Roger Nichols' continuing popularity

[Rudy]

I had thought of bidding on this single, but...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4022885717&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

As of this writing, "Our Day Will Come" / "Love Song" is bidding for $20.50, with a day left. So glad I have the Complete Small Circle Of Friends Japan CD, I don't have to worry about it. Just picked it up recently, in fact, from Amazon. I preordered it for $20 even, and after about half a year, someone finally parted with it for that amount. I still want the vinyl (very much so...nothing like the genuine article), but having a clean CD version to fall back on isn't all bad either.

Interesting label credits for the 45s though. Check this out:

Roger Nichols Trio for A&M 801 (Don't Go Breaking... b/w Our Day Will Come), 830 (Love Song, Love Song b/w Snow Queen) and 849 (Just Beyond Your Smile b/w I'll Be Back).

A Small Circle of Friends for A&M 876 (Can I Go b/w Don't Want To Have To Do It).

Roger Nichols and The Small Circle of Friends for A&M 926 (I Can See Only You b/w Don't Take Your Time) and 946 (Let's Ride b/w So Fine).

Roger Nichols and A Small Circle of Friends for A&M 1029 (The Drifter b/w Trust).

 

[brasil-boi]

Hi N,
Could you tell me which songs are on the "Complete Small Circle of Friends?"

I've been wanting to buy that cd for a long time....I have Roger Nichols & A Small Circle of Friends on lp...and I really want to get the complete cd....I really like the record.

What was your impression of the songs on the Complete Small Circle of Friends that you hadn't heard before? Or maybe you had heard them all before....I have not and I am really curious about the extra's.

J

 

[Rudy]

Here's a link to the CD on Amazon, along with a couple of reviews from two of our members :

Complete Small Circle of Friends

Except for one, I never heard any of these tracks before I got a copy of the CD. Definitely get the "Complete" disc though--some of the best tracks were only on singles (Our Day Will Come, Love Song Love Song, Let's Ride, and the others...never were on an LP).

The lyric booklet is a funny read, as usual, translated from Japan. For the song "I Can See Only You", the lyrics read, "I can see your leer."

 

[Mike]

I became curious after reading the Hip-O-Select forum and seeing a request to have Roger Nichols work be reissued. Since I wasn’t familiar with him I picked up “The Complete Small Circle Of Friends”. Living in Japan this was easy to do, it’s available in all the record shops. Anyway, one listen and I was hooked. It’s absolutely charming! Great harmony! In particular I was very pleased with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” and “Love So Fine”. Don’t know how I went all these years without hearing this before.

 

[Rudy]

It's addicting, isn't it?? Sort of an A&M cult favorite, or lost classic. I start to say those are the two best songs on the album...then I remember a few more, and pretty soon I can't think of any I really don't like. (Well, the Beatles songs are a bit disposable, but otherwise, good stuff!) Other than "Our Day Will Come" (which was sourced from a 45RPM single), the CD sounds like it's pretty much undoctored (no weird EQ or noise reduction, no compression, etc.).

 

[Mike]

Rudy, I concur. And, just as I thought that the two songs I mentioned were my favorites, I hear "Just Beyond Your Smile" and then I'm not sure what's my favorite anymore. I think the Beatles "I'll Be Back" is pretty good myself.

 

[Dave]

The only Roger Nichols '45' I can REALLY recall seeing, has to be the SNOW QUEEN double-sided promo.

I may have seen one of the non-LP tracks like "Let's Ride" or "Our Day Will Come", but I can't remember which. And I KNOW it's not DRIFTER and/or TRUST...!

There is a difference between the LP version and '45' version of "I'll Be Back" (which to ME, Nichols does better than the original--no offense intended) and "Just Beyond Your Smile", which explains why there are TWO of each on the COMPLETE... CD.

I'll just never forget how the album, SP 4139 just grew on me, after having a slight dislike for it, at first (And even threatening to get rid of it!). I still have my (formerly Still-Sealed) vinyl copy and I bought THE COMPLETE... on CD as my very First purchase at CD Now, years ago after finding out about it here.

Dave

...who either plays the CD or the LP and just "picks up where it leaves off--Track 13" on the CD! "...What no SERIOUS A&M Collector should be without...!"

 

[Rudy]

Rudy, I concur. And, just as I thought that the two songs I mentioned were my favorites, I hear "Just Beyond Your Smile" and then I'm not sure what's my favorite anymore. I think the Beatles "I'll Be Back" is pretty good myself.

