the Nilsson thread
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kapoo:
how freaking beautiful is this
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sorry to bump this thread all the time, everytime I hear this song I?m mesmerized. Beauty to the nth degree. Haunting writing by Randy Newman. And of course sung to perfection by Harry. Milk truck hauls the sun in The paper hits the door The subway shakes my floor and I think about you Time to face the dawn and grey of another lonely day Its so hard living without you Its so hard living without you Everyone?s got something They?re out trying to get some more Got something to get up for but I ain?t about to Nothings gonna happen Nothings gonna change It?s so hard living without you It?s so hard living without you. It?s so hard. So hard so
Im leavin here this morning but I don?t know where I?ve been Im going home to take my bath but I?ll be back again Yeah I?m leavin here this morning With a smile upon my face I?m beginning to think there?s hope for the human race.. Im leavin here this morning but I don?t know where I?ve been there?s a lot of talk about the place but I?ll be back again Yeah I?m leavin here this morning With my eyes all opened wide And I?m awefully glad she let me come inside Do wah could do. ..from a raft of nothing we can build a boat.. and with a shaft of light as faith I'm sure she'll float.. but on a rough and story sea.. the going won't be easy.. but if we don't there'll be nothing left for everybody..and here's another beauty written by Harry, listening right now. this song is allegedly about visiting a brothel
great tune though! Bath
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Well it was not as Nilsson?y of a Christmas as I anticipated, but any Nilsson is sweet Nilsson!! I?ve been buying tracks on iTunes with my newly acquired gift cards.. those were nice gestures
) and the version on Aerial Pandemonium Ballets so rips it to shredsI just bought ?Jesus Christ You?re Tall?
why not. but PussyCats vinyl was no dice again this year, though the search is more mine at this point and I don?t think I even clearly asked anyone for it this time. don't know why I just don't look it up and buy it online .. So I can't stop listening to it, this song is really great! but I refuse to post the clip thats available on YouTube.. while its good its so depressing.. (here it is
, when it sounds more like a Pepper track, uptempo. Anyway the song is called Mr. Richland?s Favorite Song. Read the lyrics, I love them. Lyrically sometimes, I see Nilsson as a not so distant early relative of Eminem
in the way they could just write flow. Not so much similar in content meaning (though Harry in is day was pretty defiant, but never violent) but rather in their flow and versatile delivery and meters. Harry gets pretty crazy sometimes. When he was young he sang in a band and the fans all looked the same And the fans he had were younger than he and they loved to scream his name They?d leave at the end of the third show Go home and talk of the fun Well isn?t it nice the parents would say Well isn?t it nice you?ve got someone Someone to idolize H must look twice your size I think its great you?re going through a phase And I?m awfully glad it?ll all be over in a couple of days well the calendar changed the pages fell off but the singer remained the same and he never grew tired of singing his song and the fans still called his name they leave at the end of the second show go home to talk of the fun for most of the fans were married by then so they had to be in by 1 I?m awfully glad the husbands would say I?m awfully glad you got someone Someone I realize Who used to look twice his size I think its great you still remember his name and I bet if he knew you were there for the show he?d be awfully glad you came The time has come the Walrus said to speak of other things Like a fallen star who works in a bar where yesterday is king Fans will stay for an hour or so they still remember his fame But the time has come the Walrus said to call your fans by name
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So I?m all about finding similarities in the songs of Harry Nilsson and Macca, and I found another! Let me know if you hear it? production is vastly different, but the song structure is eerily similar. Especially the music in the verses. But actually the chorus too. Live long and prosper. You Gave Me The Answer
All I Think About Is You
Am I full of it?
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No you nailed it Kapoo. Very similar. BTW, I'm a huge Nilsson fan too...unfortunately my knowledge is pretty superficial so I won't be able to help your thread much...but i am loving the fact that it's here...keep it up!!
