Nilsson - C or D?

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.