After some line-up changes the band enjoyed a degree of commercial success in their early years, with three albums and appearing on Britain's most popular music programme Top of the Pops in 1969 with the single "Si Tu Dois Partir", which reached number 21 in the UK Charts.

[9] While Swarbrick, with his knowledge of traditional music, emerged as the leading figure in the band, Nicol had to shoulder a larger share of the vocal duties on the next album Full House (1970).

"Breakfast in Mayfair" on the latter was his first solo song composition with the band, and one of the tracks that made it onto the History of Fairport Convention compilation album (1972).

[13] Just about the time that Nicol left Fairport Convention, Hutchings had also quit Steeleye Span and began to work on the first incarnation of the Albion Country Band to provide backing for his then wife Shirley Collins.

Nicol joined the long list of musicians, including former Fairport members Richard Thompson and Dave Mattacks, to contribute to No Roses (1971), often considered one of the most important British folk rock albums.

[20] In 1974–1975 he played guitar on Cat Stevens' Numbers (1975) and also formed a band with Chris Spedding, Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway.

[21] Nicol also produced the album Rough Diamonds (1975) for the highly regarded Jack the Lad, and began to play with Swarbrick and Pegg in a low key trio, Three Desperate Mortgages, which toured student venues across Britain.

[26] In contrast the next two Fairport albums, The Bonny Bunch of Roses (1977) and Tipplers Tales (1978), although well produced and played, and generally thought to have benefited from Nicol's growing guitar technique and confidence in singing, sold so poorly that the record label Vertigo paid the band off.

[30] In 1985 Nicol joined in the recording of the Fairport album Gladys' Leap, on which, as well as playing guitar, he shared production credits, contributed the song "Wat Tyler", arranged traditional tunes and acted as lead singer for the first time.

He also continued to undertake work with a wide variety of artists, including a tour with Art Garfunkel in 1988 and playing on albums by Beverley Craven and Beth Nielsen Chapman.

[33] In 1997, Nicol left the Albion Band and began to focus more directly on Fairport Convention, but able to share vocal duties with Chris Leslie and taking over some of the responsibility for organising the Cropredy Festival from 2005.

[35] In 2009, Nicol reunited with original Fairport Convention vocalist Judy Dyble, playing on two tracks on her album Talking with Strangers.

In the same year he performed in Alan Simon's rock opera Anne de Bretagne, playing the role of King Edward IV of England.

[21] Although Nicol openly admits he lacks Thompson's exceptional lead technique, he is considered one of the most reliable and versatile rhythm players available, as testified by his large number of credits with a wide variety of artists from different genres.