This is the most controversial album in
the Hollies' entire output.
Graham Nash claimed he quit over the decision to record it, and critics hated it. And on its face, this is all understandable --
the Hollies' distinctive high harmony singing and British beat sound were not a natural fit with
Bob Dylan's songs, with their mix of earthy sensibilities and raw musicality. With one possible exception, the songs here are not presented in their ideal forms, but that doesn't explain the hostility with which the album was greeted, until one remembers the reverence in which
Dylan was held at the time and
the Hollies' status as a pop/rock group. In many critics' eyes,
the Hollies cutting an album of
Dylan songs was only a step removed from
Herman's Hermits recording one. The album has virtues, including
Allan Clarke's powerful lead vocals and the soaring harmonies of
Terry Sylvester and
Tony Hicks, along with
Hicks' lively and inventive guitar contributions to the album. The overblown, orchestrated version of "Blowin' in the Wind" may be the worst version of that song ever cut, though "Quit Your Lowdown Ways" is well-sung and even better played, with some superb rockabilly-style acoustic guitar courtesy of
Hicks. "All I Really Want to Do" has superb singing and a strange marimba accompaniment that somehow works. And then there is "My Back Pages," the best track on the album and the only one that sounds the way
the Hollies of old would've, loose and flowing, with beautiful acoustic guitar at its center and a reed orchestra accompanying the band.