Harold Allan Clarke (born 5 April 1942) is an English rock singer, who was one of the founding members and the original lead singer of the Hollies. He achieved international hit singles with the group and is credited as co-writer on several of their best-known songs, including "On a Carousel", "Carrie Anne", "Jennifer Eccles" and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress". He retired from performing in 1999, but returned to the music industry in 2019. Clarke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Harold Allan Clarke and his childhood friend Graham Nash began singing together in Manchester while still at school. They formed the Hollies in December 1962 with Vic Steele (lead guitar) and Eric Haydock (bass guitar). In April 1963, they added Tony Hicks (replacing Steele on lead guitar) and Bobby Elliott (replacing Don Rathbone on drums). In 1966, Bernie Calvert replaced Haydock as bass guitarist. Clarke was the Hollies' original lead singer, but also played occasional guitar and harmonica. In the UK they enjoyed 30 chart singles, plus two further chart entries with re-releases, 17 of which made the Top 10, with two – "I'm Alive" (1965) and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (1988 re-issue) – reaching No. 1.[1]
In the US charts they achieved 23 chart singles, six of which reached the Top 10. Many of the group's songs were co-written by Clarke, usually with Nash and Hicks, until Nash's departure at the end of 1968. They initially used the pseudonym "L. Ransford" for their songwriting credits, then 'Clarke-Nash-Hicks' from mid-1966 onwards. In 1966, Clarke, along with several Hollies bandmates, assisted in the Everly Brothers' recording of their album Two Yanks in England, which featured Everly cover versions of mostly Hollies songs co-written by Clarke.
After 1967, Clarke began writing solo songs under the team banner, notably: "Lullaby To Tim" (dedicated to his son, though sung by Nash), "Heading for a Fall", "Water on the Brain", and "Would You Believe?". Besides the full composing team, Clarke also wrote songs with Nash, such as "Try It", "Wishyouawish" (1967), "Tomorrow When it Comes", "Jennifer Eccles" and "Wings" (1968). Clarke assumed more of a figurehead profile as front man of the Hollies following Graham Nash's departure from the group in December 1968. Clarke was the sole lead singer on Hollies Sing Dylan (a UK No. 3 album in early 1969).[1]
Clarke has sole credit for songs including "My Life Is Over With You", "Goodbye Tomorrow", "Not That Way at All", "Marigold" (1969), "Mad Professor Blyth", "Separated" (1970), "Row the Boat Together" and "Hold On" (1971).
Also, Clarke helped Nash's replacement, Terry Sylvester, develop as a songwriter, [citation needed] teaming with him to write a number of songs including "Gloria Swansong", "Look at Life" (1969), "I Wanna Shout", "Man Without a Heart" and "Perfect Lady Housewife" (1970).
Keen to launch a solo career due to Nash's success in Crosby, Stills & Nash, Clarke left the group in 1971. He was replaced by the Swedish singer Mikael Rickfors, who was formerly with Bamboo. Clarke went on to release two solo albums: My Real Name Is 'Arold (Epic, 1972) and Headroom (EMI, 1973).
After Clarke left the Hollies, "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", a song from their 1971 album Distant Light which he had co-written with songwriter Roger Cook and on which Clarke sang lead and played lead guitar, became an international hit single, reaching No. 2 in the US (their most successful single ever there) and No. 32 in the UK Singles Chart. However, the Hollies toured with Nash's replacement, Sylvester, who assumed the lead vocal on performance of the single instead of Clarke. Rickfors left the group and Clarke rejoined them in July 1973. Their first single with him back in the fold was another of his songs, "The Day that Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee", a UK top 40 hit that autumn.[1]
Clarke continued to record and release solo albums while remaining with the Hollies, although his solo career did not achieve much album or single chart success. He released his self-titled third album in 1974. His next album was I've Got Time (1976). He also performed lead vocals on "Breakdown" by The Alan Parsons Project, from their 1977 album I Robot. He left The Hollies briefly for the second time in March 1978 and made I Wasn't Born Yesterday (1978), an album of original material mostly written with singer-songwriter Gary Benson. It yielded a US chart hit single in "(I Will Be Your) Shadow in the Street". He returned to the group in August. Subsequent solo albums included Legendary Heroes (1980), another largely original set, with its UK title and track running order changed to The Only One. He followed with a Best of... compilation (Aura, 1981). His final solo album of the last century was Reasons to Believe (1990), issued in Germany on Polydor Records, which remains unreleased in the US and UK.
