Would You Believe? (Hollies album)

Would You Believe? is an album by the Hollies, released in 1966.

Would You Believe?
Studio album by
The Hollies
Released1 June 1966
Recorded14 September 1965 – 25 March 1966
StudioAbbey Road Studios, London
Genre
Length29:26
LabelParlophone PMC 7008 (Mono)
ProducerRon Richards
The Hollies chronology
Hollies
(1965)		 Would You Believe?
(1966)		 For Certain Because
(1966)

Overview

The album features a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock," which displayed a progression for the band at the time with the rise of folk rock. However, Would You Believe? also features covers of Buddy Holly's "Take Your Time" and Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen", though R&B and blues covers were becoming passé by 1966.

Also included is the Evie Sands cover "I Can't Let Go", which became a major hit for the Hollies.

The band-written songs (under the pseudonym, "Ransford") are also considered to be among the more progressive tunes on the album: "Hard Hard Year", "Oriental Sadness", "Fifi the Flea" and "I've Got a Way of my Own". "Fifi", covered by the Everly Brothers (see the 1966 Two Yanks in England album), had lyrics outside of the band's norm; "Oriental Sadness" featured "Asian"-sounding chords; and "Hard Hard Year" and "I've Got a Way of My Own" (which had previously appeared on the B-Side of "If I Needed Someone") are both folky-sounding waltzes.

This was the Hollies' last album with original bass player Eric Haydock, who took a leave of absence from the group after the American tour that followed the last recording session for the album, missing the recording session for the follow-up single "Bus Stop", and then either quit or was fired shortly after returning.[1]

Both the stereo and mono mixes of Would You Believe? were digitally remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Peter Mew in March 1998. In the UK, the remastered album was released with both mixes on one disc.[2]

Recording

Would You Believe? was recorded at EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London, UK – which was later re-titled after the name of the street – and was produced by Ron Richards – who worked for other Abbey Road artists and later founded Associated Independent Recording with George Martin and John Burgess. Recording for the album commenced on 14 September 1965 when the band recorded the traditional folk-song "Stewball". Recording continued on 13 October where "I've Got a Way of My Own" was put to tape.

The group then did not enter the studio for exactly three months, returning 13 January 1966 to record "Don't You Even Care" and the eventual single "I Can't Let Go" (the latter was later completed on 18 January). Three more songs, "Oriental Sadness", "I Take What I Want", and "Hard Hard Year" were recorded on 28 February. The following day, three more songs were put to tape: "That's How Strong My Love Is", "Take Your Time", and "Fifi the Flea". The final songs recorded before the album's release in June were "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "I Am a Rock" on 25 March.[3]

Track listing

All songs attributed to "Ransford" are by Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Graham Nash

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."I Take What I Want"David Porter, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, Isaac HayesClarke2:15
2."Hard Hard Year"RansfordClarke2:13
3."That's How Strong My Love Is"Roosevelt JamisonClarke2:42
4."Sweet Little Sixteen"Chuck BerryClarke2:21
5."Oriental Sadness"RansfordClarke and Nash2:37
6."I Am a Rock"Paul SimonClarke2:48
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
7."Take Your Time"Buddy Holly, Norman PettyClarke2:18
8."Don't You Even Care"Clint Ballard, Jr.Clarke2:27
9."Fifi the Flea"RansfordNash2:05
10."Stewball"Bob Yellin, Ralph Rinzler, John HeraldClarke, Nash, and Hicks3:05
11."I've Got a Way of My Own"RansfordClarke and Nash2:12
12."I Can't Let Go"Chip Taylor, Al GorgoniClarke and Nash2:26

US album (Beat Group!)
Beat Group!
Studio album by
The Hollies
ReleasedMay 1966 (US)
6 June 1966 (Canada)
Recorded17 November 1965 – 1 March 1966 (except 11 December 1963 for "Mr. Moonlight")
Genre
Length25:31
LabelImperial LP-9312/12312 (US)
Capitol (D)T-6152 (Canada)
ProducerRon Richards
The Hollies US chronology
Hear! Here!
(1965)		 Beat Group!
(1966)		 Bus Stop
(1966)
The Hollies Canadian chronology
In The Hollies Style
(1965)		 I Can't Let Go / Look Through Any Window
(1966)		 Bus Stop
(1966)

The Hollies' third US album was released under the title Beat Group! (Imperial LP-9312 (Mono)/LP-12312 (Stereo)) one month before Would You Believe? was released in the UK. In Canada, Capitol retitled the album I Can't Let Go/Look Through Any Window after the two hit singles, and released it on 6 June 1966.

To fill in the US album, the new recordings "Running Through the Night" (the UK B-side of "I Can't Let Go") and "A Taste of Honey" plus the 1963 track "Mr. Moonlight" were included, while the cover songs "Stewball", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "I Am a Rock" plus the original "I've Got a Way of My Own" were omitted. The Canadian version was similar, except that the single "Look Through Any Window" (which had appeared on the US album Hear! Here!) and "Stewball" were also included and "Mr. Moonlight" (which had been included on the Canadian Stay with The Hollies) and "Don't You Even Care" were omitted.

Several tracks from Would You Believe? that weren't used for this album were carried over to the next US/Canadian album Bus Stop, released in mid-1966, which compiled those, the title track and other stray songs from previous UK albums and singles, again dating as far back as 1963. The version of "A Taste of Honey" on this album was recorded for Would You Believe? but omitted from the album and thus wasn't released in the UK at the time. It differs from the version released on the box set The Long Road Home, which was recorded in 1968.

US track listing

Side 1

  1. "I Can't Let Go"
  2. "That's How Strong My Love Is""
  3. "Running Through the Night" (L. Ransford)
  4. "Oriental Sadness (She'll Never Trust in Anybody No More)"
  5. "A Taste of Honey" (Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow)
  6. "Mr. Moonlight" (Roy Lee Johnson)

Side 2

  1. "Don't You Even Care"
  2. "Hard, Hard Year"
  3. "Take Your Time"
  4. "Fifi the Flea"
  5. "I Take What I Want"

Canadian track listing

Side 1

  1. "That's How Strong My Love Is""
  2. "Stewball"
  3. "Take Your Time"
  4. "Running Through the Night" (L. Ransford)
  5. "Fifi the Flea"
  6. "Look Through Any Window" (Graham Gouldman, Charles Silverman)

Side 2

  1. "A Taste of Honey" (Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow)
  2. "Hard, Hard Year"
  3. "I Take What I Want"
  4. "Oriental Sadness (She'll Never Trust in Anybody No More)"
  5. "I Can't Let Go"

Personnel

References
  1. "Sacking Row over Hollie Haydock", New Musical Express, 29 July 1966.
  2. Would You Believe? (CD). The Hollies. EMI Records. 1998. 7243-4-95150-2-4.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. http://hollies.co.uk/music-archive/session-listing.html
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