# Peter Howarth of The Hollies: From Legendary Stages to a Lifetime of Music

An episode of [Tony Mantor's : Almost Live..... Nashville](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1751194045), 25 Aug 2026, 26 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/c41d385f-64b2-4514-9415-b4d50130ce01/5ad18bd0-f9ca-49c7-9d32-b4d501686db6/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=d1742151-672b-4e4d-997b-b4d50130ce0c

Show Notes For more than two decades, Peter Howarth has carried the legacy of one of Britain's most iconic bands as the lead singer of The Hollies. But his remarkable career stretches far beyond one legendary group. In this episode of Almost Live Nashville, Peter joins host Tony Mantor to share the stories behind a lifetime in music—from discovering his passion as a two-year-old fascinated by a record player to performing on some of the world's greatest stages, including Madison Square Garden, Royal Albert Hall, and Wembley Stadium. Peter reflects on working alongside Cliff Richard, collaborating with Rick Fenn of 10cc, writing award-winning musicals, and the challenge of stepping into the shoes of Hollies founding vocalist Allan Clarke. He also shares unforgettable memories, the importance of staying humble, and why connecting with an audience remains the greatest reward of all. Whether you're a lifelong Hollies fan, a musician, or simply love hearing inspiring stories from legendary performers, this conversation is filled with wisdom, humor, and heart. In this episode you'll hear: • How one childhood moment sparked a lifelong love of music • Joining The Hollies and honoring an iconic legacy • Performing with Cliff Richard and at Madison Square Garden • Writing hit musicals with Rick Fenn of 10cc • Lessons learned from decades on stage • The pressure and excitement of performing at Royal Albert Hall • Why humility matters in the music business • The creative process behind songwriting • The emotional meaning behind "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" • Advice for musicians pursuing a lifelong career If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow Almost Live Nashville, leave a review, and share it with the music lovers in your life. New conversations with incredible artists and entertainers arrive every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Tony Mantour. Thanks for joining us today. Welcome
[0:03] Speaker 1: to Almost Live Nashville, where music, entertainment, and great conversations
[0:08] Speaker 1: come together. If you haven't already, tap follow. This way
[0:11] Speaker 1: you stay up to date, never missing the great conversation
[0:14] Speaker 1: and guests coming your way. Today we're honored to welcome
[0:19] Speaker 1: a man whose voice has been heard by millions around
[0:22] Speaker 1: the world. Peter Haworth has been the lead singer of
[0:25] Speaker 1: the legendary British band The Hollies for over two decades,
[0:29] Speaker 1: carrying on the legacy of one of rock's most iconic
[0:31] Speaker 1: groups while making the role uniquely his own. His story
[0:35] Speaker 1: goes far beyond The Hollies. He has shared the stage
[0:37] Speaker 1: with Cliff Richard, performed at legendary venues like Madison Square
[0:42] Speaker 1: Garden and London's Royal Albert Hall, collaborated with acclaimed musicians
[0:47] Speaker 1: including Rick Penn of 10cc, written hit musicals, and built
[0:51] Speaker 1: a career defined by passion, resilience, and an unwavering love
[0:56] Speaker 1: of music. In this conversation, Peter shares the childhood moment
[1:00] Speaker 1: that sparked his lifelong love of music, the pressure of
[1:03] Speaker 1: stepping into the shoes of a legendary frontman, unforgettable moments
[1:07] Speaker 1: performing before thousands of fans, and the lessons he's learned
[1:11] Speaker 1: from a lifetime on stage. Whether you're a longtime fan
[1:14] Speaker 1: of the Harleys or simply love hearing the stories behind
[1:18] Speaker 1: extraordinary careers, you're in for a memorable conversation. So settle
[1:23] Speaker 1: in as we welcome singer, songwriter, performer, and one of
[1:26] Speaker 1: the most respected voices in British music. Thanks for joining
[1:29] Speaker 1: us today.
[1:30] Speaker 2: Yeah, nice to speak to you, Tony.
[1:32] Speaker 1: Yes, same here. When you look back at everything that
[1:34] Speaker 1: you've done, what inspired you most? to pursue music professionally?
[1:40] Speaker 2: The love of music was the first inspiration, I think.
[1:43] Speaker 2: I've got very vivid memories of my childhood because the
[1:46] Speaker 2: very early part wasn't great. And I remember because of
[1:49] Speaker 2: where we were in the house, which house I was
[1:51] Speaker 2: in at the time, under three years old, I was
[1:53] Speaker 2: about two. And I remember being next door in my
[1:55] Speaker 2: next door neighbor's house and she let me, it was
[1:58] Speaker 2: a lady called June, and she let me play with
[2:00] Speaker 2: the record player. And I remember putting the arm onto
[2:03] Speaker 2: the record and going... What is that? What is that sound?
[2:06] Speaker 2: And that is it. And from then, music's always been
[2:09] Speaker 2: a really big part of my life. I think that's it.
[2:11] Speaker 2: It's the love of music. It's the instant communication of
[2:13] Speaker 2: emotion through sound. And also, couple that with when you
[2:17] Speaker 2: get a bit older, when you just start to play.
[2:19] Speaker 2: And when you play an instrument, apart from having the
[2:22] Speaker 2: love of it, when somebody goes, oh, wow, that was great. Oh,
[2:25] Speaker 2: well done. You can't buy that reaction.
[2:28] Speaker 1: I love that story. Isn't it funny how one little
[2:30] Speaker 1: moment like that the reactions can change the way that
[2:34] Speaker 1: you look at things.
[2:35] Speaker 2: That transmits to when we do gigs, and that's what
[2:38] Speaker 2: old Bobby Elliott, Bobby Elliott, when I first joined the Hollies,
[2:40] Speaker 2: the one thing that he said to me always sticks
[2:41] Speaker 2: in my mind. When we did our first gig, that
[2:44] Speaker 2: was in 2004, when I joined in 2004, and I
[2:46] Speaker 2: was quite nervous. And we went on, it was like
[2:48] Speaker 2: Birmingham Symphony Hall, there was like, you know, 1,300 people.
