masterwordsmith-unplugged

Growing up as a teenybopper in the 1970's had such a deep impact on me musically. When my dad gave me a cassette recorder, it was the beginning to an unending love for music of the 1960's to 1980's. As a result of its strong influence, I learnt how to play the guitar and moved on to other instruments and many other musical experiences with various bands, choirs and musicals.

You should be glad you are not my neighbour for I had spent the greater part of this evening singing away to the hits by bands such as:

The Patridge Family - I think I love you, I'll Meet You Halfway, Twenty-four hours a day
The Osmonds - One Bad Apple, Love me for a reason
The Defranco Family - Abacadabra
Three Dog Night - Joy to the World (Jeremiah was a bull-frog)
Credence Clearwater Revival - Have you ever seen the rain?, Proud Mary
Cher - Gypsy, Tramps and Thieves and Half Breed
Albert Hammond- It Never Rains in California
Donny Osmond - The Twelfth of Never
Carpenters - Close to you, We've Only Just begun,, Please Mr Postman
Christie - Yellow River
The Archies - Sugar
Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died, Billy, don't be a hero
Joan Baez - The Night they drove Old Dixie
and many other old favourites.

And I feel so young again! Thank God for YouTube!!

Amazingly, I could remember most of the lyrics effortlessly!!! My husband sat beside me quite unperturbed that I had gone bonkers over the music that I loved over forty years ago!

In particular, I really like The Hollies!


According to Wikipedia:

The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s. They enjoyed considerable popularity in many countries, although they did not achieve major US chart success until 1966.

Along with The Rolling Stones and The Searchers, they are one of the few British pop groups of the early 1960s that have never officially broken up and that continue to record and perform. The Hollies were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March 2010.


The Hollies were known for their bright vocal harmonies. Though initially known for its cover versions, the band moved towards written-to-order songs provided to them by such writers as Graham Gouldman. Soon after, the group's in-house songwriting trio of Clarke, Hicks and Nash began providing hits. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

One of their earliest songs I loved is Sorry Suzanne - a 1969 single by The Hollies that was co-written by Geoff Stephens and Tony Macaulay. It was the group's first song to feature Terry Sylvester in the place of Graham Nash. "Sorry Suzanne" was released with the B-side "Not That Way at All" on the Parlophone label. The song reached #3 on the UK singles chart in March 1969 and reached #1 in Switzerland on April 22, 1969.

In 1968, The Hollies also recorded Bob Dylan's Blowing in the Wind - a protest song with many rhetorical questions about peace, war and freedom. CLICK HERE FOR THE MUSIC VIDEO. Believe me - you will enjoy this delightfully jazzy version - pretty ahead of its time considering it was recorded in 1969!

Of course, one of my firm favourites would be the timeless He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell. Originally recorded by Kelly Gordon in 1969, the song became a worldwide hit for The Hollies later that year and again for Neil Diamond in 1970.

The one hit that impacted the way I played my guitar was Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress written by Allan Clarke, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway. The song is different from their usual style as it does not have the usual three-part vocal harmonies and features lead guitar and lead vocal work by Allan Clarke.I practised so meticulously that I could play the song with the exact rhythmic beat as played by Allan Clarke.
The Air that I Breathe - a ballad written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood (1972)is another favourite of mine. It was a major hit for The Hollies in early 1974, reaching No. 2 in the UK - their last major hit single, apart from a reissue of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" in 1988. In the summer of 1974, the song reached #6 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart [2]. In Canada. the song peaked at #5 on the RPM Magazine charts. "The Air That I Breathe" was engineered by Alan Parsons.