Billy Nicholls – Love Songs

This one’s exciting because it takes the Hidden Gems series to its logical extension. I was familiar with Nicholls’ debut, long lauded among collector’s circles and often grabbing the occasional headline as a psych-pop record that goes for exorbitant money. The record is usually a curio due to Nicholls recording it at 17 and featuring members of The Small Faces. Less discussed, and bewilderingly so is Nicholls’ second album, Love Songs. The album isn’t quite as rare, but still a hard one to find in the wild. It came to my attention when RSTB fave Michael Rault offered it up as his Hidden Gems pick. The record is one of those that’s eluded a great deal of the listening public, but once on the speakers, that fact seems completely befuddling. The record features contributions from a litany of names in UK rock at the time — Caleb Quaye, Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood, Ian McLagan and Pete Townshend, among them.

Townshend even engineers the tender standout “Hopeless, Helpless,” recorded at his home in Twickenham at the time. The album is packed with cut after cut of songs that slip between heavy ‘70s rock, blue-collar folk, and the edge of glam. Nicholls’ proximity to The Faces certainly makes an impact on the record and it’s lodged right between Oh La La and Tommy-era Who in many places. Hearing the album for the first time is an exercise in feeling like someone, somewhere dropped the ball on this album, and hard. The record was released by GM records and given sparse radio support. As the record is primarily known for Ronnie Lane solo works, its not totally surprising that the necessary push wasn’t put behind it.

Following the relative silence on the record, Nicholls would then travel to L.A. to work on a follow-up, staying in Townshend and Lane’s orbit for session work and support. For years one of the only ways to hear the album has been through CDs sold by Nicholls himself and now he’s remastered the album, adding an unreleased cut to the CD version and finally getting the album back onto LP. The news has been fairly subtle, but if you’re a collector and looking to pick at the scars of the ‘70s, there’s some great singles at work on Love Songs. The interplay between Quaye and Nicholls remains the heart of the record, and they seem to effortlessly capture the kind of swagger and vulnerability that would elude even their best peers at times. I’d recommend grabbing a copy and sending another to a friend.