Billy Nicholls "Would You Believe"

I've been perusing YouTube in search of gems (I actually have an unreleased series of these finds called Mining YouTube Gold), and perhaps I'll review my own comps in the future (one way to garner a good score!)...


Billy Nicholls' LP is a rare and true gem in that it happened to fall into the gray area when Andrew Loog Oldham was losing Immediate records, and it only saw an initial run of 100 promo copies till it was reissued a number of times in the 90's, by various labels and by Billy himself. Originally, Billy was hired as a staff writer for Immediate, and charged to create a British Pet Sounds, as Andrew was very into that sound and style. Labelmates Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane produced the title track, and Andrew oversaw the rest.


On this LP, many notables appear from the London recording scene, including Big Jim Sullivan, John Paul Jones, Ronnie Lane, Jerry Shirley, Steve Marriott, Nicky Hopkins, and Caleb Quaye, to name a few. Tall cotton here, making this a world-class obscurity in my book. Sunshine pop understandably informs this album, and with the right promotion and airplay, could have been a breakthrough for Billy at the time. Instead, history (as it always does, even in my own experiences with releasing music) redeems itself nicely, as age has added to the importance of this release.


If you're a fan of the lighter side of British pop, this is the grail.