BILLY NICHOLLS
Would You Believe (Immediate)
Hazy, lazy, dreamy psych pop from swinging London via California or the UK's answer to Pet Sounds?
How long would you half expect the British answer to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album could be criminally left in the can to gather dust? A few years perhaps, due to a bad business deal, or a recent death of the original artist?
How about thirty years? Back in the late sixties the relatively unknown Billy Nicholls recorded an album for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate record label only for it to be shelved for some unknown reason. A few copies managed to sneak out into the public domain and over the years the album has earned mythical status amongst pop/psych fans that passed the recording into legendary status billing it as "The British answer to Pet Sounds".
In 1999 a vinyl edition of the album was finally given an official release by Tenth Planet but in typical fashion the album was limited to 1000 copies thus ensuring that the vinyl version is destined to retain it's mythical status for a good few years to come yet. It has since been re-issued on CD by Sanctuary.
So what makes this album so important especially when the artist behind the album cannot remember anything at all about it as he told Dawn Eden in the May 1997 issue of Mojo?
Well there are a number of reasons. Firstly there are the many Small Faces/Who connections associated with Billy Nicholls that will prompt many people to investigate this album with eager anticipation. Secondly, the fact that such a rare item could be ranked alongside the Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds' and remain undiscovered for so long. After hearing this album all you could possibly ask is, why?
Billy Nicholls couldn't have entered the music business much more brash and brazen than as a sixteen year old kid in 1966 who approached George Harrison, of all people, to help him record his songs. Harrison arranged for him to record a demo, but the Beatles publisher Dick James lost the tapes. By way of an apology James arranged some free studio time for Nicholls to record another demo.
Enter Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones manager, who had just set up his 'Immediate' record label and was keen to build up his roster of acts. He heard Nicholls demo and was suitably impressed enough to hire Nicholls as a staff songwriter.
It was at 'Immediate' that the young Nicholls become friendly with the Small Faces. Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane contributed to the majestic 'Would You Believe' track. You can hear Marriott's vocal on this track despite Loog Oldham's attempts to drown them out with heavy orchestration.
'Would You Believe' was released as a single in January 1968 but failed to chart despite favourable reviews. Oldham though was keen to pursue his ambitions of matching the music coming out of America most notably the Beach Boys and he proceeded to produce an album with Nicholls that would match the 'teenage symphonies to God' vibe that Brian Wilson was creating.
The big budget production and heavy use of orchestration points to the influence of Brian Wilson but many of the songs on the album have more in common with the pop psych of the swinging London scene. The Small Faces psych opus 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake', the Kinks quintessential 'Village Green Preservation Society' and the Beatles ambiguous 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. All three are closely linked with the sounds that emanate from this album.
Pencilled in for an April 1968 release the album never reached the shops. A cash flow crisis for the fledgling 'Immediate' label is the most obvious reason for Andrew Loog Oldham getting cold feet but why the album has remained untouched for so many years you begin to wonder if other forces were at work also.
Nicholls went on to provide uncredited backing vocals to the Small Faces 'Ogdens' album before hooking up with Pete Townshend to work on various solo and band projects. He has also released a further three solo albums and has enjoyed many years working as musical director for the Who. He has also written hit singles for Leo Sayer and Roger Daltrey, but don't let that put you off!
Billy Nicholls is still very much active in the music business. For more info on Billy Nicholls check out his website http://www.billynicholls.com/. To purchase the album click here.