[2:51] Speaker 2: And at the end of the gig, it went well,
[2:53] Speaker 2: and everybody was standing up and applauding, and there was
[2:55] Speaker 2: a lot of happiness in the room. Bobby, who's now 84,
[2:58] Speaker 2: you know, Bob came down, and he put his arm
[3:00] Speaker 2: around me and said, look at this people, they've got
[3:01] Speaker 2: all these people out here, look at... Look at those
[3:03] Speaker 2: happy people. Look at the people in the balconies applauding us.
[3:05] Speaker 2: Look at that. He said, this is what we do
[3:08] Speaker 2: it for. This is our reward. He says, you cannot
[3:11] Speaker 2: buy this. And he's absolutely right. You could get 1,000 people,
[3:14] Speaker 2: 1,300 people in the room, pay them all £ 1, 000 each
[3:17] Speaker 2: to applaud you after you've just sung your song. But
[3:19] Speaker 2: it's not going to be the same, is it? You
[3:21] Speaker 2: have to earn it. And that, for me, is another part.
[3:23] Speaker 2: So those two things. having whatever it is that's lacking
[3:26] Speaker 2: in my personality. I need somebody to go, oh, well done, Pete.
[3:29] Speaker 2: Well done. But that is a big part of doing something, communicating.
[3:33] Speaker 2: You move somebody, even if you move somebody to leave
[3:35] Speaker 2: the room, they say, oh, they go, wow, that was great. Oh, yeah,
[3:38] Speaker 2: it's okay. The point is you're doing your best. You
[3:40] Speaker 2: always do your best. If somebody really enjoys it and
[3:44] Speaker 2: you've had that moment, I know it's transient, it comes,
[3:46] Speaker 2: it goes, but that's why I'm really still here doing
[3:48] Speaker 2: it because Two reasons I can't do anything else. And
[3:51] Speaker 2: the other thing is I really enjoy it. I really
[3:53] Speaker 2: do enjoy performing and singing and playing.
[3:55] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome. Now, you mentioned the audience. The audience,
[4:00] Speaker 1: when they're into what you're doing, can give you the
[4:02] Speaker 1: energy where you just never want to stop. Do you
[4:05] Speaker 1: have a memory of an audience that just gave you
[4:08] Speaker 1: everything that you was hoping for and created that memory
[4:11] Speaker 1: that you just will never forget?
[4:13] Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been fortunate. There's a few things that stick
[4:18] Speaker 2: out in my mind. One instance which was incredibly moving
[4:23] Speaker 2: for me, it was when I wrote a musical with
[4:26] Speaker 2: a guy called Rick Friend from 10CC. We wrote a
[4:28] Speaker 2: musical that we were fortunate. It was We were commissioned
[4:30] Speaker 2: to write it. It went on around the country. It
[4:33] Speaker 2: was in the West End of London for a short
[4:35] Speaker 2: period of time. It got slagged off in the West End,
[4:37] Speaker 2: but it did fantastic everywhere else. Everywhere else, it was
[4:39] Speaker 2: going great. Everybody loved it. Birmingham, Manchester. We thought we
[4:41] Speaker 2: were going to be multimillionaires. And it was doing really
[4:43] Speaker 2: great guns. And unfortunately, it was taken to the West End,
[4:46] Speaker 2: which was kind of against my wishes, because it wasn't
[4:48] Speaker 2: that kind of show. But anyway, point being, after the
[4:51] Speaker 2: West End, it went on another tour. It was going
[4:53] Speaker 2: to be really its kind of final tour. And all
[4:55] Speaker 2: the people that loved that musical... The last night was
[4:58] Speaker 2: in York, about 1992. I was on stage playing, that's
[5:01] Speaker 2: another long story, while I got involved in doing it,
[5:03] Speaker 2: but I was actually on stage that night playing the part,
[5:05] Speaker 2: parts of the musical. My whole family was there, my mom,
[5:08] Speaker 2: my dad, my brother, my sister, everybody I knew, plus
[5:11] Speaker 2: everybody over a period of a year and a half,
[5:12] Speaker 2: two years that loved that musical all descended. The last
[5:16] Speaker 2: night of that musical, when you went on stage, everybody
[5:20] Speaker 2: was cheering, everybody knew every lyric to every song. And
[5:24] Speaker 2: it was an emotional night. And I'll never forget that
[5:26] Speaker 2: for a multitude of reasons. But I think that for me,
[5:29] Speaker 2: out of all the things, and I've had some wonderful nights,
[5:31] Speaker 2: but that for me was one of the most poignant.
[5:34] Speaker 1: Now, if I remember correctly, you did something with Cliff
[5:37] Speaker 1: Richard as well.
[5:38] Speaker 2: When I worked with Cliff Richard, we did what they
[5:40] Speaker 2: called the event, which was a special event for him
[5:42] Speaker 2: at that time. He was about as big as he
[5:44] Speaker 2: was ever at that time. And we did, I think,
[5:46] Speaker 2: an event at the old Wembley Stadium. There was like 60, 50,
[5:49] Speaker 2: 60,000 people there. And it wasn't for me. I was
[5:51] Speaker 2: just stood on stage doing my backing vocals and playing
[5:53] Speaker 2: a big guitar. But I remember looking out at all
[5:55] Speaker 2: those people going, oh, my God, wow, that's amazing. I
[5:58] Speaker 2: remember that. And also the other one that I do
[6:00] Speaker 2: remember only for the reason that I didn't ever think
[6:03] Speaker 2: I'd actually get to work with these guys or be
[6:05] Speaker 2: a part of briefly or what they were doing was
[6:07] Speaker 2: at Madison Square Gardens with The Who. And I was just, again,
[6:09] Speaker 2: a backing working musician, but stood behind Pete Townsend, right
[6:13] Speaker 2: behind him, watching him play. I can't remember what the
[6:16] Speaker 2: song was now, but just looking out at Madison Square
[6:18] Speaker 2: Garden with Pete Townsend. I remember that as well. I
[6:21] Speaker 2: think those three things were different reasons. But I've been fortunate,
[6:24] Speaker 2: you know, that I've had a lot of good nights,
[6:26] Speaker 2: you know. And nowadays, what's happened, I think, since the
[6:29] Speaker 2: last 10, 20 years now, maybe the last 15 to
[6:32] Speaker 2: 20 years, I used to do a lot of sessions,
[6:34] Speaker 2: a lot of writing. But now I seem to be
[6:36] Speaker 2: back to going out singing for my supper, you know,
[6:39] Speaker 2: the lucrative businesses of, either jingles or doing sessions in
[6:44] Speaker 2: studios that used to use 28, 48 tracks. And they
[6:47] Speaker 2: needed people to sing in tune, but now they don't
[6:49] Speaker 2: because they've got auto-tune and everybody's recording in the bedrooms.
[6:52] Speaker 2: The business has changed for good or bad, whatever you
[6:54] Speaker 2: like to look at it. That's another whole area we
[6:56] Speaker 2: can go into. But for me, it's back to singing
[6:58] Speaker 2: for my supper, doing live, which again, I'm away from
[7:01] Speaker 2: home a lot. Again, the benefits are that I really
[7:04] Speaker 2: do love it. Simple as really. Now you've worked with
[7:06] Speaker 2: Cliff Richard. plus all these other great musicians. Yeah.
[7:10] Speaker 1: What were some of the things that you learned by
[7:13] Speaker 1: working with them that helped you expand and create your
[7:17] Speaker 1: journey with the Hollies?
[7:19] Speaker 2: I think whatever job you do, for me, every job
[7:21] Speaker 2: you take on as a musician, you always learn something
[7:24] Speaker 2: with whatever you do. Every night is a learning experience
[7:26] Speaker 2: for me. It's always different and there's always something to
[7:29] Speaker 2: be gained from it. But I think when I first
[7:31] Speaker 2: joined Cliff and I started to work with musicians at
[7:33] Speaker 2: that time in London, I was a young, I'd be 26, 25,
[7:35] Speaker 2: I was in a band and we didn't make the
[7:38] Speaker 2: big time, you know, I was just a singer in
[7:40] Speaker 2: this band with a little bit of a record deal,
[7:41] Speaker 2: but it flopped. But at that time, I remember meeting
[7:44] Speaker 2: musicians in London, who went again as a capacity as
[7:46] Speaker 2: a session singer. And when I started working with these
[7:48] Speaker 2: singers in London, they're really good, because first I was
[7:50] Speaker 2: a guitarist, I used to start to sing and I
[7:53] Speaker 2: started working with these guys, I realised very quickly, quickly.
[7:55] Speaker 2: The guys I was singing with, when I got an
[7:57] Speaker 2: introduction to sing, doing some work, it was just doing
[7:59] Speaker 2: a depth for a music. I think it was, I
[8:01] Speaker 2: think it was time. The musicals were the first depths
[8:04] Speaker 2: I did. It was about 86, 87. And I met
[8:05] Speaker 2: somebody who said, oh, they're looking for singers. You know,
[8:08] Speaker 2: would you be available? You've got high rock tenor. They
[8:10] Speaker 2: need somebody to sing live and blah, blah, blah. So
[8:12] Speaker 2: there's a group of five or six singers in a booth.
[8:14] Speaker 2: They don't really have them now because it's all on
[8:16] Speaker 2: click track now, but they used to have a booth
[8:17] Speaker 2: maybe in between six and eight singers to boost the
[8:20] Speaker 2: cast sound underneath the pit. And I met all these singers,
[8:24] Speaker 2: these London singers. I went to debt for somebody and
[8:26] Speaker 2: I met these guys and I'm thinking, wow, these guys
[8:29] Speaker 2: are really on it. Their tuning was spot on, you know,
[8:32] Speaker 2: and their attention to detail about vibrato when you sing
[8:35] Speaker 2: as a unit. One, I had to match my voice.
[8:37] Speaker 2: If I'm singing too loud, you've got to bring it
[8:39] Speaker 2: down and blend. And I learned so much just working
[8:42] Speaker 2: in a pit situation with 300 other singers, singing harmony.
[8:45] Speaker 2: And then when you get on tour, and I was
[8:46] Speaker 2: on tour with Cliff, Same thing, the standard of the
[8:48] Speaker 2: band was outrageous. I mean, they didn't have any click
[8:51] Speaker 2: tracks then. It was all live. It was all live.
[8:53] Speaker 2: And the musicians were held up to an astonishingly high
[8:58] Speaker 2: level of pride with themselves. Nobody wanted to mess up.
[9:01] Speaker 2: If you mess up, you go, oh, I'm really sorry.
[9:03] Speaker 2: You know, if you made one little mistake. So the
[9:06] Speaker 2: backing vocals, the guitarist, the drummer, it was all a
[9:09] Speaker 2: frighteningly high standard when I thought, my God, I'm going
[9:12] Speaker 2: to have to put myself up here and not be
[9:14] Speaker 2: the one that's making mistakes, not be the one that's
[9:16] Speaker 2: going in slightly out of tune to spoil the harmony.
[9:18] Speaker 2: You know, it's that kind of thing you learn on
[9:21] Speaker 2: the job and you learn from people around you. The
[9:23] Speaker 2: other thing I learned very quickly is you don't have
[9:25] Speaker 2: to be, you don't have to be, you know, Miles Davis.
