#169: NILSSON SINGS NEWMAN - Harry Nilsson

Artist: Harry Nilsson

Title: Nilsson Sings Newman

Year: 1970

Label: RCA

Songs: Vine St./Love Story/Yellow Man/Caroline/Cowboy/The Beehive State/I'll Be Home/Living Without You/Dayton, Ohio 1903/So Long Dad

Written by: Randy Newman

A Nilsson House Production

Thoughts: While Nilsson's first three albums seem to build on top of each other, Nilsson Sings Newman, his fourth, features an entirely different sound. Gone is the Spector-esque Wall Of Sound, as is the whimsical originality of Nilsson's own songs. Instead, it is replaced by the cynical songwriting and sly piano playing of a young Randy Newman.

The stark contrast makes the album seem, at least at first, like a disappointment. Nilsson was at the forefront of the pop world at the time, writing numerous songs that became hits for other people. Now, he was the one taking someone else's songs and making them accessible to the average buyer. However, if you forget that Nilsson is a songwriter himself, and you just think of him as a beautiful singer, you realize quickly that this album is a hallmark of 1970. The fact of the matter is that no one else was making a record like this in 1970. While it lead to a chart flop, it was a critical success in its time (it was actually named 1970's "Record of the Year" by Stereo Magazine).

For Nilsson, who doesn't play a single instrument on the record, these songs prove to be fantastic vocal exercises, from the harsh power of "Cowboy" to the heartbreaking command in "I'll Be Home". The remarkable thing is that the only voice you hear on this record is Harry's. The choir in "I'll Be Home" is all Harry and the backups in "Living Without You" is all Harry.

For Randy Newman, this record gave him a chance to get his name to a wider audience. He had been making records for a few years before this (in fact, only "Caroline" was specifically written for Nilsson), but never had any of the success that Nilsson was having. His piano-playing on the record also proves that this really should be billed as a "Harry Nilsson & Randy Newman" album. If Nilsson is the mouth, Newman is the heart. The best example of this is in "Living Without You", easily the best track here. As Nilsson belts out this ridiculous vocal performance, Newman's piano follows along, pumping like a heartbeat as Nilsson brings his vocal up. "Cowboy" also features some fantastic playing and so does the rest of the record.

There is also this really unique feature with this album. If you listen to it with headphones, you get the effect of hearing Newman's piano the way Nilsson did as he was singing in the studio. The piano is mixed so far behind the vocal that it sounds like it's in another room. Also, in a typically bizarre Nilsson way, some of Newman's talking was left in the master, so, for example, during the fade-out of "So Long Dad", you hear Newman instructing Nilsson on how to sing the end.

Simply put, this album is just an incredible listening experience. The only bad part - it lasts just over 25 minutes.

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Album of the Day #167: HARRY - Harry Nilsson

Artist: Harry Nilsson

Title: HARRY

Year: 1969

Label: RCA

Songs: The Puppy Song/Nobody Cares About The Railroad Anymore/Open Your Window/Mother Nature's Son*/Fairfax Rag**/City Life**/Mournin' Glory Story/Maybe/Marchin' Down Broadway/I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City/Rainmaker^/Mr. Bojangles^^/Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear+

Written by: Harry Nilsson, except *John Lennon & Paul McCartney, **Bill Martin, ^Harry Nilsson & Bill Martin, ^^Jerry Jeff Walker and +Randy Newman

A Nilsson House Production ("Open Your Window", "Mournin' Glory Story", "Marchin' Down Broadway" and "Rainmaker" produced by Rick Jarrard, remixed by Nilsson House Productions)

Thoughts: When you look at all the major artists out there, it truly is fascinating how many third albums prove to truly optimize everything there is to like about the artist.

HARRY, Nilsson's third album is exactly that. It defines Harry Nilsson as the wonderful songwriter and singer that reaches a dramatic climax with Nilsson Schmilsson. All the ingredients are there...the only thing missing was the commercial success to prove it.

The album kicks off with the amazingly cute "The Puppy Song" and then takes a complete left-turn with the old-timely "Nobody Cares About The Railroad Anymore". There's "Open Your Window", which, along with "Maybe" proves that he could pull off a fantastic, sentimental love song just as good as the next person. The rest of the originals are just as good, with the story of a homeless woman found in "Mournin' Glory Story" and the ode to American post-WWII optimism of "Marchin' Down Broadway". The single was the very pretty "I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City". The song borrows a little bit of "Everybody's Talkin'"'s melody, but other than that, it is easily one of Nilsson's best songs.

Although Ariel Ballet had only one cover ("Everybody's Talkin'"), HARRY has five. "Mother Nature's Son" is a very faithful reading of The Beatles number, save for the interesting idea of swapping the brass for a full string section. Bill Martin's "Fairfax Rag" and "City Life" are perfect for Nilsson and fit well into the sense of nostalgic Americana that runs through the album. Martin also wrote "Rainmaker" with Nilsson. The fantastic track is too impressive for the fate RCA gave it (throwing a completely different mix on the B-Side of "Everybody's Talkin'") and easily proves that "Jump Into The Fire" was not the first time Nilsson rocked it out. Great performances of "Mr. Bojangles" and Randy Newman's "Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear" conclude the album.

HARRY proves that before "Without You" and the success of Nilsson Schmilsson, Nilsson was a force to be reckoned with. I only wish it had a better chart showing. Although "I Guess The Lord..." hit #40 on Billboard, the album itself stalled at #120. It really makes me wish I was around in 1969 to knock some sense into the people that bought the "I Guess The Lord..." 45 without buying the LP.

