June 2010
2nd mindblower of the day, moments after hearing about Pete Quaife…but I view it with much skepticism. From the letter to the editors page in the current ish of Shindig.
Hi lads,
Here’s a thing about The Hollies I’ve never seen written anywhere. In 1967, before Nash left, Tony Hicks was actually about to get booted. I’m not even sure Hicks knows this.
My friend, the left-handed Swedish ace guitarist Johnny Lundin, was going to take his place. Johnny told me he got a genuine offer from their management to join The Hollies. Lundin was in The Lee Kings at the time.
After touring together Allan Clarke and Graham Nash co-wrote and produced The Lee Kings’ last single ‘Coming From The Ground’. This was released in December ‘67. Johnny thought he was about get poached not just because of his guitar abilities. He also had a high voice well-suited for Hollies-style backing vocals.
However, Johnny declined the offer! He had his first child on the way and couldn’t leave Stockholm. He also did loads of session work and was content with that.
Starting in the early ’70s, Johnny played classical guitar exclusively for 30 years and even got to work with Pavarotti.
Ulf Henningsson
~Woah… what a scandal. - Ed.
