Peter Marsh worked extensively with Ken Nicol in the 1970s, releasing four albums as both as the duo Nicol & Marsh and as the band Easy Street, which also included Richard James Burgess.
Nicol & Marsh was first signed to CBS in 1973. In 1976 Easy Street signed up with Polydor. Albums included:
Nicol & Marsh’s Easy Street
Nicol & Marsh’s Easy Street (Epic / CBS Records,1974) featured Pete Zorn on bass and saxes and was produced by Paul Phillips.
Singles from the album included “Midnight Cat” (1974), “I’ve Been Praying” (1974) and “Sinking Down” (1975).
The album
includes a cover of “Peaceful Easy Feeling” (Jack
Tempchin).
Easy Street by Easy Street
Easy Street by Easy Street (Polydor, 1976). Easy
Street expanded with the addition of Richard James
Burgess for this album, which was recorded at Sarm
East Studios. The Polydor publicity for the album
involved something of a makeover for the band
compared to the previous the CBS look, including
hairstyles by John Frieda, who appeared on the
cover in a cameo guest appearance. A single from
the album, “I’ve Been Lovin’ You” (co-written written
by Marsh with Richard James Burgess, Ken
Nicol & Pete Zorn), entered the US Billboard Charts
in July 1976.[2]
Under the Glass by Easystreet (Polydor, 1977). In
addition to Marsh, Richard James Burgess and Ken
Nicol, the Under the Glass album also extensively
featured Kevin Savigar, a long-time musical associate
of Rod Stewart. Marsh co-wrote the single
track “Flying” (1977), with Nicol. Five tracks
(“How Can You Take it So Hard”, “Rely On You”,
“What Does The World Know”, “Strange Chance”
and “The Night of the 11th”) are credited to Nicol,
Marsh & Burgess), while two tracks are credited to
Marsh and Burgess: “Is This Real” (Marsh, Burgess)
and “I See You” (Burgess, Marsh).
Nicol & Marsh (Polydor, 1978). The Easy Street
name was dropped for the final album in partnership
with Nicol, which was recorded in the Pasha Music
House, Hollywood, California. Richard James
Burgess was no longer involved, but many renowned
Los Angeles session musicians were used on the album,
including Bill Payne (Little Feat), Victor Feldman
(Steely Dan) and Leland Sklar (James Taylor‘s
bass player). Tracks credited solely to Marsh included
“As The Years Roll ‘Round” and “Anthem of
the Time”. “Holdin’ On To You” and “Lady of Windermere”
are credited to Nicol & Marsh with two
tracks, both released as singles “Streets of the Angels”
(1978) and “Hurt By Love” (1978) credited to
Nicol, Marsh & Bishop. The album includes a cover
version of “I’ll Be Back” (Lennon–McCartney).
Easy Street toured in Europe and the US and were the
1976 Runners-Up of the UK TV show New Faces. The
collaboration between Marsh and Nicol ended after the
release of the final album. An interview with Nicol implied
that Marsh was moving in a different direction,
specifically appearing to refer to a growing collaboration
between Marsh and Burgess.[3]