For a band who helped draw up the prog-rock blueprint, The Nice had unlikely beginnings. The four-piece formed in London in 1967 as a backing band for soul belter PP Arnold. But by the end of that year, they had parted company with Arnold and released their own psychedelia-tinged debut album The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack.
If their origins as a band were unusual, then the song with which they made their name was outrageous. Released in June 1968, America would crystallise the burgeoning prog-rock movement and turn The Nice into one of the most controversial bands of the day. The song, composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics from Stephen Sondheim, started life in the Broadway musical West Side Story. In this incarnation it was a celebration of the American way of life, sung by a Puerto Rican immigrant character.