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Blue Ruins:
No you nailed it Kapoo. Very similar. BTW, I'm a huge Nilsson fan too...unfortunately my knowledge is pretty superficial so I won't be able to help your thread much...but i am loving the fact that it's here...keep it up!!
Exactly! Thanks for noticing it right along with me Blue Ruins!
Aint no lions and tigers, aint no mamba snake Just a sweat watermelon and the buckwheat cakeHarry actually does that a lot in his songs, sometimes blatantly referencing the Beatles, or doing littl subtle things with the music. Cool ! Yeah there?s some decent stuff in this thread I think, for any Harry head who might want to go back and check it out. I posted lots of pics and links, hopefully a few of them still work
Harry?s amazing, this threads definitely been a nice little outlet to share my impressions of his work anyway, one mans impressions. I got into him and basically cultivated his entire career for music and info
I own almost all his vinyl, quite a collection. Funny the entire 16 albums I think I own probably cost me $50 total. vinyl rocks. A true more for less $$ proposition
And in return for your post, I will provide you the customary deep cut.. Harry doing Randy Nwman?s Sail Away. And giving the vocal the Randy treatment
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PUSSY CATS
This is a great day in my world. the Pussy Cats vinyl is mine at last!
Yay
So I'm reading the Liner Notes in the gatefold right now.. and transcribing them for you here. A blessing from me to you
they are by Derek Taylor. His writing cracks me up. Such a stylish character he was.
Here are the liner notes
These are written at 78 and should be read at 33. I have one hour to catch the plane. You have all your lives. Lucky bastards. Funny thing is, that when I was in New York last week with George Melly I remembered everything Harry and John said and did except that I had to write these notes. Most of what Harry and John did was bloody funny and sometimes terrifying. They have been living a vampire timetable recently but have sucked no blood except for each other?s and not so much of that. Anyway, the cross-transfusion works, so what the hell. I am so glad they met; it is hard to convey here. They are madmen in tandem but, as I?ve said before, very well brought-up so they?ll get by without their apple pie so run rabbits run, goddamn you; the brave men are taking over. Our heroes, Lennon and Nilsson, met in 1968, in Surrey, very strange, both quite tentative with each other, like very little children at a birthday party handing gifts to each other and blushing. The gifts they are exchanging now are without compare (sorry if you?ve read this before ? it remains true and improves daily) and to see them the other night in a studio in New York the city in which Harry was born and to which John (like all Liverpudlians) belongs, one singing, the other producing was pretty (expletive deleted) marvelous. I was with a few other people (Lord Melley and retinue) and only heard one song (Save The Last Dance For Me) and then John said that our non-stop chattering would put Harry off his stroke, so maybe we should go into another room and have a drink or something. Actually, we hadn?t said a bloody word (hardly dared to breathe or strike a match) any of us, and well John knew it but he is nothing if not tactful and both he and Harry told me later that it was paranoia-avoidance and well I knew that and as recording studios are no places for people without real tasks to perform, I was glad to leave and wait for the real thing which you now have in your hands. When I first heard Harry in 1968 (see liner notes for his ?Aerial Ballet? album) and the later met him it was strong (heterosexual, if you don?t mind) love at first sight and I knew he should meet John. (Later of course he met the fab other three; with Ringo too he has formed a magical team.) They are both tuffians (neither ruffians, nor very tough, but a bit of both) and able to exert terrific pressures on each other without either snapping The consequent tension is one of the great wonders of the music business and if this album isn?t great and famous I will eat my (right) elbow. As I say, how can I say about the music when I haven?t heard it and yet there are a couple things I know about them you should know: For instance, their arrogance is a mask for unending warmth and enthusiasm, not only for the people they know and the things they need for their life support systems (music, praise, a few dollars in their back pockets and pieces of brown paper down their socks) but also for people they don?t know and will never meet again. They are givers, not takers. Maybe they?re right, maybe they?re wrong, maybe they?re weak, maybe they?re strong, maybe they?ll live lives of regret, maybe they?ll give much more than they get, but never the less they?re in love with you, and certainly I am with them. In the very early days of their friendship John was ?Famous? and Harry was ?Not Famous,? but it was with the greatest pleasure that John went public with the statement that Harry was his favorite American group (just as many years earlier he and his musketeers had done the same for the beautiful Byrds) and it was with great difference that Harry allowed RCA to exploit this endorsement. Both responses emerged as the right ones and now, and now, and now?look what has happened?hand in hand, by the edge of the sand they dance by the light of the moon and bring joy to the world. Something like that. - Derek Taylor
