Biography
Roger Nichols came into the world in Missoula, Montana, before his family relocated to Santa Monica, California, when he turned one. Music surrounded him throughout childhood. A journalism graduate who worked as a professional photographer, his father performed saxophone with regional jazz groups. His mother had majored in music and played classical piano. Nichols began violin lessons upon entering elementary school and sustained both violin and classical instruction through high school. Basketball later drew his focus, prompting him to set the violin aside for the court while he kept playing guitar casually.
U.C.L.A. recruited him on a basketball scholarship, and he suited up for the team one or two seasons. Coach John Wooden required him to decide between athletics and music, and Nichols selected the latter. While enrolled he pursued a double major in music and cinematography, continuing on guitar and adding piano. Following a short break he reenrolled at U.C.L.A. to study songwriting. After departing college he held several positions, including two years at a bank, eighteen months at a liquor store, and six months of naval service. On weekends he performed at clubs with his band Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends, presenting original material he had written.
Liberty Records offered the group a contract around 1965. During that period they worked briefly with Tommy Li Puma, who saw promise in them yet soon departed the label. After eight months without a release Nichols contacted A&M Records to submit demos to co-owner Herb Alpert. The call transferred to Li Puma, now A&M’s A&R executive, who remained enthusiastic about the group. Nichols secured his release from Liberty.
While awaiting Li Puma’s completion of projects with the Sandpipers and Claudine Longet, Nichols composed an instrumental for Alpert that the trumpeter recorded within a week. Although the Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends album sold modestly, Alpert encouraged A&M publishing head Chuck Kaye to sign Nichols as a staff songwriter.
In Nichols’s second year at the company Kaye paired him with lyricist Paul Williams. Their initial collaboration, “It’s Hard to Say Goodbye,” was recorded by Claudine Longet. The pair worked together for four years, generating numerous album tracks, B-sides, and occasional A-sides without achieving a hit.
An advertising executive seeking assistance on a low-budget Crocker Bank campaign asked a mutual acquaintance for suggestions. The acquaintance supplied the executive with the Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends album. The executive arranged a meeting with Nichols and Williams, disclosing a $300 demo budget and stipulating the remainder of the project would proceed on speculation pending campaign success. To soften the bank’s image and reach younger listeners, the duo received the slogan “You’ve got a long way to go and we’d like to help you get there.” They were given ten days to write what was essentially a jingle. On the final day Nichols developed the verse melody at the piano in roughly thirty minutes; Williams later supplied lyric lines. Nichols overdubbed piano, bass, and guitar for the demo while Williams sang. The bank approved the work and requested completion of the song, then consisting of two verses and a bridge.
Crocker Bank acquired advertising rights, yet Nichols, Williams, and A&M retained recording and publishing rights.
Carpenters member Richard Carpenter encountered the jingle on television and, despite his A&M affiliation, located the writers. The Carpenters recorded the track. “We’ve Only Just Begun” earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year, appeared on BMI’s million-performances list, and received an award for selling one million copies of sheet music. Another Nichols-Williams composition, “Out in the Country” by Three Dog Night, reached the Top Ten. Six months afterward the Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” became another gold record, marking Nichols’s third gold record within one year. Additional successes included the Carpenters’ “I Won’t Last a Day Without You” and “Travelin’ Boy,” along with “I Never Had It So Good,” which Barbra Streisand covered.
The Nichols-Williams partnership dissolved in 1972. Somewhat discouraged, Nichols returned to Montana, purchased a home, and stepped back from active work. Several years later he resumed composing, concentrating mainly on background scoring. Later successes included themes for television series such as “Love Theme From Hart to Hart.”
U.C.L.A. recruited him on a basketball scholarship, and he suited up for the team one or two seasons. Coach John Wooden required him to decide between athletics and music, and Nichols selected the latter. While enrolled he pursued a double major in music and cinematography, continuing on guitar and adding piano. Following a short break he reenrolled at U.C.L.A. to study songwriting. After departing college he held several positions, including two years at a bank, eighteen months at a liquor store, and six months of naval service. On weekends he performed at clubs with his band Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends, presenting original material he had written.
Liberty Records offered the group a contract around 1965. During that period they worked briefly with Tommy Li Puma, who saw promise in them yet soon departed the label. After eight months without a release Nichols contacted A&M Records to submit demos to co-owner Herb Alpert. The call transferred to Li Puma, now A&M’s A&R executive, who remained enthusiastic about the group. Nichols secured his release from Liberty.
While awaiting Li Puma’s completion of projects with the Sandpipers and Claudine Longet, Nichols composed an instrumental for Alpert that the trumpeter recorded within a week. Although the Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends album sold modestly, Alpert encouraged A&M publishing head Chuck Kaye to sign Nichols as a staff songwriter.
In Nichols’s second year at the company Kaye paired him with lyricist Paul Williams. Their initial collaboration, “It’s Hard to Say Goodbye,” was recorded by Claudine Longet. The pair worked together for four years, generating numerous album tracks, B-sides, and occasional A-sides without achieving a hit.
An advertising executive seeking assistance on a low-budget Crocker Bank campaign asked a mutual acquaintance for suggestions. The acquaintance supplied the executive with the Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends album. The executive arranged a meeting with Nichols and Williams, disclosing a $300 demo budget and stipulating the remainder of the project would proceed on speculation pending campaign success. To soften the bank’s image and reach younger listeners, the duo received the slogan “You’ve got a long way to go and we’d like to help you get there.” They were given ten days to write what was essentially a jingle. On the final day Nichols developed the verse melody at the piano in roughly thirty minutes; Williams later supplied lyric lines. Nichols overdubbed piano, bass, and guitar for the demo while Williams sang. The bank approved the work and requested completion of the song, then consisting of two verses and a bridge.
Crocker Bank acquired advertising rights, yet Nichols, Williams, and A&M retained recording and publishing rights.
Carpenters member Richard Carpenter encountered the jingle on television and, despite his A&M affiliation, located the writers. The Carpenters recorded the track. “We’ve Only Just Begun” earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year, appeared on BMI’s million-performances list, and received an award for selling one million copies of sheet music. Another Nichols-Williams composition, “Out in the Country” by Three Dog Night, reached the Top Ten. Six months afterward the Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” became another gold record, marking Nichols’s third gold record within one year. Additional successes included the Carpenters’ “I Won’t Last a Day Without You” and “Travelin’ Boy,” along with “I Never Had It So Good,” which Barbra Streisand covered.
The Nichols-Williams partnership dissolved in 1972. Somewhat discouraged, Nichols returned to Montana, purchased a home, and stepped back from active work. Several years later he resumed composing, concentrating mainly on background scoring. Later successes included themes for television series such as “Love Theme From Hart to Hart.”
Albums