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Roger Nichols | |
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Birth name | Roger Stewart Nichols |
Born | Missoula, Montana, United States | September 17, 1940
Occupation(s) | Songwriter, composer, instrumentalist |
Instrument(s) | Violin, guitar, bass, piano |
Years active | 1965–present |
Roger Stewart Nichols (born September 17, 1940) is an American composer and songwriter. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays violin, guitar, bass, and piano.
Nichols co-wrote many songs with lyricists Paul Williams, Tony Asher, and Bill Lane.
Asher and Nichols co-wrote several songs on Nichols' debut album Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends (A&M Records, 1968) which was produced by Tommy LiPuma, engineered by Bruce Botnick, and featured session contributions from Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman and Lenny Waronker. Although the album was not a big seller, A&M co-owner Herb Alpert recommended that Nichols be hired by A&M publishing as a staff songwriter, and it was during this period that he was introduced to Paul Williams.
Nichols' collaborations with Paul Williams include "We've Only Just Begun" (performed by The Carpenters), which was originally written for a Crocker Bank commercial. They were commissioned to write a jingle after a bank executive heard Nichols' album, and it was composed in a matter of hours on the last day before the deadline. The commercial (sung by Williams) was heard on TV by Richard Carpenter, who believed it had hit potential. According to the documentary Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters , Williams reported that his label-mate Richard called him up and asked if there was a complete song. Williams replied, "We had an additional verse and a bridge, but if we didn't I'd have lied through my teeth. This was a chance to get a Carpenters record which was a big deal in those days. Richard and Karen gave our songs a life."
Richard's group, The Carpenters, subsequently recorded a version, which became a major hit in late 1970. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year, was included on BMI's million performances list and received an award for selling a million copies of sheet music. The song was also covered by Curtis Mayfield among many others.
"Times of Your Life", written with Lane and performed by Paul Anka, reached number one on the Adult Contemporary chart in January 1976.
Another Nichols-Williams song, "Out in the Country" by Three Dog Night (later covered by R.E.M.), reached the Top Ten. Six months later, "Rainy Days and Mondays" was another gold record by The Carpenters and Nichols' third gold record in a single year.
Other hits were The Carpenters' "I Won't Last a Day Without You", Art Garfunkel's "Travelin' Boy" (covered by Rumer), and "I Never Had It So Good" (covered by Barbra Streisand). He also scored the theme song from Hart to Hart with a lyric by Lane.
Nichols released a Japan-only CD in 1995 called Roger Nichols and a Circle of Friends – Be Gentle With My Heart, featuring vocalist Sheila O'Connell-Roussell, on which he recorded some of his best-known tunes, including "We've Only Just Begun", "I Won't Last a Day Without You", and "Rainy Days and Mondays" (which featured Williams on guest vocals).
He also released an album in 2007 with the original Small Circle of Friends, Full Circle, which brought together the group to cover many of Nichols hits for other bands, including "Out in the Country" and "Let Me Be the One" as well as other tunes penned by Nichols. 2008 saw an upgraded release of Full Circle, issued by Steve Stanley's Now Sounds label. This version also contained five previously-unreleased, 1960s-era demo recordings.
In addition to his extensive musical career, Nichols also is a successful jeweler. [1]
Roger's brother, Ted Nichols, was also a noted composer who briefly served as musical director for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon studio.
Title | Year | Peak | Writers and producers | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
US Bub. | ||||
"Snow Queen" (A&M Records 830) (b.w. "Love Song, Love Song") | 1966 | 29 |
| Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends (1968) |
"Let's Ride" (A&M Records 946) (b.w. "Just Beyond Your Smile") | 1968 | — |
Song | Most Famously Covered By | Year | Composed By | Latest CD / Digital Release |
---|---|---|---|---|
Always You | The American Breed | 1968 | Roger Nichols (songwriter), Tony Asher | The Best Of The American Breed / Geffen Records / 2016 |
Can I Go | The Collage | 1968 | Roger Nichols (songwriter) | The Collage / Now Sounds / 2011 |
Don't Take Your Time | The Match | 1969 | Roger Nichols (songwriter), Tony Asher | A New Light / Sony / 2012 |
Just Beyond Your Smile | The Sunshine Company | 1967 | Roger Nichols (songwriter), Tony Asher | Happy Is / Oldays Records / 2018 |
Just What I've Been Lookin' For | The Vogues | 1970 | Roger Nichols (songwriter), Smokey Roberds | Sing The Good Old Songs And Other Hits / Reprise Records / 2013 |
Love So Fine | The Four King Cousins | 1968 | Roger Nichols (songwriter), Tony Asher | Introducing... / Capitol / 2021 |
No Love Today | Michelle Phillips | 1976 | Roger Nichols (songwriter) | Ultimate Anthology / Universal / 2016 |
Poto Flavus | John Tartaglia | 1969 | Roger Nichols (songwriter) | Ultimate Anthology / Universal / 2014 |
The 13th Annual Grammy Awards were held on 16 March 1971, on ABC, and marked the ceremony's first live telecast. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1970. The ceremony was hosted for the first time by Andy Williams.
Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for writing and co-writing popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s, including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Out in the Country", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World", Biff Rose's "Fill Your Heart", and the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays". He also wrote "Cried Like a Baby" for teen idol Bobby Sherman.
"We've Only Just Begun" is a single by the Carpenters, written by Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics). It was ranked at No. 414 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
James Taylor is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. Released on December 6, 1968, it was the first recording by a non-British artist released by Apple Records, and would also be Taylor's only release on that label. The album was released under the title First Album on the South African market.
Close to You is the second studio album by the American music duo the Carpenters, released on August 19, 1970. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 175 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. The album contains the hit singles "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun". The success of the title track earned Carpenters an international reputation. The album topped the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard albums chart. It was also successful in the United Kingdom, entering the top 50 of the official chart for 76 weeks during the first half of the 1970s.
Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside his younger sister Karen. He had numerous roles in the Carpenters, including record producer, arranger, pianist, keyboardist, and songwriter, as well as joining with Karen on harmony vocals.
It's Impossible is Perry Como's 19th 12" long-play album released by RCA Records.
"Rainy Days and Mondays" is a song by the Carpenters from their self-titled third album, with instrumental backing by the Wrecking Crew. It was written by Paul Williams (lyrics) and Roger Nichols (music), who had previously written "We've Only Just Begun," another hit for the duo. The B-side on the single is "Saturday," a song written and sung by Richard Carpenter.
"I Won't Last a Day Without You" is a song by The Carpenters with lyrics written by Paul Williams and music composed by Roger Nichols. The writing duo had previously contributed "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays" to the Carpenters.
Pianist, Arranger, Composer, Conductor is the second solo album by American musician Richard Carpenter, released in 1998. It includes instrumental versions of popular songs of the Carpenters, and is dedicated to their deceased mother, Agnes Carpenter. The album contains two new songs, "All Those Years Ago" and "Karen's Theme", which was released as a single.
From the Top is a box set by the Carpenters, released in 1991.
Yesterday Once More is a two-disc compilation album by American pop group Carpenters.
If I Were a Carpenter is a 1994 tribute album to The Carpenters. It features alternative rock bands covering the songs of Richard and Karen Carpenter.
The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter. They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining Karen's contralto vocals with Richard's harmonizing, arranging, and composition. During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded 10 albums along with many singles and several television specials.
"An Old Fashioned Love Song" is a 1971 song written by Paul Williams and performed by the American pop-rock band Three Dog Night. Chuck Negron performed the lead vocal on this track. Taken as the first single from their 1971 album, Harmony, the song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1971, becoming the band's seventh top-ten hit. It was Three Dog Night's first record to top the U.S. easy listening chart. It reached number 2 in Canada.
Glen Campbell Collection is a compilation album by Glen Campbell released in 2004 as a double CD and consisting of hits and album tracks recorded in the sixties, seventies and nineties. It is also released on digital media by EMI Gold. Some tracks were remastered in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
"Let Me Be the One" is a song written in 1970 by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams. It was first recorded by Nanette Workman and released in 1970 as a single on Columbia Records. The Carpenters' version first appeared on their 1971 album Carpenters.
You've Got a Friend is the twenty-eighth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in August 1971 by Columbia Records. The album bears a striking resemblance to the Johnny Mathis album You've Got a Friend released that same month. Besides sharing their name, the two albums are both made up of covers of easy listening hits of the time, with 11 songs each, and the two albums have seven songs in common that are positioned in a similar order.
Carpenters is the third studio album by American music duo the Carpenters. Released on May 14, 1971, it was their most successful studio album, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 chart and number 12 in the UK, as well as being certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA. The album contained the hit songs "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Superstar".
When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.