Artist:The Hollies
Song:He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
Album:The Gold Collection
When Terry Sylvester replaced Graham Nash in The Hollies in 1968, it looked like the band was coming to an end. But then the 1969 single He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother was a surprise hit. The expectations were so low that it was only released as a single. Instead they were able to keep going for another decade. At first The Hollies were successful in England. But when the 1966 single Bus Stop was a top five hit in the US, that seemed to open a whole new market for The Hollies. Of course it didn't last And by 1968, Graham Nash was unhappy and he wanted to leave The Hollies and move to the US and join Crosby, Stills & Nash. It was basically a difference of opinion. Lead singer Allan Clarke and guitarist Tony Hicks wanted to continue to write pop songs and Nash wanted to write more serious songs. Nash was a good songwriter so he was going to be hard to replace. And the replacement was Terry Sylvester formerly of The Escorts and The Swinging Blue Jeans. The Hollies' 1969 album Hollies Sing Dylan was a delaying tactic. It didn't sell. Their next album Hollies Sing Hollies was the first album of original songs since Sylvester joined. Not only did it do poorly but the album wasn't released in the US. So things didn't look good. Then the single He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother was released and it topped the British charts and reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. I don't think much was expected or it would have been on Hollies Sing Hollies. He Ain't Heavy was written by songwriters Bobby Scott and Bobby Russell and recorded by Kelly Gordon. Scott was a jazz pianist who co-wrote the Herb Alpert hit single A Taste of Honey. Russell co-wrote Don't Get Around Much Anymore with Duke Ellington and wrote songs for films in the 50s and with Quincy Jones in the 60s. He died in 1970. The success of He Ain't Heavy came out of nowhere for both. Gordon was a Capitol Records house producer best known for producing Bobbie Gentry's monster hit Ode to Billie Joe. He released a 1969 album that went nowhere. But Hicks got a demo of the song and brought in Elton John to play piano. If you were around at the time, you probably remember seeing a Hollies album called He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother in stores. That was the US release of Hollies Sing Hollies with He Ain't Heavy added. You can get the song on this 2CD budget comp from EMI New Zealand. That hit kept The Hollies going for a while. But it wouldn't last and Clarke left in 1971 but returned in 1973. Here's The Hollies performing He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother on the British TV show Supersonic 1975.
I remember that song and I liked some of their other songs as well. Thanks so much Frank. Yours David.
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