Between 1974 and 1978, Clarke composed most of the original songs the Hollies recorded on a series of studio albums with Tony Hicks and Terry Sylvester.
1993 saw Clarke's final chart success with the Hollies, with the Nik Kershaw-penned single "The Woman I Love", which charted in the UK at No. 42.[1]
In 1996, Clarke, with the Hollies and Graham Nash, contributed harmony and support vocals to a new version of "Peggy Sue Got Married", featuring lead vocals by Buddy Holly, which was credited as 'Buddy Holly and The Hollies'. It appeared on the Not Fade Awaytribute album.
Temporary retirement and later re-emergence
Due in part to ongoing medical problems with his vocal cords, Clarke retired from the music industry in 1999 to care for his wife, who had received a second diagnosis of cancer.[2] Clarke was replaced in the band by Carl Wayne, former lead singer of the Move. Wayne died in 2004. The Hollies continue touring and recording today with Peter Howarth as their vocalist.
Having appeared on harmonica for Carla Olson's band The Textones in 2018,[5] Clarke made a return to his solo career in 2019 with a new album, Resurgence, on BMG.[2] He announced in January 2023 that he was working on his second solo album, titled, I'll Never Forget. It was released on April 7, 2023. Graham Nash sings harmony on 7 of the 11 songs.
Personal life
Clarke married Jennifer Bowstead on 24 March 1964 in Coventry. They have three children: Tim (born 1966), Toby (b. 1969) and Piper (b. 1972). The Hollies' song title "Jennifer Eccles" was a combination of the names of Clarke's wife and Graham Nash's then-wife, Rose Eccles.
The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band as a Merseybeat-type group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north, in east Lancashire. Nash left the group in 1968 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash, though he has reunited with the Hollies on occasion.
Butterfly is the seventh UK studio album by British band the Hollies, released in November 1967. It was the final Hollies album to feature Graham Nash before his departure from the group in 1968. The album consisted solely of songs written by the trio of Nash, Allan Clarke, and Tony Hicks, with Nash leading the sessions. It showcased the band's pop-oriented approach to psychedelia.
In The Hollies Style is the second album by the British rock band the Hollies and was released in November 1964 on Parlophone Records. It missed the official Record Retailer album chart in the United Kingdom, which at the time only had a total of 20 available spots. The album charted in the Top 10 at No. 6 in New Musical Express magazine's competitive chart. In Canada, it was released on Capitol in October 1965, with an altered track listing.
Evolution is the first of two albums released in 1967 by British pop rock band the Hollies. It is their sixth UK album and peaked at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart.
Would You Believe? is the fourth UK album by the Hollies, released in 1966.
Anthony Christopher Hicks is an English guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British rock/pop band the Hollies since 1963, and as such was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. His main roles within the band are lead guitarist and backing singer.
Stay with the Hollies, also known by its American release title Here I Go Again, is the debut album by the British rock band the Hollies and was released in January 1964 on Parlophone Records. In Canada, it was released on Capitol in July 1964, with a different track listing. In the US, Imperial Records issued the album under the title Here I Go Again in June 1964 to capitalize on the moderate success of the singles "Here I Go Again" and "Just One Look". It also features covers of well-known R&B songs, not unusual for Beat groups of the day.
Hollies is the Hollies' third studio album for Parlophone. It is also referred to as Hollies '65 to differentiate it from the similarly titled 1974 album. It went to No. 8 in the UK album charts. Originally available in mono only, it was reissued in stereo under the title Reflection in 1969. In 1997, British EMI put both mono and stereo versions of this album onto a single CD.
Terence Sylvester is an English musician and songwriter. He is a former member of the Escorts, the Swinging Blue Jeans (1966–1969), and the Hollies. In the latter role, he took on the high parts formerly sung by Graham Nash, who had left the band in December 1968.
