Hello! (album)

Hello!
Hello!
Studio album by Status Quo
Released	28 September 1973
Recorded	1973
Studio	I.B.C. Studios, Portland Place, London
Length	39:08
Label	Vertigo (UK); A&M (USA)
Producer	Status Quo
Status Quo chronology
Singles from Hello!
	"Caroline"; Released: 1973;

Hello! is the sixth studio album by the British rock band Status Quo. Released in September 1973, it was the first of four Quo albums to top the UK Albums Chart. It was also the first Quo album on which drummer John Coghlan was credited with songwriting.

Keyboard player Andy Bown and saxophonists Stewart Blandamer and Steve Farr played on "Blue Eyed Lady". This was Bown's first appearance on a Status Quo album; he guested on several subsequent releases, and became a permanent member of the line-up a few years later. Blandamer and Farr also played on "Forty Five Hundred Times", which featured piano by John Mealing.

Background[]

1973 started for Status Quo with the belated chart success, in January, of the 1972 releases on their new label Vertigo, leading to their first top ten entry on the album charts and a long-awaited return to the top ten of the singles chart. As a result, Status Quo's previous record company Pye decided to release a single from their 1971 album Dog of Two Head. The single, Francis Rossi and Bob Young's "Mean Girl", reached No. 20 upon its release. It was backed by the Rossi/Parfitt composition "Everything", taken from the band's 1970 album Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon.

In August 1973 the only single from the new album, Rossi and Young's "Caroline", was released, reaching No. 5. It was the group's first single to reach the UK top five. Its B-side was a non-album track titled "Joanne", written by Alan Lancaster and Rick Parfitt.

Hello! was released in September that year, and became the most successful album the band had ever released. Initial copies of the record on vinyl came with a large black and white poster of the group. Of the eight tracks on the album, only six of them were new. "Caroline" had already been heard by the public as a single release, while "Softer Ride" had served as the B-side to the band's "Paper Plane" single from their previous album Piledriver.

No other singles were issued from the album, although a live version of "Roll Over Lay Down" appeared on a three-track EP released in May 1975, which reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 2 on the Australian Singles Chart, making it the band's only top-ten hit there.

This was the band's first album to feature the band's name written in the now-familiar font used on most subsequent album covers.

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic criticized the over-simplicity of many of the songs and overindulgence of some, while praising the energy. They concluded that the album manages to be effective and enjoyable in spite of its flaws, concluding, "Clearly the product of a band at their commercial and creative peak, Hello! wears its strengths and weaknesses well: not particularly flashy or intelligent, but without exception confident, comfortable and fun."^[1]

Track listing[]

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Roll Over Lay Down"	Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, John Coghlan, Bob Young	Rossi	5:42
2.	"Claudie"	Francis Rossi, Bob Young	Rossi	4:05
3.	"A Reason For Living"	Parfitt, Rossi	Parfitt	3:45
4.	"Blue Eyed Lady"	Lancaster, Parfitt	Rossi, Lancaster	3:53

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
5.	"Caroline"	Rossi, Young	Rossi	4:16
6.	"Softer Ride"	Lancaster, Parfitt	Rossi	4:02
7.	"And It's Better Now"	Rossi, Young	Rossi	3:20
8.	"Forty Five Hundred Times"	Parfitt, Rossi	Parfitt	9:50

2005 reissue bonus track[]

"Joanne" (Parfitt, Lancaster) — 4:06 (originally the B-side of "Caroline").

2015 deluxe edition CD 2[]

"Joanne" (Parfitt, Lancaster) — 4:06 (originally the B-side of "Caroline")
"Caroline" (Rossi, Young) - original demo fast — 2:09
"Caroline" (Rossi, Young) - original demo slow — 3:08
"Don't Waste My Time" (Rossi, Young) - live 1973 Reading Festival — 4:20
"Caroline" (Rossi, Young) - mono edit — 2:42
"Caroline" (Rossi, Young) - stereo edit — 2:42
"Is it Really Me/Gotta Go Home" (Lancaster) - live 1973-04-10 Dublin National Stadium — 25:17

Personnel[]

Francis Rossi - Lead and various guitars, vocals
Rick Parfitt - Second and various guitars, piano, vocals
Alan Lancaster - Bass guitar, vocals
John Coghlan - Drums, various percussion

Additional personnel[]

Andy Bown - piano on Blue Eyed Lady
John Mealing - piano on Forty-Five Hundred Times
Steve Farr - Alto Sax
Stewart Blandamer - Tenor Sax

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b https://www.allmusic.com/album/r50102

[allmusic-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b https://www.allmusic.com/album/r50102

[1]

hide v t Status Quo
Francis Rossi Andy Bown John 'Rhino' Edwards Leon Cave Richie Malone Rick Parfitt Alan Lancaster John Coghlan Jess Jaworski Alan Key Pete Kircher Matt Letley Roy Lynes Jeff Rich
Studio albums (UK)	Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo Spare Parts Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon Dog of Two Head Piledriver Hello! Quo On the Level Blue for You Rockin' All Over the World If You Can't Stand the Heat... Whatever You Want Just Supposin' Never Too Late 1+9+8+2 Back to Back In the Army Now Ain't Complaining Perfect Remedy Rock 'til You Drop Thirsty Work Don't Stop Under the Influence Famous in the Last Century Heavy Traffic Riffs The Party Ain't Over Yet In Search of the Fourth Chord Quid Pro Quo Bula Quo! Aquostic (Stripped Bare) Aquostic II: That's a Fact! Backbone
Singles	"Pictures of Matchstick Men" "Ice in the Sun" "Are You Growing Tired of My Love" "The Price of Love" "Down the Dustpipe" "In My Chair" "Paper Plane" "Mean Girl" "Caroline" "Break the Rules" "Down Down" "Roll Over Lay Down" "Rain" "Mystery Song" "The Wild Side of Life" "Rockin' All Over the World" "Rockers Rollin' / Hold You Back" "Again and Again" "Accident Prone" "Whatever You Want" "Living on an Island" "What You're Proposing" "Lies" / "Don't Drive my Car" "Something 'Bout You Baby I Like" "Rock 'n' Roll" "Dear John" "She Don't Fool Me" "Ol' Rag Blues" "A Mess of Blues" "Marguerita Time" "Going Down Town Tonight" "The Wanderer" "Rollin' Home" "Red Sky" "In the Army Now" "Dreamin'" "Ain't Complaining" "Who Gets the Love?" "Running All Over the World" "Burning Bridges" "Not at All" "Little Dreamer" "The Anniversary Waltz (Parts One and Two)" "Can't Give You More" "Rock 'til You Drop" "Roadhouse Medley" "Come On You Reds" "I Didn't Mean It" "Sherri, Don't Fail Me Now!" "Restless" "When You Walk in the Room" "Fun Fun Fun" "Don't Stop" "All Around My Hat" "The Way It Goes" "Little White Lies" "Twenty Wild Horses" "Mony Mony" "Old Time Rock and Roll" "Jam Side Down" "All Stand Up" "You'll Come 'Round" "Thinking of You" "The Party Ain't Over Yet" "All That Counts Is Love" "Beginning of the End" "It's Christmas Time" "Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want)" "Backbone"
Other songs	"Don't Waste My Time" "Forty Five Hundred Times"
Live albums	Live! Live at the N.E.C. Live Alive Quo Live at the BBC
See also	Discography Members Bob Young