Nilsson - C or D?

Out of interest, what else did Malkmus include on his list?

The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour (yup)
Sonic Youth - (spelt Psonick Youth) Sister
Kraftwerk - the Man Machine
Wire - Chairs Missing
some CCR album, I can't remember which one

I remember feeling surprised/redeemed/something that 'Chairs Missing' was on there cuz it's one of my favorite albums

His first two albums, Pantomime Shadow Show and Aerial Ballet, are favorites of mine, too.

Also, for pure fabulousity: the Shangri-Las doing "Paradise," one of his first songs. If you haven't heard this, track it down immediately. It's the Shangri-Las singing a Harry Nilsson song, for Christ's sake! Could anything be better?

This album is GORGEOUS.

I think I've already blabbed over "Without You" and the embarrassing Pavlovian reaction I have to its opening bars elsewhere on ILM.

I'd love to hear this Newman material. The Camden version is 35 tracks - for only 8 quid (well, it includes Harry). What am I waiting for?

The other album talked up has been Pussy Cats but I find this difficult to listen to given the state his previously amazing voice is in. Too many brandy alexanders. The albums after this his voice recovers somewhat but it's never quite the same again.

Son of Schmillsson is also worth checking out especially the master stroke of getting the OAP's from the local old folks home to sing on a song called I'd Rather Be Dead. Not only a great voice and a great songwriter but a great sense of humour too.

One of my favorite songwriters. Nilsson Schmilson and Son of Schmilson are complete classics. His songs hold up so well, it's pretty amazing. And I can't really see how Elliot Smith or Badly Drawn Boy without him.

The story about him blowing out his vocal cords when he was recording Pussy Cats because he didn't want to let Lennon know is pretty tragic.

But ....man....Nilsson Sings Newman.....phew....extraordinary...

A friend of mine in college swore by Harry's later albums, like 'Duit on mon dei.' I haven't heard them myself. Thoughts?

Not completely sure, but it must be one of his very earliest albums.

Joy to the world was a beautiful girl
But to me Joy meant only sorrow

Does anyone have either of those two double-CD sets comprised from his last late 70s records? I like the few songs I have from them on comps, and I'm intrigued...

Thoughts about his best record? Those first three are all filled with absolutely brilliant pop confections, but also some filler. Pussy Cats is pretty terrific in places -- "Don't Forget Me" being one of his best twisted ballads.

You're not the only choo choo train,
That was left out in the rain,
The day after Santa came.
You're not the only cherry delight,
That was left in the night,
And gave up without a fight.

He also apparently finished his last album right before he died in 1994. Would love to hear that...

And??!? Sadly, I am Soul Seekless right now...

Hours later I caught Harry heading for the hotel bar with friends and I asked him about a rumor I heard that their might be a POINT II in the works (animated sequel and album to The Point) and he said there was some talks about it. He said he wanted to call it "Back To The Point". Obviously, it was never made - but he did seem to have some fondness for The Point. At this point in his career Harry's voice was raspier than ever - and he never did recover to the point where he released anything like his earlier albums. I think he had just done the Popeye Soundtrack, which of course he didn't sing himself. But now hearing that there may be demos to it I certainly would love to hear what that sounded like.

My last recollection about Harry is a bittersweet one... he decided to join the Beatlefest house band onstage during one of their sets, and although it got a standing ovation from the audience - it was more out of appreciation for the man than it was for the vocal performance anyone was hearing that night. Harry was obviously drinking and at times when he spoke you either couldn't hear him or understand him - but I remember just the same how everybody went crazy for him. How could you not? I mean - this was Nilsson.

"Put a lot of echo on it if you can..."

I'm probably going to wind up snatching everything through Pussy Cats (already got that, Newman and Aerial Pandemonium Ballet) except Touch Of Schmillson, but I was wondering if anybody wanted to defend his post-Pussy Cats work. I've heard most of its really uninspired but I was wondering if anybody had a differing opinion.

Anyhow, Got the Camden 2CD Aerial Pandemonium Ballet thing. Brilliant stuff. Got a couple of singles back in the day, "Daybreak" and "All I think about is you" which are both fine and grand. too.

You know, I wrote a song in the style of (Harry's lonely version of) "One" — the subject of which was Harry's rumoured death. It was called "Coffin Full of Stones" and, yes, recounted the Marianne Faithful story. You know that story, right, Dada?

"Cuddly Toy", btw, may be Harry's best song from that era. My gf (now fiance) positively adored that song — that is, until I told her what it was about...

"He'd come to town
and he would hound her for a couple o' days
And then he'd sail across the bubbly waves
And those were happier daaaaays
but noooooooooooooooooooooooow..."

Aside from Schmilsson, The Point has to be my favorite of the ones I've got - the storytelling bits are way, way more enjoyable than they could have been, and the whole thing is very warm and sweet without being cloying. It's absolutely perfect for evenings spent inking comic books, or at least that's what I used it for.

Just yesterday picked up Rock N Roll, which seems to be a reissue of Spotlight on Nilsson, and also one of those rare records that doesn't seem to exist on AMG. Haven't gotten to really digest it yet - apparently Spotlight was a collection of minor studio recordings/demos from when he had access to a studio but before he had a contract of his own. Enjoyable but doesn't really jump out the speaker at least so far...

I love this record. It has to be one of the strangest follow ups to a smash-hit LP by a major artist. There's a strong "I'm not going to repeat the formula, but I'll mess up the expectations of my new fans instead" vibe to it that's fascinating (and makes the album title an intentional joke). God only knows what people who loved "Coconut" or "Without You" might have thought of "You're Breaking My Heart" when they first heard it.

And recording a song titled "I'd Rather Be Dead" with back up vocals from residents of a nursing home is twisted genius. Classic, I say.

Son of Schmilsson is one of his I've never heard, but I'm seeking it out right now for this reason alone.

I see only one mention of Sandman on here -- which I've never heard; is it really bad? Can't say I'm not curious...

http://www.lslproductions.com/wihn_home.html

Seattle Weekly says it "breaks no new ground" but still

How true.

I dug up an old single, Kenny Everett singing 2 nilsson songs. How about that!

http://chilled.cream.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=812&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20

then there is an mp3 of Harry Nilsson from an Everett radio show that's worth hearing. Unfortunately none of the other links on the thread appear to work.

I wanted to add a "classic" vote. The cover of "River Deep, Mountain High" on Pandemonium Shadow Show (better than the "remix" on Aerial Pandemonium Ballet though that one's great too) is so classic: sonically it's very similar to the original, with all the instruments save voice pretty much the same. But Nilsson does all the voices, and on the second verse (the one about the puppy) when he gets to the "I'm gonna be as faithful as that puppy" he shout/sings it and at that moment it's like the standards of faithfulness have been completely reset, like you can only really be faithful to another person if you can shout it that mountain high. It's like when Cash says "I find it very, very easy to be true", and you're like, wow, it's not easy for me at all, I've got some work cut out for me...Nilsson resets the standards of faithfulness too.

I remember Blue Peter creating a dance routine to Nilsson's "River Deep" (didn't know it was his version till many years later, it was that puppy line that registered w/me), with Lesley Judd of the Young Generation (the rest wus historie)

i have been totally obsessed for the past like three months. everything about him is perfect - voice, songs, piano, personality, everything. classic, classic, classic.

Funnily enough, I just dug up my 2CD "Ariel Pandemonium Ballet Show" cd set about an hour ago. And suddenly here's this thread.

how is Son of Schmilsson? seen that LP the other day, looked so cool. dunno why i didnt pick it up

its good. has the fuck you song.

And Without You, of course.

thats on nilsson schmilsson

Knnillssonn is very underrated. He definitely got his voice back after Pussy Cats.

just to say a little more it has a very ethereal, angelic quality to it. a bit Spector-esque with beautiful string arrangements and heavy reverb throughout. not much guitar except for wonderful acoustic playing and lots of Beach Boys style percussion. some of his best vocals and melodies of his career for sure. even the cover is heaven.

http://www.jefito.com/nilsson_knnillssonn.jpg

actually, knnillssonn kind of depresses me. he doesn't sound blown out, but he does a little desensitized to me

haha im liking it tons and tons today. btw i posted a song from it on askchaki! board last week and it still seems to be an active link of anyone wants.

+ i'll ask again: where in sf??

just with friends for now! ill hit you up on webmail.

actually, knnillssonn kind of depresses me. he doesn't sound blown out, but he does a little desensitized to me

I sort of know what you mean, it's still beautiful though

!!!! I just bought Knnillssonn the other day and was going to post about it. It's good. Not quite up there with the best of them, but certainly better than the snoozier albums of his I've heard, eg A Touch of Schmilsson. Just enough weirdness to stay alive. Love all the plucky-plucky strings (real? fake?) and the crazy song about being in an Agatha Christie story.

what is "Beach Boys-style percussion"?

are you serious? you of anyone knows that wrcking crew percussion sound.

dr c: yes real strings.

ah okay gotcha

I heart Hal Blaine

the most beautiful world in the world
and though there are times when i doubt you
i just couldn't stay here without you

i want to party with him

You're not the only cuddly toy that was ever enjoyed by any boy

You're not the only choo-choo train that was left out in the rain

i want to party with him

That Knnillssonn cover is triggering tavern-toilet bowl flashbacks

you're breakin my heart
you're tearin it apart
so fuck you

Love all the plucky-plucky strings (real? fake?) and the crazy song about being in an Agatha Christie story

that used to annoy me as a kid because i'm sure it didn't add up properly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrQ8NHz6T4Q

Harry Nilsson wrote the series' theme song, which Candy sang.

wau

its such a harry nilsson song!!

