"Knnillssonn" sorta filled that role. I'm glad he stopped recording though, it was very wise of him.
― Tom D (Tom D.), Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah but Knillssonn is what 1976 or 77? When did he die, early 90s?
― tylerw, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:35 (fourteen years ago) link
'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?
― Tom D (Tom D.), Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:38 (fourteen years ago) link
That doesn't mean it was no good though.
― Mark G, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:40 (fourteen years ago) link
Nah, it's supposed to be dire
― Tom D (Tom D.), Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:41 (fourteen years ago) link
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!"
― tylerw, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Yah, I know that blog too!
― Tom D (Tom D.), Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:42 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Mark G, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:42 (fourteen years ago) link
surely Clive Davis coulda worked something out, paired him with Kanye or the guy from Maroon 5 amirite
― Wet Hot American Oil Spill (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:44 (fourteen years ago) link
hey lets throw in a Santana solo
i smell a Grammy
― tylerw, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:45 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Tom D (Tom D.), Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:47 (fourteen years ago) link
his voice is heartbreakingly shot in every '80s clip i've seen on youtube
― da croupier, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:50 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C63OcPY6AiE
which explains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJ9Yxef5zI
― da croupier, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:53 (fourteen years ago) link
(do not watch those clips if you're easily bummed out)
― da croupier, Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:55 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm not going to
― Tom D (Tom D.), Thursday, 4 March 2010 16:56 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Wet Hot American Oil Spill (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 March 2010 22:03 (fourteen years ago) link
My buying Nilsson Schmilsson last year was my Classic Album Discovery purchase of the year.
― Inculcate a spirit of serfdom in children (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 March 2010 22:09 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes, it's fantastique.
― Turangalila, Thursday, 4 March 2010 22:13 (fourteen years ago) link
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).
― begs the question, when is enough enough (Euler), Thursday, 4 March 2010 22:19 (fourteen years ago) link
his tin pan alley-ish lyrics are usually major bummers when you listen to them ...
― tylerw, Thursday, 4 March 2010 22:20 (fourteen years ago) link
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)
― Wet Hot American Oil Spill (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 March 2010 22:26 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Thursday, 4 March 2010 23:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Nilsson Schmilsson has the hits, which is what keeps it on people's minds. I like that whole mid-career run, though.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 4 March 2010 23:41 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Adam Bruneau, Friday, 26 March 2010 16:19 (fourteen years ago) link
other favorite tracks at the mmt are "Down To The Valley"
Love that song too
― The Oort Locker (Tom D.), Friday, 26 March 2010 16:23 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― city worker, Friday, 26 March 2010 16:56 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Roomful of Moogs (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 26 March 2010 17:02 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Roomful of Moogs (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 12 April 2010 21:55 (fourteen years ago) link
ah, this guy..
a god among mortals
― Stormy Davis, Sunday, 6 June 2010 08:41 (thirteen years ago) link
the best that ever was
― Stormy Davis, Sunday, 6 June 2010 08:45 (thirteen years ago) link
happy birthday harry
― kamerad, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 04:43 (thirteen years ago) link
"Well in 1941 a happy father had a son..."
― I am utterly and abjectly pissed off with this little lot (Tom D.), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 08:44 (thirteen years ago) link
the doc on dvd
― Roomful of Moogs (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 29 July 2010 16:00 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm currently working on a dubstep track that samples the first couple of notes on "One".
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 29 July 2010 16:05 (thirteen years ago) link
This guy needs a broad reaching 4CD boxset.
From his earliest days, through his Monkees and Beatles days, to his last.
I reckons.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 15:07 (thirteen years ago) link
thanks for this revive reminding me about the doc dvd - anyone checked it out yet?
― ¸¸.·´¯´·he'd sail across the bubbly waves·.¸¸.·´¯ (another al3x), Wednesday, 20 October 2010 16:18 (thirteen years ago) link
obv of interest for fans but a pretty clumsy movie
― da croupier, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 17:40 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah my friend saw it, said there was some good footage, but not exactly a brilliant piece of filmmaking.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 17:53 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― Dominique, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 17:53 (thirteen years ago) link
ditto on the boxset. total genius. "Nilsson Schmillson" is such a classic, and every album I've heard has some amazing, indispensible material
― frogbs, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 17:59 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 18:29 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― Dominique, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 18:34 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 18:40 (thirteen years ago) link
was the doc on telly in the states? it wasn't here harrumph.
― piscesx, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 18:51 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 18:55 (thirteen years ago) link
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"
― bear, bear, bear, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 18:57 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 20 October 2010 20:46 (thirteen years ago) link