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such an anticlimactic acquisition, this Pussy Cats album is. Not musically, oh no! In that way its top shelf
So anyone else like this track? Mucho Mungo pops more too. Vinyl pretty much always pops more. ?Pops more? is an odd set of wordsits just that I have wanted it for so long, and basically dreamed about giving it a spin, now that I own it and have it in my hands, it seems sort of normal. Who knew in 25 seconds it would be just another record
But its sort of special still
I tell you what, one song jumped up and punched me in the face, upon initial listening.. Save The Last Dance For Me. There is so much rhythm in that track, Harry?s timing and phrasing and vocal subtleties are impeccable. and - in her arms - you?re gon - na be? oh darling, - save the last - dance - for - me? And John?s rhythmic horns arrangement, towards the end of the song, by around 2:30, it has built into this like mechanical rhythm enhancer, and I gotta say it just pops more on vinyl. That?s what has been coolest going backwards from CD to vinyl for me, is hearing what makes an impression 2nd time around. Save The Last Dance For Me - John produced/arranged the song, Ringo drums on it too!
that's the sleeve of a killer single released in France. I don't have that..
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Blue Ruins:
BTW, I'm a huge Nilsson fan too...unfortunately my knowledge is pretty superficial so I won't be able to help your thread much...but i am loving the fact that it's here...keep it up!!
Btw Blue Ruins (and everyone), just because your Harry knowledge may be superficial or basic, doesn't mean you can't add anything here. Even just throwing out a song of his that really hits home with you would be sweet, and I'd love to pontificate on it as well. Or if nothing 'hits home' per se, whatever, any song you like, I'd like to hear about it. This thread obviously gets some views, people should really check out Harry's early stuff. If you like what Paul does, I don't see how you wouldn't love all Harry's stuff through Nilsson Schmilsson. Whatever, I'm not going to beg
Bwt I'm listening to Pussy Cats right now (Save The Last Dance), and its occuring to me that the intro, piano, is basically the same as the opening of his song Remember. Both great, same vibe. There's somethin for ya
Good night
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So check this out.. another thing I just heard when listening to the Beatles Anthology 3.. Paul?s version of Rocky Racoon? at the 3:08 mark, start this clip
You hear how he does that little 'gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home..' or whatever? Now the crazy thing is I know Harry was invited by the Beatles to sit in the White album sessions.. I?m wondering if he might have picked up the seed of his song Gotta Get Up, from that little bit of riffing Paul was doing!? Or maybe Paul did more of it than it shows on the anthology track. Veerrrrrry interesting (not really)Harry?s Gotta Get Up, from Nilsson Schmilsson
Mind you, Nilsson Schmilsson was released in 1971.. but there is a demo version of Gotta Get Up from 1968! I think I may be on to something here
Harry?s love for Paul?s music cracks me up.
the man knew his shit
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Hey Kapoo...or anyone... The 'everybody put their socks up' line... Who's line was it first?..Harry or Lennon?
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I have to say Lennon's cause I'm not aware of Harry using that lyric? What song are you thinking of Blue? wanna hear some sweet Nilsson yodeling
yodelayhee yodelayhee yodelayhee DOWN. deeper than the deepest ocean. deeper than the deepest ocean can go you know I'm goin down.:
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somebody:
one song jumped up and punched me in the face, upon initial listening.. Save The Last Dance For Me. There is so much rhythm in that track, Harry?s timing and phrasing and vocal subtleties are impeccable. and - in her arms - you?re gon - na be? oh darling, - save the last - dance - for - me? And John?s rhythmic horns arrangement, towards the end of the song, by around 2:30, it has built into this like mechanical rhythm enhancer.. Save The Last Dance For Me - John produced/arranged the song, Ringo drums on it too!