You're totally fucking with me! I remember liking the song and having next to no interest in the show. Wow. That's hilarious. It's as Nilsson a theme song as you could imagine - loping, drunken, absolutely not the kind of go-getter tune a kids' cartoon theme song of the day called for. Sadly John Candy didn't have quite Nilsson's set of pipes.

"Jump Into The Fire" was so integral to that great coked-out sequence in "GoodFellas"

If anyone wants the Popeye demos, I've got them. Email me and I'll figure out how to share 'em. I don't think there's a copyright on the demos.

Seems like I got them off of a direct link on a site, though...I'll try to track it down.

Currently I'm trying to find a few of the tracks off of Nilsson's unreleased last album, anybody hear them yet?

...and my insignificant vote for most underrated Nilsson album is Sandman. Classic stuff. All his early stuff was fantastic, too, up until Pussycats.

fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/

chaki otm re Knnillssonn. tho he never really did get his voice back all the way. that's just aging and cigarettes as much as damage tho.

ghost rider, thanks much for the link. I've been waiting to hear those tracks.

Harry said toward the end that his voice would feel like it was coming back sometimes after a hot shower. If you do a youtube search you can catch some live performances from later on in his life, and he doesn't sound so great...still, his last album and some tracks he recorded for a Yoko Ono tribute album sound pretty good, his voice was tarnished but it was still amazing.

fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/

Holy sh*t!

been rinsing 'jump into the fire' thx to goodfellas thread madeleine-effect.

we can make each other happy

Nilsson Schmilsson and The Point! rule!

Gotta Get Up.

WE COULD MAKE EACH OTHER HAPPY!

Sit beside the breakfast table,
Talk about your troubles...

Perfect Day as used in the movie All That Jazz is pretty fucking awesome.

11:20am saturday... 2 hours sleep... last night total debauch... going to a funeral in an hour... "gotta get up" just about the perfect song right now.

Quick question: Did the vinyl issue ofThat's The Way It Is have a special innersleeve? I picked up a copy sans innersleeve this weekend and am curious, since some of the later Nilsson lps had sleeves w/in-jokes on them.

It would seem not: Skimmed my usual places of info for this, and havent found one.

Why is the "Who is Harry Nilsson?" documentary still not out on dvd?!! Blurg.

Just about the best thing ever:

nilsson/nilsson/nilsson...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOwUvGgAL0k

it has dawned on me this past week that "don't forget me" is an astonishingly beautiful song.

yes! it's a highlight of Pussy Cats. He's learned from the old masters on A Little Touch and written a subtle lyric, but not without a cheap laugh or two (I'm thinking esp. of the alimony line). But the vocal is heartbreaking, esp. in light of what's to come in his career. I love this album so much.

the whole song is pretty brutal, though.

I'll Never Leave You is so lovely <3

After living with two different greatest hits comps for years and years, I've slowly been picking up the actual albums in the last year. Bought Nilsson Schmilsson first, which in a way was a let-down because I already knew all the best songs and wasn't that into the others. Then I happened across A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night and was pretty bored by that one. Finally two weeks ago I got Pandemonium Shadow Show and that one is stellar, front to back. Next up for me will be Aerial Ballet, I think.

For me a moment that handily sums up the dude is the first verse of "Moonbeam." He's singing, with his gorgeous, free-floating voice, a rhyming list of places you may have seen a moonbeam, just some great imagery:

Have you ever watched a moonbeam
As it slid across your windowpane
Or struggled with a bit of rain
Or danced about the weathervane
Or sat along a moving train
And wondered where the train has been?

And that last line breaks the rhyme and forces some more syllables in and interest is heightened a bit, so then he drops:

Or on a fence with bits of crap around its bottom
Blown there by a windbeam?

Casually dropping the word "crap" in there, which isn't a totally crass or disgusting word but is really silly – man, it just tickles me every time. Such a Harry thing to do.

just reveling in Aerial Pandemonium Ballet and wondering what other acts pursued the possibilities of this side of the Beatles: elegant but playful, tunes over conceptual depth, gorgeous but always aching.

How come this still hasn't come out (as far as I know)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmmwMx06Pg8

no idea but it looks nice!

I just ask because the trailer has been online since 2006. Apparently it's been shown at a few festivals, but there's still nothing about a dvd release. I want to SEE IT!

i want to see this urgently!!

yeah.

would totally watch this

it is kind of a bummer Harry died when he did -- he should've had at least one late-career classic comeback sort of albums.

"Knnillssonn" sorta filled that role. I'm glad he stopped recording though, it was very wise of him.

Yeah but Knillssonn is what 1976 or 77? When did he die, early 90s?

'77. He hadn't made a good album in a while though and then he stopped after it... OK he did make another album after it, but who's heard that?

That doesn't mean it was no good though.

Nah, it's supposed to be dire

Popeye soundtrack is fun.
I heard some song of his from the 80s that was a LA Dodger theme song or something. "Go Dodger Bluuuuue!"

Yah, I know that blog too!

Well, the amount of stuff he'd done and the people he'd worked with, I'd have said he'd earned to right to do something else.

surely Clive Davis coulda worked something out, paired him with Kanye or the guy from Maroon 5 amirite

hey lets throw in a Santana solo

i smell a Grammy

oh wait, that's just the garbage truck rolling by

He should have done more film work. I think he'd have been a very good actor.

surely Clive Davis coulda worked something out, paired him with Kanye or the guy from Maroon 5 amirite

his voice is heartbreakingly shot in every '80s clip i've seen on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C63OcPY6AiE

which explains

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJ9Yxef5zI

(do not watch those clips if you're easily bummed out)

I'm not going to

such a strange career, this guy - listening to his earlier stuff now and not really digging it tbh. fascination with tin pan alley silliness hasn't really aged well imho, reminds me of early Van Dyke Parks and not in a good way. but once the 70s get rolling, he definitely becomes more interesting.

My buying Nilsson Schmilsson last year was my Classic Album Discovery purchase of the year.

Yes, it's fantastique.

Re. Tin Pan Alley silliness: when I revived this thread yesterday this was on my mind. It's one of the possibilities the Beatles opened for "rock" (cos yeah it was obv possible before them) but I think it's less followed through on than others of the possibilities they opened. Like, glam picked up on the silliness but with tongues in cheek---whereas for the Beatles & Nilsson it was more straight (Lou Reed fits in here somewhere too). But Nilsson's silliness usually is paired with ache, both early & late (and post Pussy Cats he's vey silly again).

his tin pan alley-ish lyrics are usually major bummers when you listen to them ...

he's a great lyricist even when he's in Tin Pan Alley mode, its more the ticky-tacky musical arrangements that I can't get into - usually a bit too arch and cutesy and baroque for their own good ("Paul's granny's music" as Lennon used to call it)

My buying Nilsson Schmilsson last year was my Classic Album Discovery purchase of the year.

After living with and loving his greatest hits for years and years, I finally bought my first proper album of his last year, too. Also Nilsson Schmilsson because that's the one that gets talked up the most. It's awesome, yes. But a month or two back I got Pandemonium Shadow Show and it is way better. Not sure why Nilsson Schmilsson gets so much critical love when the guy had a clearly consistent run of genius.

Nilsson Schmilsson has the hits, which is what keeps it on people's minds. I like that whole mid-career run, though.

Just now discovering HN, I've got Pandemonium Shadow Show, Aerial Ballet, Nilsson Schmilsson, Harry, The Point, and I'm going apeshit over how good all these records are. LUVLUVLUV the Beatles covers (esp "You Can't Do That") on his first two albums. Other favorite tracks at the mmt are "Down To The Valley", "Little Cowboy", "Everybody's Talkin'", "River Deep Mountain High". I saw "Popeye" recently and yes those songs are amazing, kind of traditional sounding yet with really inventive arrangements. The bonus stuff on "The Point" is wonderful, I really like this track a whole lot. It's an advert but it's probably one of the coolest adverts I've ever heard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x68-mnvyMpo

other favorite tracks at the mmt are "Down To The Valley"

Love that song too

It's an advert but it's probably one of the coolest adverts I've ever heard

Here's one he did for tv, for Duit on Mon Dei lp:
http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2010/01/duit-on-mon-dei-tv-commercial-1975.html

Neat item from that page:

According to Olive Films (via Paramount), Skidoo is set to be released on DVD for the first time in September, 2010. Harry wrote some of the music and even made an acting cameo in the 1968 film.