[9:28] Speaker 2: You don't have to be Oscar Peterson on the piano
[9:31] Speaker 2: or Steve Luke on the guitar. I'd love to be
[9:33] Speaker 2: Steve Luke and all Larry Carlton, all these guys. But,
[9:35] Speaker 2: you know, when you listen to this amount of perfection
[9:37] Speaker 2: with these guys, you don't have to be that unless,
[9:39] Speaker 2: of course, you join the Steely Dan. Then you have
[9:41] Speaker 2: to know your onions and you have to be able
[9:43] Speaker 2: to do the gig. Yeah. So whatever gig you're doing,
[9:45] Speaker 2: it might be, I don't know, a tour for a
[9:47] Speaker 2: small pop band, which is not going to be that
[9:48] Speaker 2: demanding musically, maybe. But the most important thing is to
[9:51] Speaker 2: be able to do the job. do it right, turn
[9:54] Speaker 2: up on time and don't be, I don't want to
[9:57] Speaker 2: say the word, but don't be, get on with people.
[9:59] Speaker 2: because you're in a group of people that are all
[10:02] Speaker 2: just want to have a good time. They don't want
[10:04] Speaker 2: any divas. They don't care if you play like Oscar Pitt.
[10:07] Speaker 2: All they want you to do is do the job
[10:08] Speaker 2: and be nice. Be nice. Don't be a diva, you know,
[10:11] Speaker 2: oh my God, you know, oh, I'm so bored with this.
[10:14] Speaker 2: Enjoy the job, you know, enjoy what you do. Exactly. Exactly.
[10:18] Speaker 1: Now, when you joined the Hollies, they had had some
[10:21] Speaker 1: hit records. They had done some really good things.
[10:24] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[10:24] Speaker 1: How did you find that balance of honoring the past
[10:28] Speaker 1: while still being yourself So you could integrate with them
[10:32] Speaker 1: and create that style.
[10:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. Thing is, I learned
[10:36] Speaker 2: when I was doing playing the part of Orbison, actually,
[10:38] Speaker 2: that the one thing, when you're taking over, listen, it's
[10:41] Speaker 2: a poison chalice. If you're taking over a singer that's
[10:43] Speaker 2: so popular, Alan Clark was, or if you're, you know,
[10:46] Speaker 2: God forbid, you're in bad company, you're taking over from
[10:49] Speaker 2: Paul Rogers or Freddie Mercury, whoever it is. You're never
[10:52] Speaker 2: going to satisfy the Alan Clark fans. I'm not going
[10:55] Speaker 2: to be Alan Clark. I can't. I can't be Alan Clark.
[10:57] Speaker 2: I'm always going to not be him. You know, if
[10:59] Speaker 2: you're a fan of the Hollies, you like the songs
[11:01] Speaker 2: and you like Alan, but you don't mind hearing somebody
[11:04] Speaker 2: else sing the song because you love the song. You
[11:05] Speaker 2: love the drumming. You love the guitar. You love the harmonies.
[11:07] Speaker 2: There's a lot to the Hollies that isn't just Alan
[11:09] Speaker 2: Clark's voice, although I do admit it's a massive part.
[11:12] Speaker 2: It's a big stamp on the sound of the band.
[11:14] Speaker 2: All I could do is not mess around with the
[11:17] Speaker 2: phrasing of it. You know, you don't. do a soul
[11:19] Speaker 2: version of He Ain't Heavy, giving it all that. I
[11:21] Speaker 2: just sing the notes as Alan would do. He was
[11:24] Speaker 2: never a really big flowery singer, giving it all the
[11:26] Speaker 2: gesticulations around notes. He's very much a kind of deliver
[11:29] Speaker 2: the song, like Jackson Browne would just deliver the song.
[11:32] Speaker 2: Perfect notes, simplistic notes and the timing.
[11:35] Speaker 1: I agree. So what was your approach?
[11:37] Speaker 2: Start off with, I did try and match what, when
[11:39] Speaker 2: I was learning the songs, The phrasing, I did try
[11:42] Speaker 2: to match because when people hear a song, if you
[11:44] Speaker 2: sing it too far away, if you start pulling, let's
[11:47] Speaker 2: say if you go, if I could make a wish,
[11:49] Speaker 2: I think I'd pass. You know, given all that, you
[11:51] Speaker 2: just sing the song as people, the same phrasing. My
[11:54] Speaker 2: timbre of my voice isn't that dissimilar of mine. I'm not,
[11:57] Speaker 2: I am different. I don't sing like Alan Clark. I'm
[11:59] Speaker 2: doing Alan Clark impersonation, but I always tried not to
[12:03] Speaker 2: stomp all over what he worked hard for and what
[12:06] Speaker 2: the band created. And then as you do it more
[12:08] Speaker 2: and more, it does become more you. I'm over a
[12:11] Speaker 2: period of, what, 20-odd years now. When we go out
[12:13] Speaker 2: on stage, it's a big family. I've been doing it
[12:15] Speaker 2: for 24. Ray and Ian have been there for, oh,
[12:18] Speaker 2: it must be nearly 40 years now. So we have
[12:20] Speaker 2: the same crew, the same crew, the same backline for
[12:24] Speaker 2: the 24 years. We just, we have a lovely time
[12:27] Speaker 2: and it's a joy and a pleasure to go out.
[12:28] Speaker 2: But a short answer to you, because I do ramble on,
[12:31] Speaker 2: I'm very, I do yak a lot, don't I? That's okay.
[12:33] Speaker 1: It's great. This is all part of telling your journey
[12:36] Speaker 1: in the story of what you do. So how difficult
[12:39] Speaker 1: was it for you?
[12:40] Speaker 2: It was a tough time because you were always going
[12:42] Speaker 2: to get, as soon as you walk out on the stage,
[12:43] Speaker 2: oh God, he's terrible. Oh, he's not Alan Clark. Oh God,
[12:46] Speaker 2: he sounds like, he sounds like, I don't know, nothing.
[12:48] Speaker 2: You know, you're always going to get that. You can't
[12:50] Speaker 2: please all the people all the time. That's right. What
[12:53] Speaker 2: I don't like is when people judge you without coming
[12:55] Speaker 2: to see in the band.
[12:56] Speaker 1: Totally agree on that.
[12:57] Speaker 2: Originally, when I first went out, what was it? 2004.
