Thanks to Bill Kopp for his excellent feature on Paul Williams (RC 479). To some, Paul may not have appeared as hip/cool as, say, Jackson Browne, James Taylor or Joni Mitchell. Nevertheless, his output has been not only remarkable in its longevity but also of consistently high quality, and it was pleasing to see his talent acknowledged in RC.
But I was also pleased to see so many complimentary references both by the author and Paul himself to his main songwriting partner Roger Nichols. Lovers of sunshine pop will of course be familiar with his 1967 release Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends, the friends being Murray MacLeod and his sister Melinda. This album is pure soft pop nirvana.
However, it should be pointed out that for almost 40 years that remained Roger’s sole album release Then, in 2006, came Full Circle, which proved that Roger, Murray and Melinda had lost none of their magic. Astonishingly, despite the 40-year gap between the two albums, the smooth sound was exactly the same. Eight of the cuts were Nichols/Williams compositions, including The Drifter, Always You and Let Me Be The One, songs which have been covered by many artists.
Six years later came My Heart Is Home which included We’ve Only Just Begun. As the feature hinted at, Roger is a superbly talented composer, arranger, producer and singer, and he surely deserves a retrospective tribute.