Distant Light is a 1971 album released by the Hollies, their 11th UK album and their last before brief departure of lead vocalist and founding member Allan Clarke, and reputedly the first album to come out of AIR Studios. The album spawned two hit singles: the Allan Clarke penned "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", which peaked at number two in the US and number 32 in the UK; and Tony Hicks penned "Long Dark Road", which reached number 26 in the US. The US version of the album peaked at number 21 in the album charts. The summer scene on the cover is rendered as a winter scene on the next Hollies album Romany.
Romany is the twelfth UK studio album by The Hollies, the first not to feature their lead singer Allan Clarke, who had left to embark on a solo career. He was replaced by Swedish singer Mikael Rickfors. In the opinion of contemporary and retrospective critics, this album moved the band further away from the original vocal harmony style of Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Graham Nash.
The Hollies' Greatest Hits is a compilation of singles by the Hollies, released on Epic Records in April 1973. It includes hit singles by the group on both the Epic and Imperial labels over a time span of 1965 to 1972. It spent seven weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 156.
Confessions of the Mind is the tenth studio album by the Hollies. It was released in the United States as Moving Finger, with a different track sequence and the tracks "Separated" and "I Wanna Shout" replaced with the Clarke/Sylvester penned "Marigold: Gloria Swansong" saved from the previous album and "Gasoline Alley Bred". In Germany, it was released by Hansa as Move On with an alternate track sequence with "Gasoline Alley Bred" added. The UK version peaked at number 30 in the charts and the US version at number 183.
Hollies Sing Hollies is the ninth studio album released in the UK by the Hollies. It was released in November 1969 by Parlophone. It was their second album that year, coming 6 months after an entire album of Bob Dylan covers. It was their first album of original compositions since the departure of Graham Nash. It was also the second album by the Hollies to feature Terry Sylvester and the first to feature his compositions, as well as an instrumental by bassist Bernie Calvert. The US version, titled "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", included the hit single of the same name, while omitting the tracks "Soldier's Dilemma" and "Marigold: Gloria Swansong". The UK album did not chart, but its US version peaked at number 32.
The Hollies is the first EP by The Hollies. It was put out by Parlophone in mono with the catalogue number GEP 8909 and released in the UK in early June 1964. The EP entered the British charts on 6 June 1964 and spent 8 weeks there, peaking at #8 on the Record Retailer chart.
Hollies' Greatest is the only number one album in the UK by British band the Hollies. It was released shortly before Graham Nash's departure from the Hollies and was intended to include all of their British hit singles with Nash, as well as filling in for the lack of an original LP by the group in 1968. Only 3 of the 14 songs on the album – "Stay", "I Can't Let Go" and "Stop! Stop! Stop!" had previously been released on UK albums.
Bus Stop is the fourth U.S. album by the British pop band the Hollies, released on Imperial Records in mono (LP-9330) and rechanneled stereo (LP-12330) in October 1966. It features songs ranging from both sides of the band's then-current hit single to material recorded in the Hollies' early days on the UK's Parlophone Records in 1963, 1964 and 1965. The song "Oriental Sadness" had previously been issued in the U.S. on the Hollies' album Beat Group! earlier in 1966.
What Goes Around... is the 21st studio album by English rock/pop group, the Hollies. It includes their version of The Supremes' "Stop! In the Name of Love", which became their last US hit single. The Hollies reunited with Graham Nash for this album and for the following US tour. The LP was the band's first and last album with Nash since Butterfly (1967) and also their last one with lead singer Allan Clarke. Among the guest musicians, you can find Brian Chatton who was formerly keyboardist for The Warriors with Jon Anderson, and Flaming Youth with Phil Collins.
Out on the Road is the 13th album by the British band The Hollies and the second to feature Mikael Rickfors as lead singer. The song "Slow Down Go Down" was released as a single in Australia and became a Top 100 hit. By the time the album was released in some European countries, the original singer Allan Clarke had returned to the band and the album was therefore not released in the UK and US. For this reason it is sometimes not listed in the official discography.
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