[13:01] Speaker 2: So mobile phones weren't really that advanced. Now you go
[13:06] Speaker 2: to a gig, you get your iPhone out, you give it,
[13:08] Speaker 2: you got a great compressor on the mic, it's a
[13:10] Speaker 2: great video. So the sound sounds pretty good. But in
[13:13] Speaker 2: those days, you know, I remember singing, I was doing that,
[13:15] Speaker 2: I breathe something. And I remember seeing this clip, this
[13:18] Speaker 2: guy's terrible.
[13:18] Speaker 1: It's like....
[13:21] Speaker 2: Yeah, it did sound terrible, but that's not really my fault,
[13:25] Speaker 2: you know. You always get people want to bash you up.
[13:27] Speaker 2: You always get that, you know.
[13:29] Speaker 1: Now, you've had the opportunity to play with some incredible musicians.
[13:33] Speaker 1: Thinking back of all the musicians that you've had the
[13:35] Speaker 1: opportunity to work with, is there one that influenced you
[13:40] Speaker 1: on your journey of what you ultimately became and what
[13:43] Speaker 1: you do today?
[13:44] Speaker 2: I think I have to say my writing partner, Rick Fenn,
[13:47] Speaker 2: who I met. Funny enough, I met Rick. He was
[13:50] Speaker 2: a guitarist with 10cc. And I met him in that
[13:52] Speaker 2: first pit gig I did. I was talking about doing
[13:55] Speaker 2: the session for Time, the musical. There was an orchestra
[13:57] Speaker 2: pit under there that had incredible musicians in it. I mean,
[14:00] Speaker 2: that band was fantastic. smoking I mean you had Tim
[14:02] Speaker 2: Rennick on guitar who ended up playing with Pink Floyd
[14:04] Speaker 2: I mean and Tim I think was on tour with
[14:07] Speaker 2: Pink Floyd he was on tour and Rick depth for
[14:10] Speaker 2: Tim and that's where I met Rick in the pit
[14:12] Speaker 2: we're just having a you know in the interval and
[14:14] Speaker 2: we're having a bit of a chat and he's saying
[14:15] Speaker 2: what are you doing I said I'm a singer And
[14:17] Speaker 2: he said, I need someone to sing a jingle for me.
[14:21] Speaker 2: He said, do you fancy popping around tomorrow? So I
[14:23] Speaker 2: went around, I sang a jingle with him. And then
[14:25] Speaker 2: four days later, he said, look, I've got something to write.
[14:27] Speaker 2: I've got to write this thing for a film. He said,
[14:30] Speaker 2: do you fancy coming and writing it together? And from
[14:32] Speaker 2: that moment, I think the next 10, 15 years, we
[14:36] Speaker 2: wrote and recorded a lot of stuff together. And as
[14:38] Speaker 2: a musician... As a creative person, and just the general
[14:42] Speaker 2: kind of wizard that he is, he plays piano, he'll
[14:46] Speaker 2: play anything flute, you know, anything he'll pick it up
[14:48] Speaker 2: and bash a tune out. He's that level of musician
[14:50] Speaker 2: that was, I mean, I used to be able to
[14:52] Speaker 2: read in the pit, I could sight read a little bit,
[14:54] Speaker 2: but I never really... advanced to the point where Rick
[14:57] Speaker 2: could sit in with anybody, any musician, jazz, you know,
[15:01] Speaker 2: if he was in an Irish bar, he'd be able
[15:02] Speaker 2: to just go, what playing? And away you go. And
[15:05] Speaker 2: he'd be great at improvising around because he had that
[15:07] Speaker 2: language down. On top of that, somebody who, when we created,
[15:10] Speaker 2: he actually... was so humble and he listened. He listened
[15:14] Speaker 2: to what I had to say and I had to
[15:16] Speaker 2: be very careful. If I said to him, he played
[15:18] Speaker 2: something on the piano, I'd go, uh, I'm not sure
[15:20] Speaker 2: about that. I had to, because he'd go, really? And
[15:22] Speaker 2: he'd change it immediately to try and get something that
[15:24] Speaker 2: we both liked, you know? And it was like that
[15:25] Speaker 2: when he was producing the musicals, when he was recording them,
[15:28] Speaker 2: I had to be very careful what I said, because
[15:29] Speaker 2: he'd spend ages doing something and I'd come in, you know,
[15:31] Speaker 2: we'd get together the next day and he'd He said,
[15:33] Speaker 2: just put this bass line. I've just put this brass
[15:35] Speaker 2: thing on. I go, I'm not sure, you know, I
[15:38] Speaker 2: need to change it. We worked together and we created
[15:40] Speaker 2: some fantastic stuff that I loved. And as a person,
[15:44] Speaker 2: as a musician, I think he, yeah, he influenced, just generally, yeah, inspired.
[15:49] Speaker 2: And one of those people, when you do have a
[15:50] Speaker 2: writing partnership with somebody, some people you write with and
[15:53] Speaker 2: it's good, it's okay. But with Rick, it was always really,
[15:55] Speaker 2: really special. I don't know why it just happened, you know,
[15:57] Speaker 2: but it just, it was just one of those things
[15:59] Speaker 2: we got on well, musically and personally.
[16:02] Speaker 1: Now you've worked in rock. You've worked in theater. You've
[16:04] Speaker 1: done acoustical performances.
[16:07] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[16:07] Speaker 1: How have those different experiences influenced your approach as a performer?
[16:12] Speaker 2: I think from the moment I got up when I
[16:15] Speaker 2: was about 15, maybe 16, just got me to play
[16:18] Speaker 2: with these, what I thought were old guys at the time,
[16:20] Speaker 2: but they're probably about 36 now. They were playing in
[16:24] Speaker 2: a hotel in Blackpool and I learned the solo for Jambalaya.
[16:27] Speaker 2: I was into the carpets at that time and I
[16:29] Speaker 2: learned all the Tony Blussol solos and I wanted to
[16:31] Speaker 2: be a musician, blah, blah. So you go out and
[16:33] Speaker 2: I remember being so nervous and you get out then.
