jason stives fills in for brent johnson again for lost songs …
Anyone who knows my taste in music knows I have a very strong love for the music of the ’60s, in particular that of the British Invasion. There is something pleasurably homegrown yet unoriginal about the music that came out of England on the heels of Beatlemania. On one hand it was all an extension of being exposed to early rock ‘n’ roll, which would taper off into the Mersey sound and even more bluesy arrangements compared to what was initially being processed in America at the time. There is also the strong presence of classical arrangements in most British pop music of the time — in particular, the works of Kinks frontman Ray Davies and the widely acclaimed concept album by The Small Faces, Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake.
In America, what was already being experimented with by The Beatles was taken even further by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys with the release in 1966 of Pet Sounds, a perfect symphony of pop music, classical compositions and California sunshine. In England, Immediate Records owner and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Oldham sought a rebuttal and christened upstart singer/songwriter Billy Nicholls to helm the British Pet Sounds.
Nicholls was at the time like every other songwriter but with great potential as his career would show over the years. His association with The Who’s Pete Townshend and the various covers of his most noted song “Can’t Stop Loving You (Though I Tried),” has made Nicholls a very underrated yet easily forgettable songwriter amongst the huge pool of talent to come out of England. Still, there was the British Pet Sounds, and still, there was a lot for him to live up to early on but the resulting product, Would You Believe?, was quite a strong attempt at replication even if it was something not destined for a particular audience.
The album itself features a barrage of British talent and session musicians ranging from John Paul Jones, to Rolling Stones and Kinks sideman Nicky Hopkins. While the record does indeed present a pleasant sing song feel to it in the vein of Pet Sounds, it’s not quite the landmark representation of pop music in the ’60s. It does feature some wonderfully arranged tracks. But what really stands out is the albums title track, “Would You Believe?,” the only clear indication of a large amount of appeal that would’ve came from this album’s release.
Beginning with a minstrel-sounding melotron melody, the song builds into choir like vocals before crashing into the unflappable drumming of Kenny Jones of The Small Faces. Indeed, The Small Faces had a very big hand in this album and served as the backing band on this particular track, made obvious by singer Steve Marriott’s recognizable howling towards the song’s climax.
The album itself never saw a release as only an initial 100 copies for a press run was issued, but in 1998 it finally saw a release on compact disc, allowing these classic tracks to be finally shared with the public. Below is a wonderfully lip synced version of “Would You Believe?” on The Beat Club with The Small Faces in tow.
