''For Certain Because'' is the fifth UK album by

the Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

and their second released in 1966. It was the first Hollies album in which all the songs were written by members Allan Clarke,

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is a British and American musician, singer and songwriter. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crosby, Stills ...

, and Tony Hicks, and the first on which they did not use the songwriting pseudonym "L. Ransford" (or just "Ransford"). It was also the first Hollies album recorded with new bassist

Bernie Calvert Bernard Bamford Calvert (born 16 September 1942) is an English former musician who played bass guitar with The Hollies from 1966 until 1981. Career He worked with several rock and roll groups during the early 1960s, most notably Rickie Shaw a ...

replacing

Eric Haydock Eric Haydock (born Eric John Haddock; 3 February 1943 – 5 January 2019) was a British musician, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Hollies from December 1962 until July 1966. Career Haydock's first group, The Deltas, would b ...

. In Bobby Elliott's book ''It Ain't Heavy, It's My Story'', he explains how he came up with the title ''For Certain Because'' by taking the three words from the children's song "

Teddy Bears' Picnic "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" is a song consisting of a melody written in 1907 by American composer John Walter Bratton, and lyrics added in 1932 by Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy. It remains popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom as a children ...

". Most current CD releases of this album use the original UK album title and artwork, but a recent US CD reissue series instead uses the US title and artwork, described below.

Composition

Writing for

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, critic

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sees ''For Certain Because'' as echoing the rapidly increasing sophistication in pop music throughout 1966, pointing out the album's "fuller, more adventurous arrangements and more personal, folk-rock-influenced compositions." According to author Brian Southall, the album is considered by some to be the Hollies' answer to

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' ''

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "We Can Work It Ou ...

'', released in December 1965. In a contemporary review, Keith Altham of ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'' noted the album's overall style as regularly crossing between varying genres, such as

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, Latin-American music,

orchestral music An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...

, and

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US/Canadian version (''Stop! Stop! Stop!'')

''For Certain Because'' was retitled ''Stop! Stop! Stop!'' for the US and Canadian markets and issued with a different, full-color cover image of the group in the US. This was also the fifth Hollies album released in the US and Canada. It was the first Hollies album on which the track listing for the UK version remained unchanged for the US and the Canadian versions; that would not happen again until the 1970s. In addition, other markets also used the title ''Stop! Stop! Stop!'' when issuing or reissuing this album—including the UK, which retitled this album as ''Stop! Stop! Stop!'' for a 1971 budget-line reissue. In 1983,

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

in the US reissued this album as ''Pay You Back With Interest'' without the tracks "Stop! Stop! Stop!" and "High Classed". ''Stop! Stop! Stop!'' was the Hollies' last new album for Imperial Records in the US and for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in Canada and would be followed by a greatest hits album on those labels. The Hollies' next album of originals, ''

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'', would be released in the US and Canada on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

while remaining on Parlophone/EMI in the UK and would revert to having a different track lineup between the US/Canadian and UK versions.

Track listing

All tracks written by Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, and

. All lead vocals by Allan Clarke, except where indicated.

Personnel

* Allan Clarke – vocals, harmonica * Tony Hicks – lead guitar, banjo, vocals *

– rhythm guitar, vocals * Bobby Elliott – drums *

– bass guitar except on "Don't Even Think About Changing", piano *

– bass guitar on "Don't Even Think About Changing" * Mike Vickers – orchestral arrangements on "High Classed", "What Went Wrong" and "Crusader"

References

Citations

Sources

* * *

External links

The Hollies official website
{{Authority control 1966 albums The Hollies albums Albums produced by Ron Richards (producer) Parlophone albums