Would You Believe (The Hollies album)

Background

It features a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock," which displayed progression for the band at the time – the rising folk-rock nascent was on the horizon. However, Would You Believe also features covers of Buddy Holly's "Take Your Time" and Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" — by 1966, R&B and blues covers were becoming passé.

Another sign of growth for the band on Would You Believe includes the Evie Sands cover, "I Can't Let Go", a major hit for the band.

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 distinctly 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.

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.

Track listing

US Album (Beat Group!)

The Hollies' third US album was released under the title Beat Group! (Imperial LP-9312 (Mono)/LP-12312 (Rechanneled stereo)) one month before Would You Believe? was released in the UK In Canada, Capitol retitled the album after the singles, "I Can't Let Go"/"Look Through Any Window", 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 "Stewball" and the single "Look Through Any Window" (which appeared on the US album Hear! Here!) were also included and "Don't You Even Care" and "Mr. Moonlight" (which had been included on the Canadian Stay with The Hollies) 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