He Aint Heavy, He's My Brother - The Story Behind The Song
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG 'He ain't heavy, Father, he's m' brother.
Boys Town, near Omaha, Nebraska, is a community for neglected and homeless boys. It was founded in 1917 by Father Edward Joseph Flanagan, who started with five youngsters in an old rented house. Over the years, from humble beginnings, a 1,400-acre community was built that became a village in 1936.
Self-governing and non-sectarian, Boys Town is supported in part by voluntary contributions. The Omaha Boys Town cares for over 500 boys and (since 1984) girls, who live in home settings and have available a range of educational facilities and health and counselling services. Boys Town also operates programmes in other states.
Boys Town, and the film of the same name starring Spencer Tracey, inspired the writing of The Hollies' classic, He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother by Americans Bobby Scott and Bobby Russell.
Tony Hicks says: "Yes, I pulled "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" out of a publishers., simply because it was a good song. I wasn't consciously looking for a different direction for The Hollies. I used to go into music publishers and I'd listen to 20-30 songs and just bring out the ones that appealed to me and play them to Ron Richards. I heard the song and I took it to Ron. There was no great excitement, nobody was saying you've really got a wonderful song there, which is going to be a world-wide smash and it will be played for years to come. They listened and went mm, yes, well it's quite pleasant. The attitude was let's give it a try and we did and it's the most important song we ever recorded"
Buddy Holly Album - Can I Get It On CD
The album Buddy Holly was only ever released in CD format as part of the four CD boxed set called Four Hollies Originals. This set was issued on the EMI label in 1994 and was discontinued some time ago.
Now it is once again available on CD having been released by EMI in August 2007.
Are The Hollies Coming To My Area
The only way to find out is to look at the current or future tour page.
In order to avoid any disappointment or misunderstandings, if a concert is not confirmed between The Hollies Management and the Venue, it will not be listed on this web site.
Also, if a Date, Venue, Town, City or Country is not on the current tour list, then I do not have information about it so please do not email me asking if The Hollies are coming to a place near to you.
If I do not know, I cannot tell you anything except, as soon as I do have any details, they will appear on the tour page.
So, please keep checking back regularly for updated details as they are released.