"I'll Be Back" is OK. "With A Little Help..." isn't too bad either, but it was more common back then for someone to cover a Beatles song on their album.

Still looking for the vinyl version of this one. Even with the CD, I'd like to have the "original" on hand. Even at import prices, the CD here in the U.S. is still cheaper than what the vinyl sells for.

 

[brasil-boi]

Kinda Wasted Without You and Don't Take Your Time are by far my favorites on the album....Just Beyond Your Smile andDidn't Want to Have to Do Itare also awesome ....Don't you guys like these songs?
j

 

[Rudy]

I don't believe any of us said we didn't like these. There's just not a bad song on the album!

 

[Dave]

Kinda Wasted Without You and Don't Take Your Time are by far my favorites on the album...Just Beyond Your Smile and Didn't Want to Have to Do It are also awesome! Don't you guys like these songs?

j

Well, it was strange at first, having a couple of Lovin' Spoonful songs ("Didn't Want To Have To Do It" and "Cocoanut Grove"), and NO albums by John Sebastian & Co. at the time I bought SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, which I saw on the A&M inner-sleeve with some of those songs listed. And Burt Bacharach-Hal David's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was great to be "introduced to", as well as Nichols' own "I Can See Only You", which both evoke a certain 'quietude', for something that's just a "ballad".

My first time hearing "Snow Queen", was Blood, Sweat & Tears coupling it to (Herbie Hancock's?) "Maiden Voyage" at the end of their New Blood album.

The album was a bit something to get used to, with a kick-off track like "Don't Take Your Time" and The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends"--Don't forget, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 would soon have their remake out, too, and I bought their version first, being more familiar with that group at the time.

"Kinda Wasted Without You" is my favorite and I taped it and mailed it to a friend of mine. And I didn't plan on putting "Love So Fine" on the tape, too, but I did Right before it, in fact.

But, YES I do like this album and LOVE it. I'll admit it had to grow on me, but sometimes typical among collectors, like myself, is an album going from something "I'm not pleased with", at first, to something 'I worship the very vinyl (or plastic coated metal) it's on'!

Dave

...once again Thanking Roger Nichols and his Small Circle Of Friends for that Lovely Walk down La Brea Avenue!

 

[nightcat]

Just picked this up on CD at Dusty Groove Records. I never owned the lp, but I do remember "Love So Fine". Well this CD is growing on me. Compared to similar A&M vocal groups, the singing is more interesting than the Sandpipers and there's much better song selection than We Five. (plus the bonus tracks). Their version of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is excellent. Also a decent version of "With A Little Help From My Friends"and an outstanding version of one of my favorite Beatles songs, "I'll Be Back" (with a clever arrangement by Nick DeCaro). I also enjoyed the very pretty "I Can See Only You" . And the Lovin' Spoonful song "Cocoanut Grove" is perfect for this group. Its pretty straight and simple music, but very well done.
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[Harry]

I can't believe I missed this thread way back when.

I'd seen the Roger Nichols album on a number of A&M innersleeves back the late sixties, but never bothered to investigate. And with joinging up here at the Corner, an occasional reference was made to Roger Nichols' work for A&M. I was certainly a big fan of the songs that he had written that I was aware of, yet never had sampled his recordings for the label.

Then one day I made an early eBay purchase of a Japanese compilation on A&M called THE A&M SONGS OF BURT BACHARACH. It was full of tracks by variuos A&M artists doing Burt's tunes, and when I got it, one track really floored me, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends.

So strong was that track that I immediately ordered THE COMPLETE ROGER NICHOLS AND THE SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS from Japan. If the song was that good, then I rationed that the rest of the album had potential.

When it arrived, at first I had a bit of buyers' remorse seeing a totally unfamiliar album (except that one track that I already had) staring back at me, and knowing that I'd paid Japanese import prices to obtain it.

But I sat down and made the effort to listen to it. Well needless to say, I was just floored with how good each and every song was. As Rudy said abovem some of the single tracks tacked on are just as good if not better. Overall, it's become one of my desert island discs. It's constantly available to me in the car on an mp3 disc; I have it on my mp3 player; and it's a good constant companion when I need it.

I've since acquired not only the other Japanese version of the CD (without the bonus tracks), but the REvola version as well (with an extra bonus track). And I finally won one of those rare eBay versions of the LP. It's not 100% perfect, but it's the real deal - and I feel as though a small circle is now complete.

Harry