Staying Power

BOBBY ELLIOTT, the drummer with the Hollies, talks to Spencer Leigh

Think of The Hollies and you think of harmonies, but I’ve got a feeling that the guy at the back is just as important. Let’s find out.

I am going to meet Bobby Elliott, The Hollies’ drummer for 43 years, in a coffee shop in Blackburn. He is there when I arrive: the place is full and my immediate thought is, “Because he wears a cap on stage and sits at the back, no one recognises him.” Yet, everybody in the place would know The Hollies and at least a few of their records. Unrecognised but famous: maybe this is the best of kind of celebrity to have.

I’ve met Bobby before but have not interviewed him in any depth, just grabbing a quick 10 minutes before he goes on stage. He has played on a host of big singles and albums and I want to ask him about his background: does his fondness for American jazz drummers find its way into his own work? Does his knowledge elevate him above most beat group drummers? I know it will be a good interview: not because of me, but because Bobby is a fine raconteur who answers questions with wit and candour.

There have been so many reissue packages including an exemplary 6-CD set, The Long Road Home, that it’s easy to overlook that The Hollies have not released a new album since 1983’s What Goes Around. This is changing. Their new lead singer, Peter Howarth, has …

by Spencer Leigh
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