A neat little gift from the blog a few weeks back, a French TV Special from '68 featuring Harry and the surprisingly fetching Peggy March

ah, this guy..

a god among mortals

the best that ever was

happy birthday harry

"Well in 1941 a happy father had a son..."

the doc on dvd

I'm currently working on a dubstep track that samples the first couple of notes on "One".

This guy needs a broad reaching 4CD boxset.

From his earliest days, through his Monkees and Beatles days, to his last.

I reckons.

thanks for this revive reminding me about the doc dvd - anyone checked it out yet?

obv of interest for fans but a pretty clumsy movie

yeah my friend saw it, said there was some good footage, but not exactly a brilliant piece of filmmaking.

actually, I really liked this -- along w/the Rush doc, one of the most comprehensive rock documentaries I've seen. unlike the rush doc, I wouldn't say Nilsson comes out more "likable" as a result of it. He comes out looking pretty flawed and tragic, but also incredibly well-loved by his friends/family/peers.

ditto on the boxset. total genius. "Nilsson Schmillson" is such a classic, and every album I've heard has some amazing, indispensible material

i thought the doc was pretty much inept. watch and it and see if you can figure out, for example, how he died. some good footage though, yeah.

didn't it say something about a big heart attack, and how that was a very nilsson way to go? I do remember the part about him talking to his kids the week before he died

they said he was in bad health and he knew he only had a few days to live (which is a bit odd as it is), and then they say very ominously that there was an earthquake and you're left wondering (a) if the earthquake killed him, (b) if he correctly predicted the date or his own heart attack, (c) if he just went to sleep one night and never woke up. they don't actually tell you. you only know he's dead 'cause they start talking about his funeral. they do a lot of this in the doc. it's really strange filmmaking.

was the doc on telly in the states? it wasn't here harrumph.

it is interesting to hear from all the people (producers, managers, whatnot) he left behind both on his way up and on his way down. they all sound like wounded ex-girlfriends who will go to their own graves wondering why harry left them.

i'm not aware of it having been on tv in the US. it had very brief theatrical runs in a few cities.

fcc otm abt the death sequence. that sort of elliptical stuff happened a few times throughout. pretty clumsy, but then a nilsson track'd come on and i was like "aw fuck it"

Watch the Smothers Brothers TV performance instead. It's like 30 minutes long and features all these great Point-era performances and stuff and silly skits inbetween and things. Really wonderful.

"Watch the Smothers Brothers TV performance instead. It's like 30 minutes long and features all these great Point-era performances and stuff and silly skits inbetween and things. Really wonderful."

This performance of "1941" is my favorite thing he ever did. Waaaay better than the album version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s51bRVVRah4

who cares about a box set? all but one or two of the albums are in print, and on two-fers no less. just dig in.

ans: Because his career was not a purely linear thing. There's a lot that predates his first album, and many projects that sit outside his "solo" works.

Make it like the Ramones' "life and times" with 3CDs, 1DVD and an inlaid book/history, and that would be brilliant.

Thanks. (in advance)

^ this is true. there's way more than enough genius nilsson to justify a 3 CD set, plus a booklet/DVD laying out the story. plus he fucking deserves it, and people deserve to know. that's reason enough.

Book, rather than booklet, but yes. Thanks.

Really really love this song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsX5BkBsrMk

As silly as those lyrics are, I think its one of the most beautiful songs ive ever heard.

just watched who is harry nilsson - pretty dece for a talkin head/old footage stando type scenario - realized i didnt really know much abt this guy

but now i do

Listening to "The Point" is probably the best introduction you could possibly have to this guy.

WHOA. Before opening this thread I ordered a copy of Son of Schmilsson this morning.

Listening to "The Point" is probably the best introduction you could possibly have to this guy.

Debatable

Well I think it's got the best concentration of amazing songs, and it's a really good one for showing off his vocal arrangements. "Son of Schmilsson" is pretty damn fine as well. <3 <3 <3 "The Most Beautiful World In The World". Really does dip into Beatles-level pop at a few points on that album.

It's a broad church

also just saw the doc. too much decline, not enough prime.

loved the sight of Otto Preminger in a blue hippie suit on Playboy After Dark, tho

yeah the doc tried a little too hard to cram everything into its chosen narrative and didnt really attempt to understand his music particularly past THIS GUY IS GREAT but it was p cool just for the presence of the man if nothing else

lol at everyone being all WHEN HARRY SHOWED UP AT YR DOOR U KNEW U WERE GONNA DO TONS OF DRUGS FOR DAYS ON END and then none of them actually telling the stories abt it smh

Just Say No to Harry, kids

xpost
Yeah, there were lots of moments of "Things were really crazy back then, kids", wink wink.

Also, what was the deal with dude with rainbow beard? That was probably more crazy than anything that happened in the 70s.

it was a Hudson, right?

lol at everyone being all WHEN HARRY SHOWED UP AT YR DOOR U KNEW U WERE GONNA DO TONS OF DRUGS FOR DAYS ON END and then none of them actually telling the stories abt it smh

found it really frustrating they'd spend so much time on vague shit like this when, whenever they did flesh out an anecdote, like the letter he wrote his infant son or how he won over his last wife with fruit, the details were amazing.

just gonna link to the review i wrote, since i think otherwise i'll wind up regurgitating the whole thing anyway

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/film/who-harry-nilsson-and-why-everybody-talkin-about-him

other ppl's drug stories are boring. also I think Robin Williams was being honest saying he couldn't remember most of it.

other ppl's drug stories are boring.

not as boring as repeated references to untold ones!

the flowers and melons story was p incredible

yeah picking up a 19-yo in an ice cream parlor doesnt usu work out in the long term

just give that bitch melons, melons man im tellin u

Rainbow Beard was the weirdest facial hair I've ever seen.

Agree w most ppl above, too many talking heads, too vague. I think most music docs these days make those mistakes. Even the "in depth" album-based ones are basically a series of people saying "This song is soooo good!". Mostly, I would rather have a complete compilation of archival videos. I guess this is where bootleggers step in to do the artist justice...

rainbow beard was jarringly nagl

I think the only song we heard all the way thru (in two pieces) was "Everybody's Talkin"

Have to say him marrying a nice Irish girl and having lots and lots of happy-looking kids was a good way to end a potentially really depressing life story.

if only he had made it past age 52 tho, eh

kids stay away from robin williams and youll lead a long healthy life

at least it's easier now to stay away from Lennon.

C or D: tracing a musician's downfall thru going from being John's pal to Ringo's.

lol

I did like the part of the doc where Harry describes writing "One" around a phone's busy signal.

someone seriously needs to release decent copies of those BBC specials.

the clips on youtube are amazing.

think i'm gonna watch this doc tonight since it seems to have shown up on netflix streaming.

wd've liked more Popeye music and less about the drug party on Malta

I want to see "Son of Drac"! Wtf was that? EVeryone in the docu was saying how bad it was but the footage of Harry in a vampire suit just chilling and singing Harry songs suggested it is fucking awesome.

lol at the cover Netflix has for "The Point"

http://cdn-8.nflximg.com/en_US/boxshots/gsd/60036028.jpg

ha!
i'm about halfway through the doc -- interesting stuff w/ some great footage, even if it's not the greatest filmmaking of all time. bbc stuff looks rad. you can grab it (audio/video) here: http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2007/12/bbc.html
for a guy who didn't play live, looks like he was perfectly capable of being a great performer.

and, if you must, from the same blog: http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2006/12/son-of-dracula-movie-1974.html

I want to see "Son of Drac"! Wtf was that? EVeryone in the docu was saying how bad it was but the footage of Harry in a vampire suit just chilling and singing Harry songs suggested it is fucking awesome.

― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Sunday, December 5, 2010 3:02 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^

everybody otm

Everybody's OTMin'

lol the point is a teen-made realist drama from an impoverished mtl neighbourhood

So The Point on Netflix is the original film right? It just has the wrong picture? I was worried that it was some weird remake, but now I'm going to try renting it.

Adam Bruneau OTM re LOTTERY SONG upthread, outstanding song

OOOO LOO LOO LOO LOO LOO; OOO LOO LOO LOO LOO LOO

I found VDP and Jimmy Webb's stuff very affecting. And I admired how negatively the guy was portrayed for so much of it. But yes, it did sort of beg for a slightly more in depth discussion of his music.

Re. the decline years...the footage of him recording in '75 or so with the full bar and deli buffet in the studio, catching cigarettes thrown into his mouth and so forth, made me sad I never got around to writing a proposed piece for Stylus on his post-Pussycats records. Nobody declined like Harry Nilsson.

When rainbow beard told his funeral story, and said George Harrison told him his favorite Nilsson song was "Fuck you," I think that was actually Harrison just saying "fuck you" to rainbow beard. I mean, you know, not really, but in the best world, that's what happened.

I didn't know who rainbow beard was and was frustrated throughout the movie. Then I saw him on the VH1 or whatever reality show about Rock Camp.

rainbow beard is p unsettling

Who the hell *is* rainbow beard, Mr. Selzer? others amy also answer.
Not only was his beard/clashing purple velvet suit combo appalling, he just generally seemed like an unpleasant guy.

when i watched this i thought: that guy must get beat up every day of his life.