[16:36] Speaker 2: It's only in like a lounge in a hotel. It's
[16:38] Speaker 2: not like in front of Carnegie Hall or anything, but
[16:41] Speaker 2: When you get up there, and if you're any kind
[16:43] Speaker 2: of musician, the first gig you do where you actually,
[16:45] Speaker 2: I found it terrifying. When it came to, I played
[16:48] Speaker 2: the solo of it, I went, I just froze. Couldn't
[16:50] Speaker 2: move my hands, you know, just completely scared to death.
[16:53] Speaker 2: And that is a process. You go from doing that
[16:55] Speaker 2: to do all the different kind of gigs. You build
[16:56] Speaker 2: up your confidence. Same way with talking to an audience.
[16:59] Speaker 2: You know, I remember doing a gig. And about a
[17:01] Speaker 2: year or two after that, I worked with another guy.
[17:03] Speaker 2: He was an old band singer, like an old big
[17:05] Speaker 2: band singer. He played drums, but he sounded like Lou Rawls.
[17:08] Speaker 2: He was a very interesting character. But when we're doing
[17:10] Speaker 2: this gig as a trio, I was young. I'd be 17,
[17:13] Speaker 2: 18 and working and doing a summer season somewhere. And
[17:15] Speaker 2: I was just playing guitar. And he said, right, next week,
[17:17] Speaker 2: you're going to sing a song. You're going to sing
[17:19] Speaker 2: a song and you're going to talk to the audience.
[17:21] Speaker 1: That's a little pressure. So what was the next step?
[17:24] Speaker 2: So I had to learn a song, which I did,
[17:26] Speaker 2: and then sing the song, but then introduce it. He
[17:29] Speaker 2: sort of pushed me to talk to the audience. And
[17:31] Speaker 2: that in itself is a whole different area of learning
[17:34] Speaker 2: and expertise. But being a backing singer was great doing that.
[17:36] Speaker 2: But when you're at the front, when you're at the
[17:38] Speaker 2: front of a band, and the Hollies has taught me
[17:40] Speaker 2: a lot about that. I've sort of settled into, I
[17:42] Speaker 2: was always a bit uncomfortable a bit. I needed a
[17:45] Speaker 2: guitar or I needed to hold on to the mic stand,
[17:47] Speaker 2: you know, but I learned so much doing that. I
[17:49] Speaker 2: learned so much from playing the part of Orbison. You
[17:51] Speaker 2: learn so much and you carry that on to whatever
[17:53] Speaker 2: it is. There's always something you can take to the
[17:56] Speaker 2: next job that you do, you know, going out and
[17:58] Speaker 2: doing solo acoustic stuff. I remember listening to a Sean
[18:00] Speaker 2: Colvin song, her version of You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome
[18:04] Speaker 2: When You're Gone, which is on a Sean Colvin, what's
[18:07] Speaker 2: the album called? Cover Girl. The album's called My Brain's Gone,
[18:10] Speaker 2: Cover Girl. And I heard this about, oh God, oh,
[18:13] Speaker 2: I don't know. It was a long, long time ago
[18:14] Speaker 2: when it came out. And I thought, wow, that's amazing.
[18:16] Speaker 2: She plays and sings, and that's something I wanted to do.
[18:18] Speaker 2: So in my own spare time, I was trying to
[18:20] Speaker 2: work this thing out. I spent ages trying to work
[18:22] Speaker 2: this thing out. And once I'd done it, I thought, well,
[18:23] Speaker 2: what am I going to do with it, really? I
[18:24] Speaker 2: don't do that kind of thing.
[18:26] Speaker 1: Did that kind of thought process help you with the Hollies?
[18:28] Speaker 2: When I started doing the Hollies, I did a version,
[18:31] Speaker 2: the same kind of thing. I wanted to do an
[18:33] Speaker 2: acoustic version. I did one of Sandy, which I still
[18:35] Speaker 2: play now, and Here I Go Again, which I still
[18:38] Speaker 2: play now. And then the Hollies gave me that slot.
[18:40] Speaker 2: When I did this version of Here I Go Again,
[18:42] Speaker 2: which was like a slow ballad version of their song,
[18:44] Speaker 2: I was telling them about it because I kept tuning
[18:45] Speaker 2: it as a slow ballad. because Here I Go Again
[18:47] Speaker 2: is a Sir Holly song. If you know it, it's
[18:49] Speaker 2: all about flower to flower when they're kids. They recorded
[18:51] Speaker 2: it when they were about 17, 18, which is fine.
[18:53] Speaker 2: But when I was singing it in 2004, when I
[18:55] Speaker 2: was a lot older, flitting from flower to flower just
[18:57] Speaker 2: didn't feel right. Not feel right, but when I was
[18:59] Speaker 2: making a cup of tea and I was learning all
[19:01] Speaker 2: the songs, I I just keep hearing it as this
[19:02] Speaker 2: kind of ballad where, you know, it's more of a
[19:04] Speaker 2: ballad kind of thing. Did a little version of it
[19:06] Speaker 2: and I was telling Tony and Bob this and they said, well,
[19:08] Speaker 2: play us a bit. I played them a bit and
[19:10] Speaker 2: the next thing I know, I'm on stage on my
[19:11] Speaker 2: own in front of Birmingham Symphony Hall on my own
[19:14] Speaker 2: on the stage playing this and I liked it. Although
[19:16] Speaker 2: it was scary, it was really scary. There's something about
[19:19] Speaker 2: having a guitar on your own singing to an audience.
[19:22] Speaker 2: And then you get to the point where you just
[19:24] Speaker 2: hold it for that little second, just a little bit
[19:26] Speaker 2: of drama. And everybody's like quiet with a big PA
[19:28] Speaker 2: as well. It's just, oh, I love that. I love it.
[19:31] Speaker 2: It's scary. And I've had some scary moments doing that.
