Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 Would You Believe 2:45
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songwriter
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- A2 Come Again 2:32
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songwriter
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- A3 Life Is Short 3:04
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songwriter
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- A4 Feeling Easy 3:10
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songwriter
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- A5 Daytime Girl 2:40
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songwriter
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- A6 Daytime Girl (Coda) 1:36
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songwriter
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- B1 London Social Degree 2:23
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songwriter
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- B2 Portobello Road 2:05
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songwriter
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- B3 Question Mark 2:26
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songwriter
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- B4 Being Happy 2:23
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songwriter
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- B5 Girl From New York 2:28
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songwriter
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- B6 It Brings Me Down 4:45
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songwriter
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- Total length: 32:17
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
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10 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Would You Believe Numbered Edition
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Would You Believe Bonus Tracks
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Would You Believe Bonus Tracks, CD Sized Album Replica, Limited Edition, Remastered
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Would You Believe Bonus CD, Bonus Tracks, Deluxe Edition, Remastered
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Would You Believe Bonus Tracks, CD Sized Album Replica
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Would You Believe Expanded Limited Edition 33 rpm, Numbered Edition
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2009 CD VICP-70116
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Would You Believe 45 rpm
44 Reviews
Just love "London Social Degree"!
Published
Mythical lost album that lives up to the hype... somehow
A nice album of little pop-psych-baroquey little tunes. This album gets often compared with Pet Sounds but I think it's really unfair. This is nothing like it, but can we blame it for not being one of the biggest masterpieces of popular music? I don't think so. It's just a very pleasant collection of short songs that flow quite nicely, unlike other albums of similar-sounding baroque pop (Left Banke comes to mind). I would probably shave a half/one star if it wasn't for that, because I can't say the album has high peaks (unlike Left Banke first).
So what do we have here? "Would you Believe" is an overwrought tune with quite excessive arrangements but it has its own charms. Steve Marriott sings backing vocals and leaves Nicholls voice a bit exposed (he doesn't really have the best pipes). "London Social Degree" is a bouncy and cute snapshot of an era and one of the highlights. "Girl from New York" has Steve Marriott on board again but this time providing a ripping guitar solo that gives the album a bit of an edge. "It Brings me Down" closes the album with tasty harpsichord by the great Nicky Hopkins. I also dig the somber twelve-string mood of "Come Again". As for duds, there really aren't any but "Portobello Road" has a melody that goes nowhere, as "Being Happy" does.
So basically, you're listening to a talented young guy who doesn't know what he's doing being overproduced to death. And somehow it works!
Published
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How embarrassing...
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imagine releasing this 2 years after "Pet Sounds" ahahhaha.
Ultimate dingus over here trying to replicate it but without a shred of the songwriting capability. The first track is the most embarrassing Beach Boys clone track of all time.
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imagine releasing this 2 years after "Pet Sounds" ahahhaha.
Ultimate dingus over here trying to replicate it but without a shred of the songwriting capability. The first track is the most embarrassing Beach Boys clone track of all time.
Published
Oh my god, and the best part isn't even just that the Small Faces appear on this (in fine form, I might add). Reminds me a lot of Nirvana or Barclay James Harvest, perhaps with more wallpapery lyrics but the vocal harmonies are top-notch. The songs are all fairly short and breezy but they're so beautiful and well-arranged you can't help but feel pretty damn good listening to it. Incredibly consistent, although if pressed to choose a standalone I might go with "Girl From New York", featuring scorching guitar from who I can only presume to be Steve Marriott. The outro of "It Brings Me Down" has the feel of the title track of Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake with Kenney Jones doing fill after fill over a real densely orchestrated, brooding backdrop. NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED.
Published
CMQDD1358 CD (2006)
The album is very pleasant yet side B loses steam after London Social Degree. Side A deserves a strong 4, side B - 3, this totally 3,5.
Of other bands, it mostly reminds of Left Banke. The style is good just not all songs have distinct hooks.
Of other bands, it mostly reminds of Left Banke. The style is good just not all songs have distinct hooks.
Published
Referencing the vinyl re-issue ...