I think about this docu all the time, tho, just for the Nilsson facts. The story about him robbing a liquor store as a kid!

Personally, I am fond of the clip showing Harry catching a cigarette in his mouth and him lighting it without missing a beat during the Duit on Mon Dei sessions.

yeah, that was nuts. one of the most impressive things for me was just how awesomely slobby looking the guy was. i mean, the album covers of schmilsson and the others give you some idea, but wow, for a star he just looked like a mess. in a good way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hudson_(musician)

working with a broad variety of artists including Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Hanson, Harry Nilsson, and the Baha Men.

who let rainbow beard out who who

tread is now #1 result for fuck you rainbow beard

Ooga Booga!
http://img.poptower.com/pic-34398/mark-hudson.jpg?d=600

GAH!

ick.
thought that a big hole in the doc was the absence of a ringo interview. i'm sure the filmmakers tried to get him, but i guess ringo is kind of a cranky dude these days.

maybe he refused to be in it if rainbow beard was and the producers were all well theres no way were giving up rainbow beard i mean its RAINBOW BEARD

HIS BEARD IS A RAINBOW

i asked the director about ringo at a screening in new york, and he said ringo is unwilling to talk about those days on camera. or at least that's what ringo's people told him. it was definitely a hole.

ringo and mark rainbow beard hudson have worked together for years.

ringo apparently is unfamiliar w/the old 'oh nilsson lol crazy times *scratch chin look around nervously*' dodge

Was that at the 92nd st Y screening? I was at the premiere and was about to say I remember them discussing Ringo.

If you read the wiki on Hudson, he and Ringo have had a falling out.

this was at cinema village, where it played for a week or two.

wiki on hudson sounds like it should be the name of a new high-tech village in upstate new york.

It just clicked that this guy was one of the Hudson Brothers (of the Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show). Ugh.

kate hudson's uncle

on the opposite spectrum of interviewees, van dyke parks is great in this -- super insightful, sincere, dignified.

yeah hes cool 4 sure

I wish Van Dyke Parks was my uncle.

is there a van dyke parks doc cause if not calling all aspiring filmmakers

Every cult music figure has a documentarian who loves them

I was marginally fascinated by how personally devastated VDP and Jimmy Webb appeared to be about Nilsson wasting his talent. Not dying young but wasting his talent. Webb says something like, "The day I learned Harry ruined his voice was the worst day of my life." And at the end, Parks almost cries discussing how Harry had the gall to give up music because he wanted to fight gun violence.

yeah that was interesting -- got the feeling that van dyke really believed that nilsson's gift was as a musician, not as a lobbyist. which is probably otm. webb not even being able to discuss harry's voice problems was a little strange, just since webb seemed so even-keeled throughout the rest of the interviews, but i guess it was a big deal to him.

The rainbow beard bloke, wasn't he Sharon Osbourne's helper on X-Factor?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8CL23Xl5yo

would shoot ball with

yeah that was interesting -- got the feeling that van dyke really believed that nilsson's gift was as a musician, not as a lobbyist. which is probably otm. webb not even being able to discuss harry's voice problems was a little strange, just since webb seemed so even-keeled throughout the rest of the interviews, but i guess it was a big deal to him.
--tylerw

Watched it again w my wife last night -- and I think that's right. First time around, I was struck by the fact that he seemed like a dick for most of the first half -- firing his producer from his first few records by telegram, dumping his wife and kid and generally carrying on like an asshole. Watching a second time I was struck by what a shitty childhood he had and how it clearly haunted him until he died -- at least until his third wife straightened him out a bit. I thought her point that he lived as if he knew it wouldn't be for very long was interesting.

The first son's scenes were heartbreaking though. After Harry walked out on him just like the damage his father gave him...then to find happiness with a new family and for the first son to experience that.

yeah sort of rough when one of his daughters was like "i didn't even know [the previous family] existed"

i couldnt quite parse the particularities of the 'abandonment' - its seemed like he just got divorced from the 1st kids mom - they were all he abandoned us but then there was tons of stories of them hanging out at seemingly all ages - seemed like he was more generally absent and neglectful than left one day to by cigarettes on the bad dad scale

kinda imagine it was more like he disappeared from his first family's life in the 70s, and maybe reconnected with the son in the 80s, though, yeah not entirely clear in the doc.

i'm torn between being glad there's a harry nilsson doc and disappointed that now someone who can actually tell his story coherently probably won't bother

It seemed pretty clear to me that he left the first wife and never saw the first son again really until the first son was an adult, when they hung out for 1 weekend. I don't remember any stories of them hanging out at all ages.

no one's written a bio, have they?

The first son's scenes were heartbreaking though. After Harry walked out on him just like the damage his father gave him...then to find happiness with a new family and for the first son to experience that.

see also: harry's good friend john lennon.

no one's written a bio, have they?

I've been trying to get my friend, who's a writer and the biggest Nilsson fan I know, to do this, but so far efforts have proved futile.

My sort of hope is that Curtis Armstrong (of Revenge of the Nerds/"Booger" fame), who has sort of emerged as the world's leading Nilssonologist with his liner notes and so forth, will write a proper bio.

wait waht

lol that's weird. why wasn't booger interviewed for the doc?!

fuck a bio i want booger to make biopic

Owen Wilson as Nilsson

booger can at least play old Nilsson in the hospital

Whoa, Curtis Armstrong is on some odd obssessing deal. My dad happens to know him because of their shared interest in all things involving Sherlock Holmes!

lol that's weird. why wasn't booger interviewed for the doc?!
--tylerw

Dunno. He is thanked in the credits tho.

"Who Done It?" is weird and wonderful.

this was pretty good, usual failings of low-budget rock docs aside

Owen Wilson as Nilsson

― assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, January 7, 2011 6:33 PM (2 months ago)

C'mon, Owen can't sing. Glen Hansard might be good fit, that is, if he could stop trying so hard to impress.

btw does anyone know what the deal is with this Midnight Cowboy song that Joni apparently wrote for the movie?

this was pretty good, usual failings of low-budget rock docs aside
Yeah, I don't think it failed on that much. For an obsessive like myself, there was a lot to chew on there.

btw does anyone know what the deal is with this Midnight Cowboy song that Joni apparently wrote for the movie?

Not totally sure. Thing is, I'm not sure she "wrote it for the movie" as Dylan's song is "Lay Lady Lay" which, IIRC, he had written well before Midnight Cowboy.

i think they asked dylan to write a song for the movie and he said yes, but he took to long to deliver "lay lady lay" to the filmmakers. or something. dunno about joni's song.

has the doc been shown in US cinemas or was it on TV?

it's on netflix watch instantly...

ah is that free? (netflix virgin here)

I rented a DVD. and yeah I don't think it failed that much it's just like... eh y'know ooh more talking heads and photo-montages! which is what most rock docs are composed of, especially when the subject is dead.

netflix instant is free ... if you have a netflix subscription.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dswVK5si45M&feature=related

"someday in combat it might save your life"

Got the doc dvd in my latest batch of Borders clearance stuff. Finished w/the film a little while ago, haven't dug into the xtras yet, but noticed some missing things:

-His apprenticeship w/Spector. Admittedly Phil probably wasn't available, and perhaps the filmmakers felt the craziness quota was already filled.

-The late 70s records were only briefly touched upon. There's a good story about he tried to appease RCA w/That's The Way It Is and when it failed Harry sort of got his shit together and made Knnillsson only to see it more or less go OOP right away when Elvis died and RCA switched all their plants over to pressing Elvis albums and singles. That action became a severe bone of contention between them and helped finish Harry off at the label.

-No mention of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (aside from "Best Friend" soundtracking the Ringo montage).

But on the whole I guess it was okay, despite the flaws (the death thing was seriously WTF? Almost like the filmmakers figured the viewer already knew the real story). Seemed like a long ep of "Behind The Music" or (better still) "American Masters"--not necessarily something you'd shell 10 bucks for to see at a theatre.

Would love to see a comp of those BBC specials with those album ads thrown in in the extras. And it was cool to hear one of the Popeye demos on the soundtrack (how great is that segment of Van Dyke where he just plays the song on the piano?).

The whole Mark Hudson discussion reminded me of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngIxuGOVGeQ

hahahahaha

for the love of Harry says the Skidoo! dvd is coming (for real this time) in July. And amazon has it.

OK, so Bob Stanley had a screening of the documentary in Camden on Sat'day afternon and three men and a dog (possibly Arrow) showed up, eventually they let me and few other people (i.e. like proper Harry Nilsson fans) in for nothing. Of course if it had been about Nick Drake or Jeff Buckley or someone they'd have been queues round the block. Re: the film, felt sad for Rick Jarrard that Harry dumped him, but more fool Harry because he did his best work with Jarrard + George Tipton IMO.

