He ain’t heavy he’s the drummer of The Hollies on tour

It’s looking like a great year for fans of The Hollies, for not only do they have two UK tours to look forward to – one in the spring and the other in the autumn – but the long-awaited autobiography of drummer Bobby Elliott has been published, writes Martin Hutchinson.

He Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Story is the story of, and written by, one of the most popular and influential drummers in British music and not only tells Bobby’s story, but the story of The Hollies.

It’s been a long time coming, as Bob tells me: “It’s taken me about five years to put it all down. I’ve always kept diaries and I’m the band’s archivist. (He laughs) I know where all the bodies are buried.”

“I’m always telling stories to the rest of the band about the early days.”

And it’s truly an autobiography and has not been ghost-written: “No, I’ve typed it all myself with my two fingers. All my own words and pictures – including an image of our original contract to play at The Cavern Club.”

It wasn’t always an easy process: “No, it’s been – as they say – a bit of a roller coaster. It was a long learning curve; firstly I had to get a literary agent, then there was the method of writing – it had to be on one side of A4 paper and double-spaced.”

What about happy memories? “One of the stories in the book was from when we were in Canada. We’d done a show in Ottawa and had gone back to the hotel. There was some noise coming from an adjacent room and it was the Record Company get together. Me and Graham Nash went in and we saw a pretty blonde sat there with a book in her hands and it was Joni Mitchell. I was knackered after the gig and went back to my room leaving Graham there.

“The next day we were flying to Winnipeg and we got into the lobby and asked ‘where’s Graham?’. We went to his room and there he was, still in bed. Next to him was Joni Mitchell and next to her was a Martin guitar and Graham said to Joni, ‘play Bob that song you’ve just written’. So she did and it was Both Sides Now. Graham told us that he’d get a later flight and we left for our flight.”

Bob’s book is published by Omnibus Press and is a fascinating read.

As for touring, The Hollies have another busy year ahead with a pair of UK tours as well as foreign climes.

“Yes, we’re all fired up for the dates and love touring in the UK. This time we’ve got some back-projection going on with footage being shown with our progress through the years.”

And what can we expect to hear?

“Naturally, all the hits like He Ain’t Heavy, The Air That I Breathe, Stop Stop Stop, etc. The new song Priceless is in the set, that Pete sings solo and Magic Woman Touch that we haven’t done for a long time.

“We’ll see how it goes early on in the tour and see if the set works, we can always tweak it if necessary.”

The Hollies will be appearing at The Southport Theatre, Southport on Saturday November 7. Tickets are available from the box office on 01704 500036 and all the usual agencies.

And Bob’s book is published by Omnibus Press on April 2nd 2020. ISBN 978-1913172206.