roger nichols small circle of friends rar

Rock Pop, Soft Rock: Roger Nichols - Treasury (2016, Victor, Japan) 2 x CD.

His compositions have been sung by the Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Petula Clark, Jackie DeShannon, Bobby Darin, Paul Anka, The Monkees, and Nichols most frequent lyrical collaborator, Paul Williams just to name a few.

Many of those songs have become bona fide American standards, among them Weve Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, I Wont Last a Day Without You, and Times of Your Life.

He and Williams are also responsible for one of the greatest yet most unheralded albums of all time in Williams Someday Man, while Nichols made his mark as a headlining artist with the beautiful and engaging AM release in 1968 of Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends., like Someday Man a benchmark of the sunshine pop genre.

Now, hes the subject of an exciting new anthology, the Roger Nichols Treasury.

It arrives from the Victor label in Japan, a country in which hes long had a substantial following.

Instead, it offers a whopping 69 tracks on two CDs drawn from the composers own archives from recordings made between 1967 and 2015.

In doing so, this career-spanning anthology premieres previously unreleased songs, demo recordings, and commercial jingles, all with the infectious, hopeful, soft, and bouncy melodic charm that has long been Nichols trademark.

The earliest track on this set, Everythings Cool, is an instrumental in the prime AMTijuana Brass vein, led by an irresistible horn line.

Theres more in that style including Straight Ahead, Trippin at the Mardi Gras, and Treasure of San Miguel, which actually was recorded by Herb Alperts hitmaking ensemble in 1967.

Many of the songs on the first disc are familiar, presented here in embryonic yet impeccably produced demo form including the bright pair of Just What Ive Been Looking For and Just Beyond Your Smile, both performed by Roger and the Small Circle of Friends (a.k.a.

Roger, Melinda MacLeod and Murray MacLeod).

The former, with lyrics by The Parades Smokey Roberds, might be best known in The Vogues rendition.

Roberds also co-wrote a previously unreleased yet entirely captivating slice of sunshine pop, Wait and See, with that famous Nichols bounce surrounded by typically sweet and lush harmonies.

Hal Levy penned the words to the yearning slow-burner I Wish I Knew, performed here by Linda Ball as what sounds like a demo for Eydie Gorme.

Nichols and Williams complemented each others strengths, inspiring each other with immense heart and a knack for pure, deceptively simple in the classic tradition.

The pair could be intensely romantic, socially conscious, or observational, but never lost sight of expressing universal truths in song.

Some of these demos are of familiar tunes, like the ravishing pair of Traveling Boy (recently covered by Rumer in satiny fashion) and I Wont Last a Day Without You, the happily upbeat Talk It Over in the Morning, and the rocking Out in the Country, a hit for Three Dog Night.

Most are sung by Paul to spare but tightly-arranged accompaniment, though Roger has the affecting lead on Its Hard to Say Goodbye.

The gentle Footprints on the Moon was recorded in 1973 by Judy Lynn for the Amaret label; Pauls own version is expectedly beautiful.

The first disc of Treasury is rounded out with Nichols collaborations with talented partners including Gerry Goffin, John Bettis, John Allen, Will Jennings and Steve Kalinich.

Nichols enlisted various vocalists to perform these melodies including John Bahler, Murray MacLeod, Randy Marr and Carol Chase.

The Bettis co-writes are all attractive ballads; Loves a River Flowing was, in fact, written for the Carpenters.

Jennings and Nichols Looks Like Its Me Again, sung by Chase, also sounds ideal for Karen Carpenters voice and timbre.

Roger Nichols Small Circle Of Friends Rar