Hey, in one of the deleted scenes, they actually explain Rainbow Beard's significance to the story-he produced Harry's last sessions at his home studio. There's pix too, AND RAINBOW BEARD LOOKED LIKE A REGULAR OLD ROCKER DUDE. WHAT POSSESSED HIM SINCE THEN TO GO FULL RAINBOW?

-His apprenticeship w/Spector.

yeah I thought this was a weird omission too. I wouldn't expect them to get Spector on film or anything, but to not even mention it seemed sort of odd.

wow where was this Bob Stanley screening? is it out on DVD yet? was it on telly in the States?

(xp) Talking of weird omissions, the fact that Harry's mother was a songwriter too would seem worthy of comment - after all, he did cover two of her songs on his albums!

woah, totally - didn't know that. Would have helped smooth over the film's transition from poverished gutter kid to writer of Stephen Foster melodies.

Indeed, she wrote, or at least partly wrote, "Little Cowboy" and "Marchin' Down Broadway" (latter seem obvious once you know)

you know I really don't get Nilsson - everyone says he's such a genius. To me every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb

This is only a problem if it makes you feel inferior somehow. If not, there are 90-bajillion other things to listen to.

every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb
exactly! sort of!

You gotta find the shit with the dopest arrangements. I suggest reviewing the soundtrack to "The Point" on headphones.

He has the most beautiful voice. He's like the male Karen Carpenter.

whole bbc doc is on youtube

here's part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaHWCPFP04o

lol not doc but uh (famous) performance

It doesnt make mee feel inferior so much as like "wait, the emperor is not wearing any clothes!" I watched "WHo is Harry Nilsson" - they were talking about Nilsson Schmilsson like it was freaking Abbey Road. "Lime in the Cocoanut" - wtf??

its just music man no revelations are really there to be had

thats what you think!

I suggest buying Nilsson Schmilsson or Son Of. Otherwise have a nice life.

nilsson sings newman is the one that sent me over the edge into nilsson superfandom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-jue4Yqt0

This song is so simple & beautiful + he is a freaking Dracula on the cover. These two things together sum up Nilsson for me!

To me every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb

That's why we like him. You see?

> "Lime in the Cocoanut" - wtf??

I have the same reaction, but I suppose for different reasons...oh, and I guess I had that reaction back when I was three-years-old for an entirely different reaction. Whoa!

I'm not actually a big "Coconut" fan and think Schmilsson's overrated - check out Pussy Cats. Though thinking "the emperor's not wearing any clothes" is pretty easy when watching a documentary on any rock musician.

It's funny, I hated Dylan for years because of all the "genius" talk, would make glib cracks about his ugly voice - could totally see someone doing the same with Nilsson except making glib cracks about his pretty voice. Listen to it AS lightweight andy gibb music and you'll pick up the smarts. Listen to it for genius and yeah, it's lightweight. Dude was devoted to lightweight.

OTM. Genius at lightweight. If you wanna stroke yer chin and furrow yer brow, look elsewhere.

Nilsson's best virtue is that he made several Love and Theft-type comedy records.

In Nilsson's case, I think "lightweight" is an apt complement.

Watching the doc last week I realized that "Schmilsson" was one of the handful of rock LPs my dad owned. I had this sudden memory explosion of "Coconut" (with added Muppet memories) and the drums in "Jump into the Fire" being a jump around the living room soundtrack.

Happy 70th.

+1

Why +1?

As in, "I also wish him Happy 70th."

Ah, thought you meant he was 71. But then everybody knows that in 1941 a happy father had a son.

That docu is going to be on the BBC next week.

it's not bad. the Spector stuff seems like the main glaring ommission

You could make a whole 'nother film from all the deleted scenes. Jimmy Webb had some stories man...

Saw "Son of Nilsson" at a friend's house just now and freaked out over it. When i got home, i put it on immediately!

documentary was kind of formless and boring, oh well.

Well, the "Imagine: Nilsson" documentary was on BBC1 over the weekend, and is now on iplayer.

I thought it excellent...

This thing about "Nilsson shot his voice forever thanks to Lennon" doesn't hold up for me.

Even in the doc, they spoke of his contribution to The Fisher King as being "well, his voice was shot and his whistling all over the place" and then the track got played, and it sounded great.

Even "Many rivers to cross" sounded raw/ragged, but in a good way.

Been on a major Nilsson jag since watching the documentary. The piano/harpsichord coda to "Cowboy" on Nilsson sings Newman. Wow

That's a nod to the theme to Midnight Cowboy actually. And yes, it's awesome.

that version of Cowboy is so great. hard to imagine such power coming out of a sparse arrangement. nilsson and newman seem so perfect for each other.

Fuck, i knew the piano reminded me of something. Pretty dumb of me not make the connection. It really is a tremendous album though. I like a lot the rest of his catalogue but tbh i'm not much of a fan of the wackier material so it's my favourite. Dunno how they left "Snow" off the original tracklist either.

"Snow" is pretty much my favorite thing on the record. It's devastating.

the double- and then triple-tracking at roughly 7:15 = teh awesome
2012 republican presidential nominee III: can romney get santorum out of his hair?

Yeah, I dunno, Shakey, I have to say I think Harry's voice really shows the strain when he tries to tackle that later, political-meter-data-based material.

"people let me tell you 'bout mitt rom-ney"

"You're breaking my heart/you're tearin' it apart/So Ron Paul"

I can't live, if living is without Newt.

"Buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum (orum)
Try-y-y-y i-y-y Santorum (orum)
If you buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum
You will hear me singing...
'Down from the mountain to Mitt Romney
Down from Mitt Romney to the people
Teach 'em how to pray'

Buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum (orum)
Try-y-y-y i-y-y Santorum (orum)
If you buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum
You will hear me singing...
'Herman Cain (oh yes he will!)
Herman Cain (leavin' in the mornin' yeah)'

Buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum (orum)
Won't you try-y-y-y i-y-y Santorum (orum)"

Fuck it, somebody should have just done all of "I'll Be Home"...

Herman Cain, Herman Cain
When your nights are troubled and you're all alone
When you're feelin' down and need some sympathy
And there's no one else around to keep you company
Remember baby, you can always count on me
Herman Cain, Herman Cain, Herman Cain.

Herman Cain, Herman Cain
Wherever you may wander and wherever you may roam
You come back and I'll be waiting here for you
'Cause no one else will ever love you the way I do
I'll be here to comfort you and see you through
Herman Cain, Herman Cain, Herman Cain.

So, finally saw the documentary last night along with my sweets -- she was very intrigued and fascinated by his voice and immediately asked if I had anything by him (far too few things, actually -- aside from scattered tracks, just Son Of and the Popeye demos, oddly enough). She thought the documentary itself was a little too long though we were running it late in the evening, but she had a point since the film as noted is a bit poor on structure and detail at points, so it feels a bit like a slog. Still, loved the footage that did pop up and as an initial taste of everything there's been worse. Now I need to look through that For The Love of Harry blog...

Be careful Ned - you'll end up downloading all 11 volumes (22 discs!) of Harrities. I speak from experience.

This is not a bad thing.

true! Just giving you fair notice that you it's deep water you propose to enter.

Ha, well, I've already started that process. Meantime I'll order up Nilsson Schmilsson today from iTunes lest my girlfriend get testy.

I'm partial to Nilsson SIngs Newman. Great mix of voice and viewpoint.

Nilsson's the best, your girlfriend is great.

That she is. :-)

been listening to the 1st two proper albums today, boy they are fucking great.

I love that the Popeye demos are what Ned had on hand, too! I think every album he did up through Son of Schmilsson is SOLID, a perfect gem, and every album after that has 2-3 movingly perfect deep cuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrQ8NHz6T4Q

man he really shot his voice in the mid 1970s. jeez.

also: go hog wild, ned:

http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2011/05/purple-chick-son-of-harrities-series-22.html

"go hog wild, ned" is a great line.

Started downloading it this morning!

When the TOTP repeats started happening, I was happy to see Nilsson's face in the top thirty run-down. "Look! Nilsson and a proper hit, everyone!"

Spaceman is sooo good / some of the alternate versions are downright spooky.

Why is this stuff only on boots? And is his wife ever gonna release the album he was working on when he died?

"Spaceman" got lodged in my brain in fall '10 and hasn't left.

any favorites from the Harrities list? are these for hardcore fans only?

Then there's this collection as well:

http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2011/12/bonus-tracks-volumes-1-3-2012.html

i really like those monkees demos: http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2011/05/son-of-harryties-02-mr-lennons-favorite.html
will admit that i have a five-disc nillsson rarities collection, and it is probably enough for me...

a LOT of the stuff on that 22-CD collection, especially the later years, is dodgy-to-worthless.

Pulled out Son of Schmilsson tonight, don't usually go for that one 'cause in my head it's long on the "slightly dark wackiness" angle - but I always forget, first of all, about "Spaceman" which is easily one of my top favorite Nilsson songs and probably one of my favorite songs of the Seventies period....and also about "The Lottery Song" which is just a gorgeous, sweet little treat. Wow. Totally totally slid past my ears the first x times I listened to this record.

