<\/p>\n \u201cI was in first class and there were a lot of older, rich American ladies in there, who all had their hair dyed blue,\u201d Nash recalls today. \u201cAnd I quickly grew bored of that and went back to the third class of the train. That was where it was all happening. There were lots of people cooking strange little meals on small wooden stoves and the place was full of chickens, pigs and goats. It was fabulous; the whole thing was fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n So rich was the experience that Nash poured it into a vivid piece of psychedelic pop: Marrakesh Express. Mellifluous, carefree and irresistibly catchy, the lyrics made reference to \u2018animal carpet wall-to-wall\u2019, \u2018coloured cottons\u2019 in the air and \u2018charming cobras in the square\u2019. But they also hinted at a vague sense of dissatisfaction with life, as if Nash was on some indefinable quest for something better. Particularly the lines: \u2018Sweeping cobwebs from the edges of my mind\/Had to get away to see what we could find.\u2019<\/p>\n The song itself was written during The Hollies\u2019 Yugoslavian tour of June 1967. It was one of a number of new tunes that showcased Nash\u2019s outward growth as a songwriter as he attempted to steer The Hollies away from the confines of the singles market into the more lysergic, experimental realm of peers like The Beatles<\/a> and The Byrds \u2013 though the rest of the band didn\u2019t all share his vision. Initially reluctant to record Marrakesh Express at all, The Hollies only got as far as cutting a backing track at Abbey Road in April 1968.<\/p>\n Nash, who remembers that \u201cit wasn\u2019t very good\u201d, explains that he\u2019d written a bunch of similar songs at that point \u2013 among them Lady Of The Island and Right Between The Eyes \u2013 which The Hollies weren\u2019t moved by either.<\/p>\n Marrakesh Express (2005 Remaster) – YouTube Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t just the tunes. Nash\u2019s burgeoning interest in the counterculture and its lifestyle meant he was the only band member to embrace LSD and marijuana. Allied to the fact that King Midas In Reverse, one of his finest compositions, had only been a moderate hit, Nash sought a move away. \u201cYeah, it was obvious that my career with The Hollies was coming to an end,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Not that Nash hadn\u2019t planned for the immediate future. On his first trip to LA with The Hollies, in June 1966, he\u2019d been introduced to the Mamas & The Papas\u2019 Cass Elliot, one of California\u2019s leading scenesters. She, in turn, had introduced him to David Crosby<\/a>, ace harmony singer and songwriter in The Byrds.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d been in a showbiz environment with The Hollies,\u201d says Nash, \u201cbut Crosby and The Byrds weren\u2019t like that. So there may have been a cultural difference, but there weren\u2019t any musical differences with us. I knew he was serious as a heart attack about his music, that The Byrds were a great band and that the modal stuff I was attracted to in their music was mainly down to David. When Cass introduced us, it was instant friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n Crosby and Nash would bump into each other regularly over the next couple of years and, by the summer of 1968, both men found themselves at a critical juncture in their respective careers. Ever the egotist, Crosby had been ousted from The Byrds less than 12 months earlier.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n
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