{"id":1464,"date":"2025-05-24T00:49:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T00:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/roger-nichols-dead-grammy-nominated-songwriter-1235980516\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T00:49:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T00:49:29","slug":"roger-nichols-dead-grammy-nominated-songwriter-1235980516","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/roger-nichols-dead-grammy-nominated-songwriter-1235980516\/","title":{"rendered":"Roger Nichols, Grammy-Nominated Co-Writer of \u2018We\u2019ve Only Just Begun,\u2019 Dies at\u00a084"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tRoger Nichols, best-known for co-writing such Carpenters<\/a> hits as \u201cWe\u2019ve Only Just Begun,\u201d \u201cRainy Days and Mondays\u201d and \u201cI Won\u2019t Last a Day Without You\u201d with lyricist Paul Williams<\/a>, died on May 17. He was 84.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Roberta<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tGone But Not Forgotten: Musicians We Lost in\u00a02025\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\n\tWilliams confirmed Nichols\u2019 death in an extended, and deeply affectionate, post on Instagram. Williams didn\u2019t list a cause of death, though he reported the basic circumstances of the death. \u201cRoger Nichols passed away peacefully four days ago, at home with his beautiful family \u2026his wife Terry and the daughters he was so proud of, Claire and Caitlin at his side.\u201d (See full text of Williams Instagram post below.)<\/p>\n

\n\tNichols signed as an artist to A&M Records in 1968, a year before Karen and Richard Carpenter were signed to the Los Angeles-based label. His debut album Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends<\/em> was produced by Tommy LiPuma, engineered by Bruce Botnick, and featured session contributions from Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman and Lenny Waronker. Although the album failed to crack the Billboard 200, A&M co-founder Herb Alpert<\/a> thought there was something there and recommended that Nichols be hired by A&M\u2019s publishing company as a staff songwriter. It was during this period that he was introduced to Williams.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat was a characteristically astute call on Alpert\u2019s part. Williams and Nichols were one of the hottest pop songwriting teams of the early 1970s.<\/p>\n

\n\tWilliams and Nichols took off as songwriters in the fall of 1970, when they had two songs in the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. On the charts dated Oct. 17 and 24, Carpenters\u2019 version of \u201cWe\u2019ve Only Just Begun,\u201d a ballad which had originated as \u201csoft-sell\u201d commercial for Crocker-Citizens National Bank, was in the top five (on its way to a No. 2 peak). Three Dog Night\u2019s \u201cOut in the Country\u201d was holding at its No. 15 peak.<\/p>\n

\n
\n