Billy Nicholls -

Billy Nicholls is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who recorded the 1968 limited release Would You Believe, a chamber-pop artifact of later cult renown. In the mid-seventies, he cut a single on The Who‘s Track Records label and formed White Horse, which cut a 1977 Capitol album with the much-covered “Can’t Stop Loving You” (Leo Sayer, Outlaws, Phil Collins). Roger Daltrey scored a UK Top 20 hit with the Nicholls-penned “Without Your Love” from the soundtrack to the 1980 crime biopic McVicar.

Background

He was born William Morris Nicholls Jr. on February 25, 1949, in London’s White City district. His father, Billy Nicholls Sr., was a double-bassist in the house bands of Hammersmith Palais (The Oscar Rabin Romany Band) and the RAF (The Squadronaires).

In 1967, Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham hired the eighteen-year-old Nicholls as a staff writer at Immediate Records, whose roster featured an array of soul-pop singers (Chris Farlowe, PP Arnold) and freakbeat acts (Les Fleur de Lys, Small Faces).

Nichols’ first-recorded composition was “Led Along,” a 1967 Liberty a-side by American pop-rock singer Del Shannon. His earliest appearance on record is an uncredited backing vocal on the November 1967 Immediate single “The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack” by psychedelic rockers The Nice.

Would You Believe

Billy Nicholls released his debut album, Would You Believe, in April 1968 on Immediate Records. Immediate’s financial problems limited the album’s release to 100 copies.

The album presents Nicholls’ voice at the center, supported by the four Small Faces — Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, Ian McLagan— and further musicians, including bassist John Paul Jones, drummer Jerry Shirley, keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and Caleb Quaye, and guitarists Joe Moretti and Big Jim Sullivan.

Would You Believe opens with the title track, which layers orchestral flourishes with background vocals from Steve Marriott, creating a propulsive, multi-angled arrangement. “Come Again” follows with a restrained acoustic setting, punctuated by jangling guitars and soft, lingering harmonies. “Feeling Easy” builds around swelling strings and airy vocal lines, while “Daytime Girl” shifts from contemplative motifs into rich, chordally intricate passages; its coda returns the listener to a slower, intimate interpretation.

Side two moves through sprightly, rhythmically agile songs such as “London Social Degree” with its springing verses, and “Portobello Road,” which balances melancholy tonal shifts against subdued percussion. Tracks like “Girl from New York” push forward with denser instrumentation and sharper rhythmic turns, while the closing “It Brings Me Down” extends into a drawn-out instrumental that accentuates the lingering, reflective mood, leaving the record on a muted, contemplative note.

A1. “Would You Believe?” (2:41) — co-written by Jeremy Paul
A2. “Come Again” (2:34)
A3. “Life Is Short” (3:07)
A4. “Feeling Easy” (3:12)
A5. “Daytime Girl” (2:14)
A6. “Daytime Girl (Coda)” (1:36)

B1. “London Social Degree” (2:20) — English soul-rock singer Dana Gillespie covers this song on her 1968 debut album, the London Records release Foolish Seasons.
B2. “Portobello Road” (2:05)
B3. “Question Mark” (2:26)
B4. “Being Happy” (2:28)
B5. “Girl From New York” (3:16)
B6. “It Brings Me Down” (4:39)

Sessions occurred in late 1967 through early 1968 at Olympic Studios and IBC Studios in London with producer Andrew Loog Oldham. Marriott and Lane produced the title track in the presence of engineer Alan O’Duffy. The album features string arrangements by Arthur Greenslade.

Discography: