Wednesday 8 May 2019

The Hollies (1970) Gasoline Alley Bred LOST 70s GEMS

From their Moving Finger album, practically a reissue of their first Post-Nash album Confessions of the Mind, it's actually not that great but there are a few highlights; I Wanna Shout is a picture perfect pop song about shouting out how in love you are with someone, most notably covered by psychedelic folk rockers Wicked Lester, a New York band that would soon morph into 70s arena rock giants Kiss and use I Wanna Shout as a lyric starting off point for their anthem Shout It Out Loud. Hollies guitarist Tony Hicks wrote Lady Please, is based on a sturdy wheel of an acoustic guitar figure, which is soon overlaid by a 'Hammond organ filtered' guitar mimicking the same circular pattern, while the lyrics and melody are all post 60s bubblegum pop but carrying the Hollies' expert penchant for adding depth and deceptive musicianship. The watery guitar squeaks and squelches all over the track alongside the smooth catchy harmonies and modern folk sheen of the tune creating a funky original sounding track. Gasoline Alley Bred is a Greenaway Cook Macaulay tune, boasting no fewer than three hit songwriters, the track peaked at no 14 in the UK lasting seven weeks its starts with another arresting acoustic electric interplay; a drawling country wah wah moans away over a thrumming acoustic line. The melancholic tinge delivered by Allan Clarke's vocals and the softened country guitars chiming away with restraint. These two tunes are the bets highlights of the Moving Finger album by far with Gasoline Alley just about making the difference with it's more heartfelt feel.


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