!!!! I just bought Knnillssonn the other day and was going to post about it. It's good. Not quite up there with the best of them, but certainly better than the snoozier albums of his I've heard, eg A Touch of Schmilsson. Just enough weirdness to stay alive. Love all the plucky-plucky strings (real? fake?) and the crazy song about being in an Agatha Christie story.

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 1:36 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

listening to this again for maybe the third or fourth time since that post, record is sounding pretty fucking great on a couple classes of rye, turned up loud. Just great sound, his voice against all this plucky echoey space.

yeah, i think "all i think about is you" is one of his best.

I'm just getting over a chesty cold infection..

I reckon I could sing a blinding version of "All I think about is you" right now, if I could avoid coughing.

"Blanket for a Sail" is one of my favorites on this.

They're releasing a 17cd box! http://fortheloveofharrynilsson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-rca-albums-collection-2013.html

It has the tearjerking 'I Want You To Sit On My Face' on it, which is worth the price of admission.

nice!

whoa!

the only disappointment is they don't include the abridged/remixed/resequenced/etc version of his first two LPs which is actually damn good in its own right.

OTOH i already have that on CD so I can just keep that disc or rip it or whatever.

oh wait they do have that album on there, nevermind. it just seems placed in a weird order.

The albums are in the order in which they were actually released. "Aerial Pandemonium Ballet" came out way way after the two albums from which it's derived.

ah, i see.

it took me a minute to notice the three discs of unreleased stuff. whoa.

btw this is going for WAY cheaper on amazon.co.uk compared to USA amazon

which means that one of you is getting me a birthday present

that amazon uk/us price diff is bonkers. is that common? or is that likely a mistake? i never shop on amazon uk.

More common than you'd think. But Amazon US's price will eventually go down, and UK's will go up, though the latter will always be cheaper. Americans don't pay VAT on Amazon UK stuff, so subtract 15% from the price!

good to know!

so subtract 15% from the price!

and probably add $15 or more for shipping, alas

Actually, no. £3.08, or about $5 to the USA. Not bad for a 17 CD set.

oh wow. well, that's ordered.

yup. ordered.

Notice he does a version of "She's Just Laughing At Me", one of the standout tracks on Tiny Tim's 2nd album!

Seems rude not to.

Ordered.

My only hesitation for ordering this is that I already have everything but Skidoo from RCA. So I'd pretty much be paying for about half of the Sessions material (a bunch of it is bonus tracks on the other releases), mono mixes (yawn) and the packaging.

Still, $70 is pretty goddamned cheap.

I have the Pand/Aerial/Combi 2CD set from a while back, and some of the vinyl albums.

This doesn't have the 'grapple' "Son of Dracula" does it? Will have to 'do' my vinyl copy and add it, I guess...

very tempted to get this

My only hesitation for ordering this is that I already have everything but Skidoo from RCA. So I'd pretty much be paying for about half of the Sessions material (a bunch of it is bonus tracks on the other releases), mono mixes (yawn) and the packaging.

Still, $70 is pretty goddamned cheap.

― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, May 16, 2013 7:00 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just sell those other discs and you'll probably make enough to pay for 1/3 to 1/2 of the box set!

Think I'll be giving my old CDs to friends who deserve to have Harry Nilsson in their lives

very tempted to get this

yeahhhh, i think i want this. i've actually got a bunch of these on beat up vinyl, so it would be nice to have remastered versions.

is there word on whether these are remastered from earlier releases? i would assume they are.... but who is doing the remastering?

i'm not expert on this but I do worry about the whole loudness stuff

the glory of the beat-up vinyl is that some of these albums have got really fun sleeves (inners *and* outers)

coconut = the moment he became classic

huh? he was way classic before that.

Apparently Vic Anesini, who's done really nice work on a lot of things (e.g. the Roy Orbison Monument reissues from a few years ago) did some or all of the remastering (according to this Steve Hoffman Forum thread: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/nilsson-boxed-set-coming.264573/page-10#post-8876519"">Nilsson boxed set coming?).

thanks!

i'm kind of shocked that they are releasing this, maybe they saw that for the love of harry blog and were like, "ha, we can best that"

for me the appeal is the later albums, most of which I've never been able to hear/find. I have a bunch of the extras from previous reissues of the early/peak period stuff, but I've never heard any of the albums after Son of Schmillson (except for Knilllssson, which is pretty good)

duit on mon dei and sandman are definitely a mixed bag (at best?)

the outtakes stuff is pretty exciting no?

I've heard most of the demos/outtakes from Pussycats, Nilsson Schmillson, Aerial Ballet and Pandemonium Shadow Show (not too fond of the latter tbh) - but yeah the rest sounds interesting

http://bp0.blogger.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/SHoYn-3F0gI/AAAAAAAACD4/xmrz11_oCO4/s1600-h/PROMO+Knnilssonn+Mask1.jpg

best novelty promo item ever?

whoops that didn't work. this thing i mean:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/SHoYn-3F0gI/AAAAAAAACD4/xmrz11_oCO4/s400/PROMO%2BKnnilssonn%2BMask1.jpg

for me the appeal is the later albums, most of which I've never been able to hear/find. I have a bunch of the extras from previous reissues of the early/peak period stuff, but I've never heard any of the albums after Son of Schmillson (except for Knilllssson, which is pretty good)

I might want the biography more.

I think this is my favorite Nilsson outtake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhj85VNUT_k

the glory of the beat-up vinyl is that some of these albums have got really fun sleeves (inners *and* outers)

Better than the albums themselves arguably!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoSCTktqOVw

he still looks young there, but it wasn't too long before he died :(

I had to look up who EJ Gold was, interesting career there

"jump into the fire" is so fantastic, i've just listened to it on repeat for a while

Interesting article on a sports website from a guy seemingly obsessed with Nilsson

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9529179/the-legacy-harry-nilsson

thanks for that!

it's probably just the bass and the echo effects but does "jump into the fire" sound kind of dub-y to anyone else?

dub-y and, weirdly, a bit like the minutemen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p6TNytFsNY

Still waiting for Amazon to deliver mine, it's now 10 days late

I see the Mercury album got a recent re-release also.

fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/

I don't got 'permission' to go in here anymore, what to do?

So far, I'm up to "Sandman", and I've not noticed a massive drop in quality..

You haven't played "How to Write a Song" yet then

Possibly not.

Actually, I had: It's not the greatest song on the album, but it ends well.

Also, the 'extra track' "A Tree out in the Yard" sounds a lot like Joe Strummer with the Mescaleros.

"The Flying Saucer Song" is shite too

Thought I'd check out the lyrics:

http://www.songlyrics.com/harry-nilsson/the-flying-saucer-song-lyrics/

LOL, Harry thought it was one of the best things he'd ever written... Jesus, but cocaine is a dangerous drug

Actually, the one on "Sandman" is a little better than the 'extra' version on Pussy Cats.

Was litening to the "Pussy Cats" one first, thought it "funny" but wondered how anyone would listen to it more than once. A b-side, maybe.

The "Sandman" would just bear repeat, but a b-side nonetheless...

More like a z-side. Talking of cocaine, I do love "The Ivy Covered Walls"... and "Something True" of course.

What I don't understand is that his vocals are almost as pure and unblemished as in his heyday on both those tracks but definitely so on "The Ivy Covered Walls", so he must have had good and bad days

Well, yeah.

The legend goes, he never played live, and he shot his voice 'competing' with Lennon.

Had both those things been opposite, he could well have shot his voice that way.

http://www.bustle.com/#/articles/102638-what-song-is-in-the-by-the-sea-trailer-perfect-day-is-both-an-ideal

See, when you hear a vocal and think "That's very Nilsson", its usually because it *is* Nilsson.

I read the Nilsson bio earlier in the summer, it was a good book and had a lot of interesting details, but boy was it depressing! He was a mess for a long time and it is painful to read through the details of his very long decline.

All That Jazz turned me onto Perfect Day.

I read the Nilsson bio earlier in the summer, it was a good book and had a lot of interesting details, but boy was it depressing! He was a mess for a long time and it is painful to read through the details of his very long decline.

Haven't read it but his childhood didn't sound like a bed of roses either.

Finally properly getting into Pandemonium Shadow Show after owning it for ages and ages. Lovely lovely album. I think of him so much as this shambling Seventies guy, it's refreshing to see him back in the setting of 1967, a twee sort of fellow, capitalizing on the Summer of Love's affair with penny-farthing times and Davy Jones stylings (re: "Cuddly Toy") even as it's clear he has much more of a stake in pre-war pop than probably any of his contemporaries. "She's Leaving Home" does more for this album than it does for Pepper's easily, "1941" is more affecting and insightful than either "Cat's in the Cradle" or "Lonely Boy," and "She Sang Hymns Out of Tune" prefigures "Without You" as a song that seems like such a Nilsson song it's hard to accept that it's actually a cover. Lovely record.

yeah it's a great album. the "River Deep-Mountain High" here is excellent, in particular when he shouts

AND NOW I'M GONNA BE AS FAITHFUL AS THAT PUPPY

and I'm like YES I'M GONNA BE THAT FAITHFUL TOO, as faithful as that puppy too

and you're not sure if he's pulling your leg, like does he "mean" it? like a puppy? LIKE A SCHOOLBOY LOVES HIS PET! my oh my

but all you have is the song, and what a song, and that's what he means.