Album of the Day #141: AERIAL BALLET - Harry Nilsson

Title: Ariel Ballet
Artist: Harry Nilsson
Label: RCA
Year: 1968
Songs: Daddy’s Song/Good Old Desk/Don’t Leave Me/Mr. Richard’s Favorite Song/Little Cowboy/Together/Everybody’s Talkin’ [Fred Neil]/I Said Goodbye To Me/Little Cowboy/Mr. Tinker/One/The Wailing Of The Willow/Bath
Written by: Harry Nilsson, except where noted
Produced by: Rick Jarrard
Thoughts: A lot of great records came out in 1968 and this is certainly one of them. Aerial Ballet feels a lot like its’ predecessor, except there is only one cover, that being the immortal “Everybody’s Talkin’”. The originals are a lot stronger, though with powerful tracks like “One”, “I Said Goodbye To Me” and “Together”. Nilsson’s perfect humor runs throughout, with the wonderful “Good Old Desk” and the hilarious closer, “Bath”. His personal nursery rhyme “Little Cowboy” shows up twice as sort of a linking track, making the whole album feel as if it is a grand scheme to show how Nilsson grew up.
“One” also has to be one of my favorite songs of all time. You just feel a tingling up your spine every time you hear it. It is so amazing and scary almost. The message of it seems to be that no matter what you do, it never works. “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever know./Two can be as bad as one,/Because it’s the loneliest number since the number one.” I mean, that’s just proves that even if you are successful in getting together with someone, you are still alone, just with someone else.
Simply put, this is one of those albums that, like his first one, somehow go unheard by the vast majority of the population. Aerial Ballet is just twenty-eight minutes long, but that’s all it takes for Harry to pull at your heart-strings and make you sit back and say “wow”.

Album of the Day #140: PANDEMONIUM SHADOW SHOW - Harry Nilsson

Title: Pandemonium Shadow Show
Artist: Harry Nilsson
Label: RCA
Year: 1967
Songs: Ten Little Indians/1941/Cuddly Toy/She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune [Jesse Lee Kincaid]/You Can’t Do That [John Lennon & Paul McCartney]/Sleep Late, My Lady Friend/She’s Leaving Home [John Lennon & Paul McCartney]/There Will Never Be [Perry Botkin, Jr. & Garfield]/Without Her/Freckles [Hess, Johnson & Milton Ager]/It’s Been so Long/River Deep – Mountain High [Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwhich & Phil Spector]
Written by: Harry Nilsson, except where noted
Produced by: Rick Jarrard
Thoughts: It’s amazing how such a truly magnificent album can be so forgotten about, but that is the sad truth for Harry Nilsson’s debut album Pandemonium Shadow Show. Coming out in 1967, the album has pieces of pure psychedelic nature, sure, but it makes up for it with the unique sound of Harry’s voice. It’s very hard to come to grips with the fact that there is only one man singing on this entire record: Harry.
The material itself is unique, in that not only is it all pop, but it’s very sophisticated pop. “Ten Little Indians” is the most unconventional opening for an album, let alone a debut album. Harry sings what happens to these Indians as they, one by one, break one of the Ten Commandments. “1941” is a biographical song that RCA chose as the lead single. “She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune” is the first cover, with a carnival-like backing track. In a prelude to “Back Off Boogaloo”, Harry’s tribute that landed on Ringo’s Stop And Smell The Roses in 1981, Harry does “You Can’t Do That”. It, like the other Beatle cover, “She’s Leaving Home”, is unique and different, not just a straight-up cover as he gives shout-outs to several other of his favorite Beatle tunes. Then, there’s “Sleep Late, My Lady Friend”, which is just so wonderful…I love the bridge: “We had the time/The time of our lives!”
Side two opens with the beautiful, understated take on “She’s Leaving Home”. John and Paul should have just skipped their recording and gave this to Harry. He takes the song and surprisingly one-ups the Beatles. “There Will Never Be” and “Freckles” are two more covers sandwiched between the amazing “Without Her” and “It’s Been So Long”. The album ends with an intense, full-on “Wall Of Sound” cover of “River Deep – Mountain High”, which is a perfect closer to a great mid-sixties LP.

Album of the Day #122: NILSSON SCHMILSSON - Harry Nilsson

Title: Nilsson Schmilsson
Artist: Harry Nilsson
Label: RCA
Year: 1971
Songs: Gotta Get Up/Driving Along/Early In The Morning*/The Moonbeam Song/Down/Without You**/Coconut/Let The Good Times Roll***/Jump Into The Fire/I'll Never Leave You
Written by: Harry Nilsson, except *Dallas Bartley, Leo Hickman & Louis Jordan, **Tom Evans & Pete Ham and ***Leonard Lee & Shirley Goodman
Produced by: Richard Perry
Thoughts: This is a fun album. That's really the main point of it, especially with a title that makes fun of the artist's name. I think this is one album that really revolves around the artwork. Nilsson is featured on the cover in his bathrobe, and you get the feeling that every song was recorded the second he got up. It kicks off with the great "Gotta Get Up", signifying the simple fact that there are some great album tracks here. There's more than just "Coconut" (which is a little overrated I think; it feels like a throwaway, especially since there are too many better songs here) and "Without You". If there is one little, tiny complaint it might be that "Jump Into The Fire" is way too long. Nilsson only plays the piano on the record, so it is kind of weird that he lets his backing group (with good ol' Klaus Voormann on bass!) explode into a jam session that lasts seven minutes. Still, if you can get beyond that, the album's great.