangement) (1997 - Remaster)

13. We're Through (1997 - Remaster)

14. To You My Love (1997 - Remaster)

15. Nitty Gritty/Something's Got A Hold On Me (1997 - Remaster)

16. Put Yourself In My Place (1997 - Remaster)

17. She Said Yeah

18. Yes I Will (Alternate Version

19. When I Come Home To You (1997 - Remaster)

20. Nobody (1997 - Remaster)

21. You Know He Did (1997 - Remaster)

22. Yes I Will

23. Mickey's Monkey (1997 - Remaster)

24. That's My Desire (1997 - Remaster)

25. The Very Last Day (1997 - Remaster)

26. Honey And Wine (2003 - Remaster)

 

Disc 3:

 

1. Listen Here To Me (Bell Studios Demo)

2. So Lonely (Bell Studios Demo)

3. Bring Back Your Love To Me (Bell Studios Demo)

4. I'm Alive (2003 - Remaster)

5. Look Through Any Window

6. Lawdy Miss Clawdy (1997 - Remaster)

7. You Must Believe Me (1997 - Remaster)

8. Little Bitty Pretty One (2011 - Remaster)

9. Down The Line (1997 - Remaster)

10. Fortune Teller (1997 - Remaster)

11. Too Many People (1997 - Remaster)

12. So Lonely (1997 - Remaster)

13. I've Been Wrong (1997 - Remaster)

14. Stewball (1998 - Remaster)

15. She Gives Me Everything I Want (2011 - Remaster)

16. I Can't Get Nowhere With You (2011 - Remaster)

17. I've Got A Way Of My Own (2003 - Remaster)

18. You In My Arms (2011 - Remaster)

19. Don't Ever Think About Changing (1999 - Remaster)

20. If I Needed Someone

21. Running Through The Night (2011 - Remaster)

22. Don't You Even Care (What's Gonna Happen To Me?) (1998 - Remaster)

23. I Can't Let Go (1997 - Remaster)

24. Oriental Sadness (1998 - Remaster)

25. Stewball (French Lyric Version)

26. Look Through Any Window (French Lyric Version

27. You Know He Did (French Lyric Version)

28. We're Through (French Lyric Version)

 

Disc 4:

 

1. I Take What I Want (1998 - Remaster)

2. Hard Hard Year (1998 - Remaster)

3. A Taste Of Honey (2011 - Remaster)

4. That's How Strong My Love Is (1998 - Remaster)

5. Take Your Time (1998 - Remaster)

6. Fifi The Flea (1998 - Remaster)

7. Sweet Little Sixteen (1998 - Remaster)

8. I Am A Rock (1998 - Remaster)

9. After The Fox (2011 - Remaster)

10. Don't Run And Hide (2011 - Remaster)

11. Bus Stop (2003 - Remaster)

12. Peculiar Situation (1999 - Remaster)

13. Suspicious Look In Your Eyes (1999 - Remaster)

14. Stop Stop Stop

15. Tell Me To My Face (1999 - Remaster)

16. Pay You Back With Interest (1999 - Remaster)

17. Clown (1999 - Remaster)

18. It's You (1999 - Remaster)

19. Crusader (1999 - Remaster)

20. What's Wrong With The Way I Live (1999 - Remaster)

21. What Went Wrong (1999 - Remaster)

22. High Classed (1999 - Remaster)

23. All The World Is Love (2011 - Remaster)

24. When Your Light Turned On (1999 - Remaster)

25. Have You Ever Loved Somebody (1999 - Remaster)

26. Non Prego Per Me (Stereo Version)

27. Devi Aver Fiducia In Me (Stereo Version)

 

Disc 5:

 

1. Lullaby To Tim (1999 - Remaster)

2. On a Carousel

3. We're Alive (2003 - Remaster)

4. Kill Me Quick (2003 - Remaster)

5. Leave Me (1999 - Remaster)

6. The Games We Play (1999 - Remaster)

7. Schoolgirl

8. Rain On The Window (1999 - Remaster)

9. Then The Heartaches Begin (1999 - Remaster)

10. Ye Olde Toffee Shoppe (1999 - Remaster)

11. You Need Love (1999 - Remaster)

12. Stop Right There (1999 - Remaster)

13. Water On The Brain (1999 - Remaster)

14. Heading For A Fall (1999 - Remaster)

15. Carrie Anne (2003 - Remaster)

16. Signs That Will Never Change (2003 - Remaster)

17. King Midas In Reverse (2003 - Remaster)

18. Try It (1999 Digital Remaster)

19. Everything Is Sunshine (2003 - Remaster)

20. Wishyouawish (1999 - Remaster)

21. Postcard (1999 - Remaster)

22. Step Inside (1999 - Remaster)

23. Pegasus (1999 - Remaster)

24. Dear Eloise (1999 - Remaster)

 

Disc 6:

 

1. Elevated Observations (1999 - Remaster)

2. Would You Believe (1999 - Remaster)

3. Away Away Away (1999 - Remaster)

4. Charlie And Fred (1999 - Remaster)

5. Butterfly (1999 - Remaster)

6. Maker (1999 - Remaster)

7. Open Up Your Eyes (2011 - Remaster)

8. Wings (2003 - Remaster)

9. Jennifer Eccles

10. Tomorrow When It Comes (2011 - Remaster)

11. Relax (2003 - Remaster)

12. Do The Best You Can (2011 - Remaster)

13. Like Every Time Before (2003 - Remaster)

14. Man With No Expression (Horses Through A Rainstorm) (1998 - Remaster)

15. Blowin' In The Wind (2003 - Remaster)

16. A Taste Of Honey

17. Listen To Me

18. Stop Stop Stop (Live at Lewisham Odeon)

19. Look Through Any Window (Live at Lewisham Odeon)

20. The Times They Are A Changin' (Live At Lewisham Odeon)

21. On A Carousel (Live At Lewisham Odeon)

22. King Midas In Reverse (Live At Lewisham Odeon)

23. Butterfly (Live At Lewisham Odeon)

24. Jennifer Eccles (Live At Lewisham Odeon)

25. Carrie Anne (Live At Lewisham Odeon)

 ****