Have always preferred Nilsson pre-Nilsson Schmilsson tbh, not that later Nilsson isn't great too, tho less consistently.

I really don't like that first album, I guess pre-war pop is a hard-sell for me - all those tack pianos and stiff oompah rhythms

There's not really that much 'pre-war' POP on the first album, it's fairly diverse, there's more of it on "Harry".

Can't explain that POP there lol.

Yeah, that's fair... guess I was thinking more the ~sensibility~ though that's tough to pin down evidence for. It just seems very disconnected from 1967, except for this one thread of everybody no matter how hard and scuzzy having one light, melodious pastiche of the olden days tossed somewhere on side B (see: Good Trip or Bummer? U.S. Psych Bands Doing "Old-Timey" Songs on Their Albums though I imagine you all know what I mean). And even where Nilsson isn't doing something specifically old-timey, the light touch and the clear, clean recordings mean that the old-timey numbers don't jump out as not being of-a-piece with the rest. It's very different from what he'd do on, say, Touch of Schmilsson in the Night but it still feels out-of-its-time, to me.

OTOH there's the argument that the wild psychy rock world was itself never 100% dominant, I mean lots of people('s parents) were still buying records by old squares in 1967. I was thinking the other night of trying to square Nilsson with Manilow somehow, Nilsson as Manilow minus the consistency of show-biz instincts, but plus a way better voice, something. It didn't really hold up though. I was pretty hungry at the time.

The material split between Aerial Ballet (a better album on the whole imo) and PSS kinda run together for me - I agree they fall into that "Psych Bands Doing Old Timey Songs" thread category (a la the Association's "Wasn't It a Bit Like Now" or VD Parks' "Song Cycle"). A whole album (or nearly a whole album) of that stuff grates on me, the affectation just isn't something that really gets me emotionally, it just feels like little kids playing dress up in grandma's clothes or something.

lol I see I am the first post on that thread

and no mention of "Auntie Grizelda" for shame

recent fave nilsson rarity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5CWyZhlheM

Never thought of Auntie Grizelda as part of that whole business to be honest! More like dressing up as a psychedelic rock band, plus "antics," for the kids. See also important early Doctor Casino release Are there more songs like "Him Or Me (What's It Gonna Be)," "Your Auntie Grizelda," and "My Uncle Used To Love Me But She Died?" And if so, what are they? .

Watching "Midnight Cowboy" and was reminded how classic Nilsson was.

"Spaceman" is better than "Space Oddity" and "Rocket Man" you know

OTM

Picked up the Flash Harry reissue from a few years back and have to say it's better than I was ever led to believe. Lovely sound, some nice songs, Nilsson's pipes aren't in great shape but it's pleasant. People who like Knnillssonn and can tolerate Eric Idle will find this enjoyable.

Just finished "Nilsson: The Life Of A Singer-Songwriter" by Alyn Shipton which I got out of the library. For an artist who died 25 years ago and who kind of flew under the radar in a lot of ways, it’s extremely well-written and researched and ultimately pretty heartbreaking.

There are tons of great stories in here – including a crazy hitchhiking story when he was super young. The drama in his backstory alone—being told by his mother that his dad was dead when he had actually started another family, discovering in his forties that his parents had given birth to another brother—is pretty amazing. It’s not hard to understand what drove his music and self-destructiveness.

There’s also a lot of good detail on the music itself and insight from his various collaborators (Richard Perry, VDP, Perry Botkin) on how (and why) he really sabotaged his own career. It really paints Son of Schmilsson as a pivotal record in him turning his back on stardom – I knew about “You’re Breaking My Heart,” but less about him refusing to write a hit, do second takes and tone down dirty lyrics. Perry tells one story of trying to get him to only release the second, more romantic half of “The Most Beautiful World in the World” but Harry insisted that the cod-reggae first half be included and ending the record with the lines:

And over your shoulder
You look back to see if it's real
Tell her she's beautiful
Roll the world over
And give her a kiss and a feel

Also lots of great detail on his mid-70s party records, Popeye shenanigans in Malta, stage and film work in the 80s. Like most of these things, it’s pretty depressing in parts, but also fascinating in that he was creative, productive and witty to the end, beloved by an enormous group of friends and utterly uncompromised. You want to be sad but as the author notes, it’s hard to think the guy didn’t wrench every minute out of his 52 years.

thanks for sharing that

nilsson sings newman is so fucking good

Some great stuff on that album as well -- going in to how the overdubbing Nilsson does with his voice on that was pretty much without precedent at the time (and may still be). I may even want to go read that passage again, now that I think of it ...

how the overdubbing Nilsson does with his voice on that was pretty much without precedent at the time (and may still be)

slow yr roll there

I mean, this was post-"Smile"

Did Smile have a lot of overdubs? Edits yes, but not aware of it having lots of multi-tracked vocs.

heard some of the Popeye demos on WFMU

Did Smile have a lot of overdubs? Edits yes, but not aware of it having lots of multi-tracked vocs.

is this a joke...

there are tons of multi-tracked vocals all over the Beach Boys work from like '66 on, including demos/early studio versions where Brian would do all the voices himself etc.

and the stuff on Smile is particularly dense

not to take away from Nilsson - who was an incredible singer and vocal arranger - but he was not unique in this regard, or the first (or the last). Certainly post-1970 there's tons of intricately arranged, densely multi-tracked vocals on pop records, from stuff I hate (like Queen, who definitely went up into the high end of numbers of tracks range) to stuff I love (like the Bee Gees).

Personally I'm a little skeptical of the "118 overdubs" claim in 1970, I'd like to see the tracklist for that, given that the first 24-track recorder wasn't even invented until 4 years later. In 1970 putting 118 tracks on a recording (presumably using a 16-track recorder) would probably involve a serious amount of signal degradation due to all the bounce-downs you'd have to do.

Sounds like 118 nilssons tho

I'm with you on hating Queen despite their craftsmanship.

Yeah, there are def. some similarities on this record with Smile (which, mind, was mostly unreleased in 1969). Nilsson def. also had an obsessive quality to getting vocal takes right (which apparently annoyed Newman -- he prob. meant "118 takes"). And there is a Glenn Gould-ish aspect to how tracks on both records are spliced together to create the feeling of a perfect, seamless performance (and of course, Smile/VDP-->Song Cycle/"Vine Street"-->Nilsson Sings Newman/"Vine Street").

But there are some pretty big differences, as well, not least of which is that Smile is a big, maximalist record performed by a studio orchestra and sung by an ensemble and Nilsson Sings Newman is a record where the dude himself is an orchestra. While there are vocal overdubs on Smile, most of the "wow" factor on that album is the arrangements. Also, Nilsson Sings Newman is in stereo, which Nilsson's vocal arrangements use to great effect.

Beyond that tho, is Nilsson's voice, which was more far more versatile than anyone's in the Beach Boys. Don't get me wrong, I love the purity of Brian's voice and Carl's vocals on Wild Honey but no one in the Beach Boys was ever going to pull off something like "Without You" or "Spaceman" (or even "Sail Away" from years later). Even by 1969, the strength of Nilsson's voice lets him explore some pretty sophisticated, witty arrangements, and create different shades to the music (i.e., "I'll Be Home"'s gospel choir -- or "Vine Street," which feels Beach Boys-esque in places but without any trace of the Four Freshman) In general, there is a more seamless feel to his arrangements.

All that said, I don't hear Nilsson Sings Newman as some masterpiece in the way Smile is -- it's a great record but a small one. And what I find most fascinating about it is how he's using someone else's songs as a springboard for his own vocal experiments. And I think a lot of that experimentation is still unique.

yeah that all makes sense. Nilsson def had a better, more versatile voice than any of the Boys

One of my best recent vinyl scores was a nice copy of Son of... w/the poster for only $3.

love that record so much.

Nilsson as a vocal genuis is pretty evident right from the start of his career (see his version of "You Can't Do That"). also good to note there is a difference between singing in a group (a la Beach Boys) vs singing alone. for one rehearsal is a lot more difficult to do!

his cover of many rivers to cross gets a lot of play around here

for one rehearsal is a lot more difficult to do!

