The Hollies: Signs That Will Never Change

Friday’s Flipside comes from the catalog of singles by The Hollies’ and features the “B” side of “Carrie Anne,” which charted at #9 in the US in 1967. The song was written by Tony Hicks, Allan Clarke, and Graham Nash.

It has nice arrangement and the song was not released on an album in the US at the time. The only way to hear this tune was to buy the single.

Original Recording

Although written by The Hollies, their version was not the original version of the song – well, sort of not the original. In 1966, Hicks, Clarke, and Clarke helped Don and Phil Everly with their album “Two Yanks in England.”

Eight of the 12 songs on the album were composed by Hicks, Clarke, and Nash and were credited to “L. Ransford,” a songwriting pseudonym used by Hicks, Clarke, and Nash. There’s was much like the arrangement that John Lennon and Paul McCartney had where credit and royalties were split among the two songwriters even if the other failed to contribute. The three primary members of The Hollies did the same thing and often song contributions were weighted toward one particular member of the band.

To tell the truth, I prefer the Everly Brothers rendition of “Signs that will Never Change” to The Hollies version. The celeste adds a Buddy Holly “Everyday” feel to the tune that was not being heard in pop music at the time.