[19:33] Speaker 2: Because if you mess up, it's just you. I remember
[19:36] Speaker 2: doing Here I Go again at the Albert Hall. And
[19:39] Speaker 2: so we're doing the Albert Hall with the Hollies. It's
[19:41] Speaker 2: the first gig I did with the Hollies at the
[19:42] Speaker 2: Albert Hall.
[19:43] Speaker 1: With that being the first time you performed with them
[19:46] Speaker 1: at the Albert Hall, how long have you been with them?
[19:48] Speaker 1: And what happened from there?
[19:50] Speaker 2: I've been with the Hollies for about maybe two years.
[19:53] Speaker 2: We've done a new album. It's one of those things
[19:56] Speaker 2: where everybody's come to see at the Albert Hall. Everybody's coming.
[19:59] Speaker 2: Even Cliff Richard, he came. He knew I was in
[20:01] Speaker 2: the Holly. He was coming. The producer that I worked with,
[20:04] Speaker 2: Bill Kenwright, he was going to come to see the Hollies.
[20:06] Speaker 2: And everybody I knew in London was going to come
[20:08] Speaker 2: and see the Hollies. And the record company's going to
[20:10] Speaker 2: come see the Hollies. So I'm doing a tour and
[20:12] Speaker 2: I'm thinking, oh my God, this Royal Albert Hall gig
[20:14] Speaker 2: is going to be a nightmare. I was really worried
[20:16] Speaker 2: about it. And I remember having dreams, you know, where
[20:18] Speaker 2: I'm thinking I was coming off stage and I'm going,
[20:19] Speaker 2: oh great, well done. Everybody's going, well done. And I think,
[20:21] Speaker 2: oh my God, yeah, it's gone really great. And I'll
[20:23] Speaker 2: wake up and go, oh my God, it's next week.
[20:25] Speaker 2: Oh my God. But as it happened, the gig was fine.
[20:26] Speaker 2: When we get to the Albert Hall, my wife sorted
[20:28] Speaker 2: everything out. She sorted out the box for Cliff Richard
[20:30] Speaker 2: and Bill Kenwright and that was all taken care of.
[20:32] Speaker 2: And I went out for a run. I used to
[20:33] Speaker 2: go for a run before the gig and I was like,
[20:35] Speaker 2: really cool. Went to the soundcheck, felt absolutely fun, really
[20:38] Speaker 2: looking forward to it. Go out and do the first half,
[20:40] Speaker 2: absolutely fantastic. I'm thinking, wow, this is amazing. I was
[20:44] Speaker 2: loving every second of it, every second. So I got
[20:46] Speaker 2: to the second half and all the guys left the
[20:48] Speaker 2: stage and I'm doing this, here I go again, which
[20:50] Speaker 2: is this guitar thing, which I love doing. But when
[20:52] Speaker 2: the guys left the stage, I'm looking around, I'm thinking...
[20:55] Speaker 2: if I mess this up, you know, and then it's
[20:58] Speaker 2: like when you get the voices and I'm going, I
[20:59] Speaker 2: get the voices going, look, I'm going to know I'm
[21:01] Speaker 2: at the Albert Hall. Leave me alone. You know, don't
[21:03] Speaker 2: mess this up. And eventually I started playing the guitar
[21:05] Speaker 2: and I had so much adrenaline, you know, because of
[21:07] Speaker 2: a fear. It really ruined it for me. I played
[21:09] Speaker 2: it fine. But again, you learn to rein that in
[21:12] Speaker 2: and that's something else I learned that night. And when
[21:14] Speaker 2: I knew what was coming, Now you learn, you learn
[21:17] Speaker 2: from these things. Absolutely.
[21:19] Speaker 1: That's part of growing. How do people find you and
[21:22] Speaker 1: follow you on what you're doing?
[21:23] Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know. Probably just the Instagram, Facebook. I mean,
[21:28] Speaker 2: there's always the Holly stuff in there. Our personal acoustic tours,
[21:31] Speaker 2: I'm only doing six, seven days. I stopped doing those
[21:34] Speaker 2: for a long time, actually. It was only last year.
[21:36] Speaker 2: It was only last year I started doing them again
[21:38] Speaker 2: because there's a lady called Callie Langhurst who She does
[21:40] Speaker 2: a part-time promotion for Paul Young and the Pacaminos, a
[21:44] Speaker 2: band that she does a little bit. And she just
[21:46] Speaker 2: said to me, why don't you do your solo acoustic gigs?
[21:48] Speaker 2: And I said, well, number one, nobody's asked me. Nobody's
[21:50] Speaker 2: asked me. The last one I did, I said it
[21:52] Speaker 2: went well, but I didn't really make any money. That's
[21:54] Speaker 2: not a big thing, but it was a lot of
[21:55] Speaker 2: work for not a lot. And she said, well, look,
[21:57] Speaker 2: I'll sort some gigs out for you. So I'm doing
[21:59] Speaker 2: these seven next year. I don't do a lot, six
[22:02] Speaker 2: or seven. Mixed with other gigs, Tolley's Tour and Cruises.
[22:05] Speaker 2: That's what keeps me going.
[22:07] Speaker 1: In closing, can you give us a memory? that you
[22:10] Speaker 1: will always remember, that may not be the biggest thing
[22:13] Speaker 1: you've ever done, but it was the most important thing
[22:16] Speaker 1: that you did?
[22:17] Speaker 2: Robin Prince of Sherwood, the musical. Writing the musical, getting
[22:20] Speaker 2: it on, first night opening, Leatherhead, the writing process of it,
[22:24] Speaker 2: nine months of writing and recording with Rick. I sang everything.
[22:27] Speaker 2: We wrote everything together. I sang all the voices to
[22:30] Speaker 2: the different characters. We had so much fun writing and
[22:32] Speaker 2: recording it. And that period the creative process was just
[22:36] Speaker 2: so magical i remember the first day we've been commissioned
[22:39] Speaker 2: we wrote one song to build to show him we
[22:41] Speaker 2: could write this particular scene and he said right write
[22:44] Speaker 2: the musical so i remember going around to his house
[22:45] Speaker 2: and we're going we've got this whole musical to write
[22:47] Speaker 2: about robin prince of sherwood you know with right where
[22:49] Speaker 2: do we start what the hell do we do i
[22:51] Speaker 2: remember 15 cups of tea before we both looked at
[22:54] Speaker 2: each other thought It's not going to write itself, is it?
[22:57] Speaker 2: It's not going to write itself. So we go over
[22:58] Speaker 2: to the piano and he starts playing something, I start
[23:00] Speaker 2: singing something and then boom, we're away. But once you
[23:03] Speaker 2: start doing that, I remember going home at night and
[23:06] Speaker 2: I go home at night and I'd be lying in
[23:07] Speaker 2: bed and all of a sudden you get an idea.
[23:09] Speaker 2: Once you open that little gate of creativity, it tends
[23:12] Speaker 2: just to kind of pour out. It does pour out.
[23:14] Speaker 2: And then likewise, if it's locked, if it's closed it's
[23:17] Speaker 2: very hard to get it flowing again sometimes or not
[23:20] Speaker 2: I don't know I've never been such a prolific writer
[23:22] Speaker 2: on my own because I don't like writing on my
[23:24] Speaker 2: own it's like pulling my own teeth out I'm not
[23:26] Speaker 2: really a big fan of it it has happened now
[23:27] Speaker 2: and again but very rarely that time writing Robin recording
[23:31] Speaker 2: it the first year when it was on tour was
[23:33] Speaker 2: just and I wasn't in it then I was just
[23:35] Speaker 2: used to go watching the cast and being so proud
[23:38] Speaker 2: of it and how many people it touched and how
[23:40] Speaker 2: much it meant to a lot of people and that
[23:41] Speaker 2: was the biggest thing I think in my life I
[23:43] Speaker 2: have to say.
[23:44] Speaker 1: That is always nice when you have something that means
[23:48] Speaker 1: that much to you. And of course, that it touches
[23:51] Speaker 1: others as well. Name a song that you love to
[23:54] Speaker 1: sing that just never gets old.
[23:56] Speaker 2: He ain't heavy. He's got to be. A classic song.
[23:58] Speaker 2: And I do that in my own version when I
[24:00] Speaker 2: do my solo acoustic thing. That version means a lot
[24:03] Speaker 2: to me for many reasons. I did it for my
[24:06] Speaker 2: good friend Bill Kenwright, who was a producer. Unfortunately, he
[24:08] Speaker 2: passed away two years, which is a big loss for
[24:09] Speaker 2: me because he was big in my life. He was
[24:11] Speaker 2: really big. I first met Bill Kenwright in 1982 when
[24:15] Speaker 2: I was playing guitar in the orchestra pit of Joseph
[24:18] Speaker 2: in The Amazing Technical Dream. I played guitar in the pit.
[24:21] Speaker 2: And that's where I met my wife. I met my
[24:22] Speaker 2: wife in Joseph. We're still together today. So we've been
[24:26] Speaker 2: on that arc together. If you don't know Bill, he
[24:28] Speaker 2: was a massive producer in the West End and a
[24:30] Speaker 2: real character, a real character. I remember him phoning me.
[24:33] Speaker 2: He was the first person to phone me when I
[24:35] Speaker 2: got in the hollies. I don't know how he found out.
[24:37] Speaker 2: I'd literally gone to meet the guys in the afternoon,
[24:39] Speaker 2: sang through He Ain't Heavy, and I got home and
[24:41] Speaker 2: he phoned me. I don't know how he knew, but
[24:43] Speaker 2: he knew. And the other thing was when he phoned
[24:45] Speaker 2: me when his mother had passed away and he wanted
[24:48] Speaker 2: me to sing He Ain't Heavy. Her funeral, that was
[24:50] Speaker 2: a long time ago. And I did this version. I
[24:52] Speaker 2: did that particular version for that. Unfortunately, heartbreakingly, when he
[24:56] Speaker 2: passed away, he wanted me to sing that at his funeral,
[25:00] Speaker 2: which was, again, very poignant. Proud to do it, but
[25:03] Speaker 2: very sad. That song means, and I say this when
[25:05] Speaker 2: I sing it, it means so many different things to
[25:07] Speaker 2: so many different people. Of all the songs that I
[25:09] Speaker 2: do sing, I think that's probably the most powerful.
[25:12] Speaker 1: That's an incredible story. And I can certainly see why
[25:16] Speaker 1: this song means that much to you. So what would
[25:19] Speaker 1: you like to leave our audience with that you think
[25:21] Speaker 1: that they should know about what's coming up for you?
[25:24] Speaker 2: Oh, I'm just going to be carrying on, do what
[25:26] Speaker 2: I do. I'm always happy to see people, whether it
[25:29] Speaker 2: be with the Hollies, with the front men in Germany.
[25:31] Speaker 2: I've had a lot of fun doing that. Or acoustically,
[25:34] Speaker 2: if you like a bit of an acoustic, come and
[25:35] Speaker 2: see that. But yeah, if you want to come along,
[25:37] Speaker 2: please come along and have a lovely evening. And let's
[25:40] Speaker 2: all have a good time and be nice.
[25:42] Speaker 1: Absolutely. Well, this has been great. Thanks for joining us today.
[25:46] Speaker 2: No, thank you for asking me.
[25:47] Speaker 1: Oh, it's been my pleasure. Thanks again. A sincere thank
[25:50] Speaker 1: you to our guests for sharing their journey with us today.
[25:54] Speaker 1: And thanks for spending part of your day with us.
[25:56] Speaker 1: We hope today's conversation gave you something to take with you.
[26:00] Speaker 1: If you haven't already, remember, tap follow so you never
[26:04] Speaker 1: miss the great conversations and guests still ahead. You can
[26:08] Speaker 1: always reach us at media at plateau music dot com.
[26:12] Speaker 1: Thanks for being part of what we're building here on
[26:14] Speaker 1: Almost Live Nashville. We'll see you next time.

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