HOT NEWS!
The song, "Waving Prairie" recently won the "Best Folk Song Contest" at
Broadjam.com!

The Songs
1. Lady,Oh, Lady...................3:13
2. Waving Prairie...................5:40
3. Lumbering Mountain........3:58
4. Paradise...............................3:14
5. Kites In The Country........7:15
6. Judas Spy.............................3:45
7. Snow Line...........................4:31
8. Cloud Show........................5:00
9. Hawk Market......................3:21
10. Red Tide............................5:14
11. Lady,Oh,Lady (reprise)....3:13
12. Earth River........................5:13

All lyrics & music by Chet Nichols.
Produced by Stephen Barncard and Chet Nichols
Engineered by Stephen Barncard.
Recorded at Wally Heider’s in San Francisco
in 1973-74
Cover design by Chet Nichols
Cover photo of Tonganoxie Farm, Kansas
by Chet Nichols
Back cover photo by M. Miller.

Copyright 2001 by Chet Nichols  &
Magic Garage Productions
All songs Copyrights by Chet Nichols &
Magic Garage Music (ASCAP).
All rights reserved.



"Waving Prairie", like the album, "Time Loop",  is a CD that helped to define the"outside
loner-acid folk genre" in the 1970's. Filled with experimental folk/rock/alternative songs
that feature many of Chet's unique guitar tunings. If you are a fan of Joni Mitchell,
James Taylor and don't have this CD, it is a "must buy".

Waving Prairie - A Review
After having read the 'Time Loop' review,
Chet Nichols sent me a copy of the follow up
album. It was recorded in 1973 and 74, but
just prior to the release Chet Nichols got caught
in a corporate squabble between Kama Sutra's
president and a new owner who had just bought
the record company (full details here). This resulted
in the record never being released, the most unjust
treatment any recording can ever receive. To make
matters even worse the new label owners would
not let Nichols out of his contract but didn't allow
him to record either. This effectively ground his
carreer to a halt.

Chet Nichols finally released 'Waving Prairie'
himself in 2001 on his own small label. As I
expected in advance, the album doesn't touch
me the same way 'Time Loop' does. After all,
'Time Loop' quickly became my personal standard
to which all classic singer-songwriter & folk-pop
releases are now compared. James Tayor,
Joni Mitchell, all of those far better known
folk artists have to eat quite a lot of 'Time Loop'
dust. But even Nichols' own later material,
including 'Waving Prairie', doesn't quite scale
the same heights in my opinion.

Nevertheless this does not mean Waving Prairie
is a weak or a bland record. This is still signature
(early) Nichols, but a bit mellower, a bit less
dynamic, and maybe also a bit more (even more)
introspective. The style hasn't changed. Apart
from the addition of horns in a few songs and
the slide guitar in 'Judas Spy' any of these songs
could easily pose as a 'Time Loop' track. It just
wouldn't have been one of the standouts.

Since I feel the vocal melodies on general
have less instant appeal this means that the
album doesn't have the same ability to captivate
you from the start. 'Waving Prarie' is more the
kind of record that will grow on you over time.

As far as instant impact is concerned the
crescendo in 'Earth River' and the title song
itself are still impressive. The title track
especially, with that surprising almost
Oriental vocal harmony in the middle
(that sadly isn't repeated) and the ethnic
drums and with its fluent and slightly intricate
(almost progressive) structure, is quite breathtaking
and deservedly won the "Best Folk Song Contest"
at Broadjam.com.