I didn?t realize the Beatles had been interested in covering ?Save The Last Dance For Me?.. never had heard this clip from the abandoned ?Get Back? album.. looks like it was a bit from the roof top gig
Also, I?m really starting to like Michael Buble. yes I know I pretty late to the party at this point? I think he?s been around about 10 yrs!if not longer.. but the guy is just such a great singer, and he has such a classic taste in music. His is a very true to form cover with that latin vibe
Harry (or John) took it and slowed it down and made it sneer a bit
You can dance every dance with the guy who gave you the eye let him hold you tight?
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Here?s a funny one you guys should hear.. sort of McCartney-esque ragtime ditty, all about reefer paranoia. I like the bit about the ?unmarked plymouth?..
Fair Fax Rag Do you have to look away when you pass by the diner where the squad car stops for coffee? Don?t you wish that you were anyplace else but here? Don?t you feel kinda funny when a man in a suit says ?Man do you know where I can get high?? Don?t you wish that you were anyplace else but here? Take a walk down any street that you choose Yeah and you?ll wind up with the Fair Fax Street mid morning paranoia blues Do you have to look away when you pass by the diner where the squad car stops for coffee? Don?t you wish that you were anyplace else but here? Do you grab a cigarette when a man in an unmarked Plymouth pulls you over just to say? hi?? Don?t you wish that you were Anyplace else but here? And do you fumble in your wallet while you?re looking for your license And he tells you not to talk with your mouthful Don?t you wish that you were anyplace else Don?t you wish that you were anyplace else Don?t you wish that you were anyplace else but here? Waa Waa Waaa!! -
Cmon, lets go for a drive
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Here?s a link, scroll down to the first video under the VIDEO: Live At Beatlesfest / Harry Q&A + "Without You" (19??) section, along the left side. Skip ahead if you can to the 5 minute mark and begin there. Harry talking about Beatles memories. Of him, Paul, Linda and Ringo attending an Elton John concert at Wimbley arena.. and where he was when John was shot. Never seen this Beatlefest Q&A before. http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/
thats a great site!
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Hey ya?ll. You should check out this article from the Sept 1974 issue of Crawdaddy. Sort of a fun read. From the actual scanned pages! Awesome. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/TBWERNfcBII/AAAAAAAAG-E/jukvNq5Vzfk/s1600/Crawdaddy+Sept+1974.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/TBWEH0svRHI/AAAAAAAAG98/M_pbMIXGhY0/s1600/page34.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/TBWD-ld21BI/AAAAAAAAG90/Hz_y_Fo0l5g/s1600/page35.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/TBWD2N4fNUI/AAAAAAAAG9s/_7a8uZLjjkQ/s1600/page36.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/TBWDrfG20GI/AAAAAAAAG9k/ZIlyGrZ-GIk/s1600/page37.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3D4uW44cDSw/TBWDhkTkPEI/AAAAAAAAG9c/1wLkl1UZgHk/s1600/page38.jpg
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so who here loved that article? alright alriiiiiight. so who's going to be first to talk to me about something Harry Nilsson related? you folks being the intelligent people you are, literally need to take off work tomorrow and begin listening to Nilsson deep cuts. he's phenominal. just saying dudes and dudettes, relish the good stuff.
what the hell is relish anyway? never mind that for now. go listen to Nilsson.
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I relish it everyday. Some fun in the spirit of the Schmil.
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Goin' where the weather, suits my clothes
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skippin off of the ocean, like a stone
WWWAAAAaaaa you're the man Jordan, for giving a quick props to the great Harry Nilsson!