Watt Nicoll

Scottish songwriter/folksinger

Watt Nicoll's formative years seem to have been spent in Dundee and Glasgow. During the 60s and 70s he was mainly known as a songwriter and a folksinger; he recorded several LPs for the Transatlantic label and toured extensively. More recently he has flourished in the world of motivational speaking, in which field he is regarded as a guru. He hit the headlines when England soccer manager Kevin Keegan hired him to motivate the English national side before their 1999 match against Poland (they won 3-1). Some of Watt's recordings are detailed below:

The Ballad of the Bog (XTRA 1062, 1968)
Side One: Remote Control; Factory Horn; Wee Wains; Scriptures; Idle Welder; Just Made It Legal; Greenfields of Dundee
Side Two: The Fifie; Craftsmen of Old; Swandown Girl; Whiskey Drinkers; The Pipe; Ballad of the Bog
All songs written by Watt Nicoll
Watt Nicoll (vocals, whistle, ocarina) with Oscar St Cyr, Roy Bayne, Gordon Young and Alan Robson

WATTcha! (XTRA 1108, 1970)
Side One: Early In the Morning; Weathermen; Berryfields of Blair; Farewell to Dundee; The Whistling Duke; The Whistling Duke; Old King Cole
Side Two: The Fiddler and the Dancer; Paraffin Lamp Seller; Morning of the Dawn Segue; Pendulum Song; Tribute to Burns; Snatches of Conversation; Wild Mountain Thyme
all songs written by Watt Nicoll except Early In the Morning, Farewell to Dundee, Tribute to Burns, and Wild Mountain Thyme (all trad arr Nicoll)
Watt Nicoll with Whisky Fizz (Doreen Swan and Eddie Taaffe) and others

Nice To Be Nice (XTRA 1122, 1971)
Side One: Song of the Car; Love's Over; Willow Twig Artist; El Condor Pasa; Ach, Ah Dinna Ken; Border Lands
Side Two: Today Is the First Day; Ca the Ewes; Dodi's Boys (Lodging In the Cold Ground/Kate Dalrymple/Reel O' Stumpie O); Home Town; The Hour Glass Song
all songs written by Watt Nicoll except Willow Twig Artist (Nicoll/Campbell), El Condor Pasa (trad), Ca' the Ewes (Burns), and Dodi's Boys (trad)
Watt Nicoll (vocal, whistle, recorder) with Doreen Swan, Eddie McEwan, John Ballard, Ronnie Rae, Stanley Thomson

Watt's On (XTRA 1129, 1972)
Side One: Looking Back Through the Years; Queen of the Border; King of the Castle; March of the Cameron Men (Baroness Nairne); McCrimmon
Side Two: Evening Bright; Letters That I Write (Swan); Swandown Girl; Baratza; One Man and a Double Whisky; Unfinished Lullaby
all songs written by Watt Nicoll unless otherwise stated
Watt Nicoll (vocals, whistle) with Doreen Swan, John Ballard, James McKenzie, Stanley Thomson, Pete Watters

5,227,706 Scotsmen Can't Be Wrong! (TRA SAM 22, 1971)
(with Hamish Imlach and Matt McGinn)
Side One: Plumbers & Jiners (trad arr Nicoll); Wee Bird (Nicoll); Scriptures (Nicoll)
Side Two: The Whistling Duke (Nicoll); Just Made It Legal (Nicoll)

Scottish Folk Scene (2 LP, Metronome Records DALP 2/1955, no year)
with Alex Campbell, Eddie Furey, Ian Campbell Folk Group, Archie Fisher, Hamish Imlach, The Johnstons, Luke Kelly
Side One: The Fifie (Nicoll)
Side Two: Freedom Forward (Nicoll)
Side Three: Remote Control (Nicoll); Whisky Drinkers (Nicoll)
Side Four: Early in the Morning (trad arr Nicoll)

Watt Nicoll's "Wee Carry Out" (Grampian Records MOR4027, 1976)
Side One: Annie Laurie; The Scottish Cowboy (Nicoll); The Other Side of Me (Sedaka); Home Town (Nicoll/Heathside); The Scottish Working Man's Blues (Nicoll)
Side Two: Auld Scots Songs Medley:Roaming In the Gloaming (Harry Lauder)/Ye Banks and Braes/My Ain Folk; Flower of Scotland (Williamson); Liberty (Weir/Williamson); Pipe Selection: Heilen Laddie/Morning Has Broken/No Awa To Bide Awa
All tracks Traditional, arr. Nicoll unless otherwise indicated