Harry Nilsson - in memoriam.

Last month it was twenty years since the passing of one Harry Edward Nilsson - often referred to as simply Nilsson, a singer-songwriter extraordinaire.
Over the past couple of years a renewed interest in the man and his music has resulted in a feature length documentary, a book, as well as a boxed CD set containing his complete RCA catalogue.
Although most fondly remembered as an excellent songwriter, it is all the more ironic that Nilsson's greatest successes as a performer came with songs written by other people, namely Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" and Badfinger's "Without You".  A number of artists also covered Nilsson's songs and it is my intention with this little tribute to highlight the best of those...in no particular order.

One of Nilsson's earliest admirers in the mid '60s was producer Phil Spector, who placed at least three of Nilsson's songs with artists he produced - although said songs were to remain unissued for 25 years.  Here are a couple of those:



Brian Wilson also loved this song and recorded his own version for a Harry Nilsson tribute album issued shortly after Harry's death in the mid '90s.

 

The Monkees were also early Nilsson fans via their then-producer Chip Douglas who had been a member of the Modern Folk Quartet before joining the Turtles for a short stint.  These couple of songs also appeared on Nilsson's first two solo albums for RCA:

 

British girl singers Lulu and Sandie Shaw also seem to have been listening to the first two proper Nilsson albums since each of them covered songs from those albums.  Unfortunately Lulu's excellent cover of "Without Her" (Renamed "Without Him" for the obvious reasons) is not available on YouTube. 

 

 



And Three Dog Night had a monster hit with Nilsson's "One" in 1969.  Undervalued Motown chanteuse Chris Clark covered it later that same year.  Aimee Mann also did a passable cover in the '90s.

 





Originally written for Welsh songstress Mary Hopkin in 1968, '70s teen idol David Cassidy took "The Puppy Song" all the way to number one in the U.K. in 1973, as a double A-sided single coupled with "Daydreamer".  Cassidy, clearly a massive Nilsson fan, also covered "This Could Be the Night" a couple of years later, and "The Story of Rock & Roll" a year or two after that.

 

Even Sinéad O'Connor has tackled Nilsson.  Her fine cover of "The Lord Must Be in New York City" popped up on the "You've Got Mail" soundtrack, which was a lot better than the movie itself.

 



 

"The Story of Rock & Roll" was, apparently, first offered to The Monkees although The Turtles ended up recording it - undoubtedly thanks to Chip Douglas.  Harry is rumoured to have played piano on The Turtles' studio version.

 

 

 

The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las and The Supremes all recorded a version of Nilsson's Girl Group opus "Paradise".  I have a tremendous difficulty picking one version in favour of the other two.  However, The Supremes' 1972 Jimmy Webb-produced possesses a certain understated charm...

 



 

In spite of all of the excellence entered above, it is better to start the excursion into all things Nilsson with the original source.  And as previously mentioned there are currently avenues aplenty to begin the journey.  Enjoy it.

 

Recommended listening: "Nilsson: The RCA Albums Collection" (17 CD's) (Sony Music/RCA/Legacy, 2013)

 

Recommended reading: "Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter" by Alyn Shipton (Oxford University Press, 2013)

 

Recommended viewing: "Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?" (Lorber Films, 2006)  Directed by John Scheinfeld.  DVD issued in 2010. 

  

 

Albums that time forgot (1).

The Young Rascals/"Groovin'" (1967)

 

 

Issued at the very height of the Summer of Love, it's really absurd that this record isn't generally considered to be among that season's very best.  Obviously though, it's up against some fairly fierce competition ("Sgt. Pepper", "Surrealistic Pillow", "Headquarters", "Are You Experienced", "Younger Than Yesterday", "Forever Changes", etc.).

Nonetheless, it is one of those rare records where nearly every single cut is a classic.  The only song I have the very slightest of beef with here is also the only cover; namely Stevie Wonder's "A Place in the Sun".  Don't get me wrong, it's all very nice'n'smooth, but also so very unnecessary.  Why does a band that can come up with self-penned classics such as "Groovin'", "A Girl Like You", "How Can I Be Sure" (covered by everyone from Dusty Springfield to David Cassidy) and "You Better Run", all on the same album, need to cover anyone - even though it's a genius like Stevie Wonder?!  Well, I might be 45 years late, but I'm just asking... 

 

 

Their third and last LP as the YOUNG Rascals, "Groovin'" is also their best - bar none.  In it, all the elements of the unparalleled Rascals sound come together and blend perfectly.  Garage rock meets Pop meets Psychedelia meets Latin, via their ever winsome Blue-eyed Soul which no other band of any era ever bettered.

 

   

 

Unusual for albums made in the late '60s which were more often than not issued both in Stereo and Mono, this is a record clearly made just for Stereo.  One of its highlights, "Find Somebody" is a good example of that.

 



 

Apart from the obvious hits - AND "Find Somebody" - Gene Cornish's "I'm So Happy Now" and "I Don't Love You Anymore" are also eye-openers and prove that he was another songwriting force to be reckoned with within the Rascals' ranks, although Felix Cavaliere's and Eddie Brigati's songs were usually chosen as the singles.

So "A Girl Like You", the album's opener and another Cavaliere/Brigati composition, became one of the record's biggest hits.  And as this following live performance from the Ed Sullivan Show on June 4th, 1967, goes to show - regardless of the screaming girls in the audience - The Rascals were an amazing bunch of musicians.  Their drummer Dino Danelli just might be one of the unsung heroes of '60s Pop.  

 



 

Curiously, "You Better Run" was more than a year old when it appeared on the "Groovin'" album.  Issued as a single in May 1966, it owed a lot more to the (Young) Rascals' Garage rock roots than the rest of the album.  The excellent "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" from the Young Rascals' self-titled debut LP is another good example of that particular side of the Rascals.  

Never mind The Kinks, along with Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Rascals were responsible for bringing Garage rock - a predecessor to Punk - into the American mainstream...and Top 10.

 

 

After "Groovin'", the Rascals certainly continued to make great singles, but, unfortunately, never made another great album.  Good albums - yes, but "Groovin'" remains their sole crowning moment in that area.  



 

tbc.