Listen to Chet's Music  ::  Contact Chet  ::  Chet's Website

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TIME LOOP by Chet Nichols The Songs:  Horses and Eagles Electra Water Sand Castles Who Stole The Ivy Lonely Woman The Ballad Of Diamond Joe (Spinning On The) Time Loop * Tell Me What The Count Is The Offing The Beetles Are Coming Quasar Sleeper All Music and Lyrics by Chet Nichols. Produced by Chet Nichols and Stephen Barncard, except * "Time Loop" produced by Nick Gravenites. Engineered by Stephen Barncard. Recorded in ‘72 at Wally Heider’s in San Francisco, CA. Photography by Gary Petersen. Cover Design by Chet Nichols and Gary Petersen Copyright 2001 by Chet Nichols  &  Magic Garage Productions All songs Copyrights by Chet Nichols & Magic Garage Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved.  Instruments on all songs played by Chet Nichols except on “Time Loop” as follows: Piano-Nicky Hopkins Drums-Dave Garibaldi Electric Guitar-Leo Collignon Bass-PeteSears Guitar-Chet Nichols Old photos from the record session: http://wallyheider.com/gallery/Chet_Nichols "Time Loop" record review Chet Nichols : Time Loop (Kama Sutra - 1972) Category : criminally overlooked If you're into smart and poetic Folky singer/songwriter stuff, then this obscure release is a must have because of the high quality of the songs and the driven yet pleasant way in which they are performed. But as several of these Chet Nichols songs also have doses of Rock, I guess the album could also be of interest to fans of Classic Rock and Folk Rock. 'Time Loop' has a pure and honest and at the same time slightly melancholic feel that's reminiscent of James Taylor or, to name someone more recent, José Gonzales. And it's just as good as the best material either of these artists released, which raises the question why this album didn't get the attention it deserved and why it didn't propel Nichols to stardom. One listen to the album highlights 'Electra' and 'Who stole the Ivy' is enough to make you understand what a gifted composer and lyricist he was. In fact, there's only one average track on the entire album (not counting the superfluous outro 'Quasar Sleeper'). Highly recommended. Link to this review...... A RECORD REVIEW: “Time Loop” – a review “Amongst the obscurest LPs on the Kama-Sutra label, bent loner outsider folkie like a disturbed Tim Buckley at times, has a raw underground edge that it gaining a big following with collectors. But it is still a bargain having been released in the waning days of this semi-major label. Weird song titles like "Who Stole The Ivy", "The Offing", "The Beetles Are Coming", “Water Sand Castles” and "Quasar Sleeper, give an indication that this guy was out there. But he makes the acoustic guitar really sing and he creates some of the most unique guitar tunings ever created. His voice is melodious and multi-faceted. His lyrics are spacey, yet, thoughtful in an abstract way. The lyrics are borderline poetry. This record really grows on you. Chet’s Co-Producer and Engineer, Stephen Barncard, states at his website that Nichols was his guinea pig to help create the acoustic guitar sound made famous by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Nichols is also quite a musician and plays all the instruments on this record, something very rare in the early 1970s. He combines a Richie Havens feel, a Donovan attitude with a Dylan prespective. The production is minimalist, yet dynamic. On the title tune, "Time Loop", he has San Francisco's Nick Gravenites producing and he brings in a back-up band that includes piano by Nicky Hopkins (Rolling Stones-RIP), drums by Dave Garabaldi (Tower Of Power) and bass by Peter Sears (The Airplane). Quite a supporting cast. The record was recorded at Wally Heider's studio in SF, so maybe he's outta California. This is a necessary LP for fans of outside folk, since Nichols appears to be one of the pioneers of this unique genre. I caught a concert that he played at Long Island University and he was the best solo performer I saw play back in the 1970’s.” A RECORD REVIEW: "TIME LOOP is one of the BEST FOLK PSYCHEDELIC ALBUMS EVER MADE! Thank you CHET for this KILLER ALBUM. Warm Regards, Miguel - Germany" Listen to Chet's Music  :: Contact Chet  ::  Chet's Website :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: BLACK & WHITE by Chet Nichols The CD, BLACK & WHITE was recorded LIVE! at Cowtown Ballroom in Kansas City on 1.9.72 and on Channel 19 on 9.11.1973 The Songs: 1. King Barlow 2. Judas Spy 3. Waving Prairie 4. Electra 5. Ice Cream Man 6. Time Loop 7. Time Loop (Revisited) 8. My Baby's Bringing The Dough 9. The Train Plane Blues 10. Kites In The County Produced by Stephen Barncard and Chet Nichols for Magic Garage Records All songs composed by Chet Nichols All songs copyrights by Chet Nichols (ASCAP) and Magic Garage Music (ASCAP) Cover design by Chet Nichols Copyrights 2007. All Rights Reserved ““Black & White” is a CD of the solo, live show by Chet Nichols at the legendary Cowtown Ballroom in Kansas City, MO on the evening of January 9, 1972. Chet was the Opening Act that evening for the esteemed Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra. This show marked the first time a Philharmonic Orchestra had ever performed in a rock’n roll venue. The CD also contains some “bonus tracks” from another “live” performance he did for a TV show on Channel 19 in Kansas City, Mo on the evening of September 11,1973. Out thanks go out to Chet’s long-time producer, Stephen Barncard for his interest and skill in taking this valuable historical tape and digitizing it, so that it can be preserved for future generations. Although shorter than we’d like, we wished Chet had played a few more songs, Chet’s performance highlights many of the components that personified Chet’s solo shows back then. This CD shows his versatility as a musician, songwriter and singer. He begins the set showing his prowess on harmonica with a harmonica & vocal performance of Chet’s song, “King Barlow. Chet was known to have backed-up Brewer & Shipley on harmonica when they toured. Chet then shifts to the song, ”Judas Spy”, where he shows his mastery playing bottleneck guitar. The next song, “Waving Prairie”, displays one of Chet’s special talents, creating unique guitar tunings. He then proceeds to playing one of his most popular songs, “Electra”. Then Chet does a fabulous job performing one of his signature songs from the 60’s and 70’s, the iconic blues tune, “I’m The Ice Cream Man”. This is the ONLY surviving concert performance of this classic tune. Finally, Chet continues to show his versatility as a musician and performer when he switches to piano to perform his classic rock tune, “Time Loop”. And there is more. After the performances were over and the crowd had left, Chet returned to the stage to re-record the song, “Time Loop”. This second rendition is included on, “Black & White”. The conductor of the Kansas City Philharmonic was so impressed by Chet’s musicianship, voice and song writing, he invited Chet to meet with him later that week. They discussed a “rock ‘n roll marriage” of some of Chet’s more modular and classical tunes with the Philharmonic backing Chet up on stage. As a token of his appreciation, the conductor gave Chet one of the ornate, gold-leaf music stands used by the Philharmonic, a working antique that Chet cherishes and uses to this day. Unfortunately, this “show” was never produced. In addition to songs from the Cowtown Ballroom show, we were also able to salvage three songs, performed by Chet for a live TV show at Channel 19 on the evening of .............. September 11,1973. We start this section on the CD with the humorous song, “My Baby’s Bringing In The Dough”. It features some great guitar and nifty harmonica and, as Chet puts it, “it’s a song about the ups and downs of being a musician”. Next, Chet performs, “The Train, Plane Blues”, another humorous song lamenting the transportation problems faced by musicians when they tour. This cut features Chet on piano and, again, playing some wicked harmonica to back-up a solid vocal performance. Finally, this section ends with the hypnotic and airy, “Kites In The Country”, a song from his second CD, “Waving Prairie”. When coming up with a title for this CD, Chet settled on “Black & White” because of the straightforward, artistically honest nature of his performance. In Chet’s words, “what you hear is what you get”. We are very confident that if you are a fan of Chet’s and/or a fan of unique singer-songwriters of the 60’s and 70’s that you will find great value in adding this CD to your music collection. We hope you enjoy the CD! Listen to Chet's Music  ::  Contact Chet  ::  Chet's Website ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::