Would You Believe opens annoyingly so, then slips into a grouping of slightly popish light psych songs relevant to the spring of 1968, at the tail end of the Summer of Love.Even with the hit, “Would You Believe,” touted as the most over produced record of the 60’s, a psych pop love song of sorts wrapped in overblown baroque orchestration, where Mr. Nicholls gives Steve Marriott a run for his money, though not in the best of ways. With that, the rest of the songs on the album fall in like like a smart line of soldiers, a nearly pathetic parody of themselves as they’re being played out, resulting in a chaotic sonic topography. That said, there are those who would imply, or is that infer, that the assemblage is a British answer to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, though methinks that’s all hype, where the record being suggested as such is due to it’s acid-pop songs being laced with heavenly harmonies and superb lysergic arrangements. But listen, just because something is outrageous and throws everything into the pot doesn’t mean it’s psychedelic, and if these are acid-pop songs, then I’d profess that Billy Nicholls hasn’t been having a very good time while turning on, tuning in and dropping out. And those harmonies, the word harmonies must have been used very liberally by those praising this outing.
The record was doomed to obscurity before it was ever released. It’s a strange saga, one that could only happen during those heady nights of the mid 1960’s, with a sixteen year old Billy managing to deliver his demos to none other than George Harrison, which in turn led to a gig as a staff writer with Andrew Loog Oldman of Rolling Stones fame, with Oldman keen on capturing those west coast sunshine sounds being laid down by the Beach Boys and The Mamas & The Papas, but since he didn’t live there, he’d no idea what he was doing, even if backed by the Small Faces and a host of others. Only one-hundred (though probably far less) promotional copies were ever pressed, with original pressings now commanding thousands of dollars (the last noted sale was for $2,479 US), though not for the quality of the music, but for the rarity alone.
Of course others will still try and make the argument that the songs ‘were’ actually good, that the record received favorable reviews (though remember this was the era of payola, good reviews could be purchased) where by 1968, the Summer of Love was all but a memory as folks rioted in the streets over the war in Viet Nam, with other big name bands taking a decidedly harder more aggressive turn with their sound. And if that’s not enough for you, remember the album by a little group call The Beatles, well the artwork used here is a complete Rubber Soul ripoff, as is the song “London Social Degree” (L.S.D.), again, an abashed attempt by Nicholls to aline himself with The Beatles “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” (L.S.D.).
*** The Fun Facts: I could go on and on about people who collect rare records, and you know, that’s just fine, but just because a record is rare doesn’t mean it’s good, quite the opposite, this and most other rare records are not that good, so if you collect rare records, don’t attempt to justify your collection by saying the music is sound, just say you like to collect rare records and leave it at that.
As to the music quality: Most of the sound resides entirely in the mid range, having rolled off the highs and an entirely nearly non-existent bass. The sound too is rather flat, lacking any dynamic range, with almost every aspect of sound fighting to be heard equally as much within the mix at the same time. The vinyl is decently quiet however, where you do get the music in a listenable format at the very least. And while I’ve not heard an original pressing or recording, which honestly, nearly no one has, I certainly hope that it sounds better than this.
Published
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top tier 60's psych pop
Super solid psych pop. It's a rich talented British kid who heard Pet Sounds and wanted to make it himself. And gosh darnnit, that's exactly what he did. Moments like these are where I am certainly a hypocrite. Would You Believe is a complete and total rip off of the baroque innovations of Pet Sounds. But I love this album. On the other hand, Greta Van Fleet is just a complete and total rip off of Led Zeppelin, yet I find their lack of originality to be completely abhorrent. What can I say other than I'm a hypocrite.
There are some changes from Pet Sounds, like a welcome introduction of blues and early rock into the mix every now and then. But that's about it. You have heard this sound before, but hearing it executed this perfectly is what makes the album worth listening to. So don't go into this album expecting anything new or revolutionary. It is merely another 60's psych album trying to catch up to the Beatles and the Beach Boys. However, this is a really top tier offering from the era. I've listened to a lot of 60s psych pop, and this is really one of the select few that can truly match those 2 artists in terms of gorgeous melodies, breathtaking harmonies, and lush, beautiful and eccentric production.
So this is mandatory listening. If you're a 60s psych pop fiend like me, you need to check this out because it really is one of the best offerings of the genre, and if you like the Beatles and the Beach Boys at least you can out-obscure your friends with this relatively unknown yet spectacular and gorgeous release.
Published
An album that failed spectacularly upon release as many of these types of records did back then. Luckily, the cream always rises to the top (as they say) and this album has gotten much more recognition and praise in latter days than it ever did back in the 60s. Backed by members of The Small Faces (seriously, this should have been huge), Nicholls plays mostly in a baroque style but with a seriously heaping helping of psych pop dolloped on top. The songs are just great, with tasty hooks and melodies in almost every track. I'm glad this has resurfaced because it deserves it.
Published
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