“LAUREL CANYON” is a collection of songs Chet wrote back in the 1960's and 70's, when he began touring as a soloist in California, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, Colorado, Oklahoma, the East Coast and the rest of the country from his home bases in Lawrence and Tonganoxie, Kansas and Kansas City, MO.
Chet loved all of California, but his heart was also deeply connected with the rolling hills of the Open Prairies in America's central plains and he also loved the Great Southwest of America and Route 66. He had a serious case of wanderlust, so he nurtured it, as it nurtured him back. He was an avowed “Open Prairie” traveler.
Chet's first journey to California was a trip to San Diego one summer to stay with his uncle, aunt and cousins in San Diego when he was 12.
Then in 1967, he and a high-school buddy, threw caution to the wind during their Spring Break in Oklahoma and “hitchhiked” down the old Route 66 to Los Angeles, Huntington Beach and back to Oklahoma in 14 days. This trip became the fame-work for his first novel, “The Last Riders On Route 66”. That is another story you can read about. The novel is available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Riders-Route-66/dp/B0DGXNLN64/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2N89MU94FKD85&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.API-TjIYDEKAXh6qiMevFc-5yDjvXy7NtMqQckBtHrfGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.pCeLWaMky9XuvJDBoWACnYow3PulUPNIIRSjWC5Nadg&dib_tag=se&keywords=chet+nichols%2C+%22the+last+riders+on+route+66&qid=1729531401&sprefix=chet+Nichols%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1
Chet had a vast number of songwriters around the globe who influenced his early years of writing as a soloist. Among them were: Tim Buckley, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Paul Simon, Gordon Lightfoot, Ian & Sylvia, Phils Ochs, Tim Hardin, Procol Harum, Judy Collins, CSNY, James Taylor, Laura Allen, John Denver, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, The Byrds, The Jefferson Airplane, Jerry Lee Lewis…..and so many others.
We would actually need to actually create several other lists that would feature the great rock bands back then that influenced his early writing, too. Also, Chet LOVED the Chicago blues, so that would be a whole other genre: BB King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Otis Span, Albert King, Paul Butterfield and more… he had all their records.
Interestingly, his VERY EARLY influences were the great classical composers, as he performed a young boy in numerous orchestras as a first-chair cellist and pianist…then he discovered the guitar.
This collection of songs were among the first original songs he composed as a solo, singer-songwriter. Before these songs, he wrote rock ‘n’ roll songs like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Byrds and there are many others….
All that said, we will stay focused on this intimate collection of Chet's early singer-songwriter compositions.
Some might like to say he was a “folk singer”, well, maybe … But he was much more of an early progressive, pure singer-songwriter which are showcased in a lot of these songs. We hope you enjoy this sonic journey. MGM