I dunno, is it? Maybe this is a funny question that only musicians care about but in some ways one person with a recording device is actually easier - you only have to get it right once, then every time you hear it back it's always the same and you build the next part on top of that, then overdub another one, etc. It's sequential and iterative. Whereas with a group everyone has to learn/write/know their individual parts (have them written out in advance, or have someone like Brian Wilson sing them to you etc.) and each person has to hit it right every time or it sounds bad. So there you have to get everyone in their assigned spot and then just practice it and refine it til it's as good as it can get. They're different approaches, but I'm not sure one is inherently easier (or better) than the other.

and obviously the latter approach is tailored to performing live, the former isn't and is strictly a studio creation

NTI expressed what i was trying to say about Smile, but with much more detail and clarity. They are recordings built around elaborate orchestrations and edits rather than obsessive overdubs.

there are a ton of vocal overdubs!
but sure whatever

when rehearsing in a group you can sit around with 3-4 other guys who all know their parts and rehearse that stuff simultaneously, continuously, tape rolling or not. you can rehearse in the back of the car on the way to the studio.

as a solo performer, i guess you can rehearse with a tape of yourself and build it track by track. you don't see how this is more painstaking than working out harmonies all-at-once with a bunch of singers who have been singing together since they were teenagers? no room for on the spot adjustments of "oh, how about you go low here and i'll go high".

I've done both and they're both a pain in the ass (ok granted I don't have the blood harmony thing at my disposal, that's a pretty big differentiator)

but like I said, the solo recording only has to get each part right once. The group has to rehearse for hundreds of hours.

the solo performer has to rehearse and arrange for hundreds of hours as well. think about how much time Brian Wilson spent arranging that material. we are talking a lot of long days with no breaks. it's not like the singer 1 can go take a break and drink some honey tea while singer 2 does some overdubs. if you are a solo performer you kind of have to be on all the time. this is hard on your throat (keep in mind Nilsson did blow out his voice pushing it too hard).

imo Harry was exceptional because doing this was (seemingly) easy for him. part long hours of hard work part the natural talents of having an incredible singing voice. he can be very smooth, controlled, and on-key, but also really rock n roll, really drunk, loose, silly. his range is vast yet in a real pleasing, pop way. he has powerful command of his own voice. he's a great songwriter as well which always helps.

fwiw he doesn't have to be the sole pioneer of a style or anything, he is just fantastic, his music speaks for itself. it takes a big talent to be able to do this with your voice. i see him as in line with people like Buddy Holly or Brian Eno, the avant pop studio experimenalist. he excels at using overdubs to create a layered voice-as-instrument effect. in the spirit of something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcuojSU_hOY

I've been non stop listening to Knillssonn for the last week. Arguably one of his best albums.

yeah that all makes sense. Nilsson def had a better, more versatile voice than any of the Boys

Well, I don't know, Brian and Carl are pretty good singers! I get a strong Bobby Darin vibe off (in particular, but not exclusively) Nilsson's first album.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/pop-genius-harry-nilsson-left-an-unreleased-record-behind-now-you-can-finally-hear-the-completed-version/2019/09/24/0ae20126-dec7-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html

wow, almost didnt recognize his voice on that sample track

UCLA sounds completely in keeping with latter day Nilsson. Title track, agree, sounds like nothing else he did. I would love to hear the demos as well.

https://i.imgur.com/Boy1C5O.png

dude was ahead of his time...

https://open.spotify.com/track/6fvIzrJ6boUDFF19fH4S2s?si=a48JN0ddSVeLd89E0LCCDQ

There are some days where I think that Pussy Cats may be his best album.

It's been reported that Zak Nilsson (Harry's son) has passed away after a long struggle with colon cancer.

I didn't know this, but when Paul McCartney heard he was starting chemo, he sent him this letter.

Confirmed on the Nilsson FB page.e

He appears w/Mom & Dad in the upper corner of the Son of... gatefold.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2176/9085/products/R-682504-1350386714-1971_jpeg_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598380339

Just saw this. RIP.

Recently picked up ... That's the Way it Is as I continue very slowly filling in his post-Pussy Cats records. It's good! STE at Allmusic always gave me the sense this was the nadir of his recorded output, but it's feeling very consistent with Knnillssonn and Sandman, just wayyy more reliant on covers and therefore less compositionally or melodically surprising. If you like 50% or more of those records, you'd probably like 50% or more of this one.

That run of three albums: "Duit on Mon Dei", "Sandman" and "...That's the Way It Is", is pretty dire compared to the rest of his discography, although there's definitely good (even great) stuff on all those albums. "Knnillsson" is different beast entirely.

i hardly ever put them on individually, but there are enough good tracks across all of them to put together a pretty good album-length playlist imo

Yes, you could get one very good album out of the three, shorn of dross like "How to Write a Song" et al.

https://i.imgur.com/utaGNbW.jpg

This came on and I was like “how did I not know that Lennon covered this?”

Interesting to compare Nilsson's "Vine Street" to Van Dyke Parks' version starting off "Song Cycle"...

Or Harpers Bizarre's version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEkbPrsoX_c

... and Lulu's version!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epxh3CetPo8

that Harpers Bizarre version is nice

This came on and I was like “how did I not know that Lennon covered this?”

Because he didn't? Lennon used the same string arrangement for "#9 Dream."

Nilsson's version is a cover tho ... of a Jimmy Cliff song.

Lennon freely admitted he copped it too.

Even in the depths of my Nilsson obsession - admittedly a long time ago now - I had no idea he had recorded an entire (unreleased) album of Yoko Ono songs. It was recorded in the mid 80s and there's been talk for a while of releasing it - Sean Lennon is involved in the release somewhere - no sign of it yet.

Anyway Harry's voice is pretty grizzled, though a lot less than Dennis Wilson's on Pacific Ocean Blue for instance, but he can still sell a song. I've not heard all of it but I really like what I've heard and it's fascinating to hear him singing to an all electronic backing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLmWj_SZAm0

something very surreal about that. idk if it's him sounding like Huey Lewis or the massive amounts of reverb on everything, it just sounds wrong for Nilsson. good tune though!

Pulled out Son of Schmilsson tonight, don't usually go for that one 'cause in my head it's long on the "slightly dark wackiness" angle - but I always forget, first of all, about "Spaceman" which is easily one of my top favorite Nilsson songs and probably one of my favorite songs of the Seventies period....and also about "The Lottery Song" which is just a gorgeous, sweet little treat. Wow. Totally totally slid past my ears the first x times I listened to this record.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, November 4, 2012 9:18 PM bookmarkflaglink

lol i went through this entire experience AGAIN today, came here to post about how "The Lottery Song" has come out of nowhere to possibly being a personal top 15 Nilsson song. why won't it stick with me?!? maybe it's because the album's ratio of great to willfully goofy is just a little bit off... he really made such an abrupt, willful swerve away from indelible pop-rock greatness, and laid down essentially the template for every record he'd ever do afterwards. i like most of those albums to varying degrees, but it's hard not to wish he had ONE more Nilsson Schmilsson to his name, when things like "Spaceman" and "Lottery Song" are right there making clear he 100% still had it in him...

I’m with you on Lottery Song but Spaceman had always left me cold. I have a high Nilsson tolerance but I almost always skip Spaceman.

Oh man, that one floored me the moment I first heard it on the 1978 Greatest Hits album, and it still works its magic. I find it really relatable, and the ascension from the understated opening "bang bang, shoot 'em up, destiny" to Nilsson in his bombastic wailing mode gives it more of a sense of progression and variety than might actually be there in the lyrics and composition.

I love Spaceman as well, he's so clearly at the peak of his powers on that album but just decides to dog it for whatever reason. hard to think of too many non-Zappa albums like that.

Best albums list imo:
1. Harry
2. Nilsson Sings Newman
3. The Point

That’s probably about right. All of the early proper albums are solid. I like most of that more than The Point because I relate to the lyrics more. But The Point, like Nilsson Sings Newman, really does demonstrate his strengths very well. Pre-Pussycats, he could make other people’s material blend seamlessly with his own work. Post Pussy, they were just competent covers.

I like Nilsson a lot. In terms of personal favorites, my three would be Nilsson Sings Newman, Nilsson Schmilsson and Pussycats, but it says a lot that I enjoy all the music that could be tied to those albums as well, whether it's demos, outtakes, prior or later Randy Newman covers or Son of Schmilsson itself. He just has a rich and eclectic discography that's rewarding to sift through even if it's not entirely consistent. I think the only stuff I don't like all that much would be at the tail end when his recording career was winding down. The standards album is okay - I happen to love at least some of those songs, and I treasure the albums Gordon Jenkins did for Frank Sinatra, but Nilsson's album doesn't feel all that special aside from being a detour. (To his credit, he did it while his voice was still in protean shape, so I can't say I regret his decision to make it - if he was going to make a standards album, that was the time to do it.)

I can’t stand the production on Pussycats. I don’t know what it is that Lennon does but a lot of his productions have this smeary shit sound. I more or less accept it with Lennon’s own music because that’s just how he wanted it to sound. Hiding his voice, early rock pastiche, etc. It’s wretched applied to Nilsson who always benefited from clarity and attention to detail. Pussycats has some good stuff on it but the sound of it bums me out, not just the blown-out vocals.

It makes sense to me taking the album as a snapshot of a harrowing lost weekend. Like whenever I was around severely inebriated people who seemed to be having a riotous time, I pretty much figured what they were experiencing in real-time was pretty much a smeared, off-kilter, unfocused and hard-to-grasp perspective of everything going on around them.