Diagram from the owner's manual of a Cessna 205, 1963
I only recently heard the (obviously apocryphal) story about the disappearance of Harry Nilsson's remains - supposedly, after his death in '94, his corpse was "on the slab" at the coroner's office in LA when a large earthquake hit the region. His body was either pulverized when the ceiling collapsed, or it disappeared into a fissure in the earth; as a result, his coffin was filled prior to the burial with rocks approximating his weight. There's no way, right? But I love this story, attributed by some to Marianne Faithfull, because it's a very "Harry Nilsson" story. The dude was all about catching people off-guard.
In a career of baffling moves and expectation-defying, Nilsson had his biggest success with with his one of his weirdest albums, 1971's Nilsson Schmilsson, an album that boasts two of the most highly contrasting singles ever found on the same LP in "Without You" and "Coconut". In fact, the songs are found back-to-back on the record, a decision that may have made great sense at the time, but I'll admit that the sheer dissonance makes the album hard for me to listen to. By calling his next album Son of Schmilsson, Nilsson was obviously inviting comparisons between the two albums, and Son of... has always suffered a little in its esteem by being the perceived lesser half of the pair. I was surprised for a few reasons, then, when I recently heard this album for the first time and LOVED it. I loved it so much that it will be the Nilsson I reach for when I'm in the mood for a good time to come.
Like its predecessor, Son of Schmilsson is a collection of intentionally weird pop songs, but the weirdness works really well for me on this one. A summary of some of the song concepts, though, makes it sound like a complete train-wreck: (i) a spoken-word country parody with wordplay all based on the name "Joy"; (ii) a tender ballad turned into a Christmas song with the single act of adding the word "(Christmas)" to the song's title; (iii) a heartbreak song that proves by example that all real-life heartbreak songs would feature prominent use of the f-word; (iv) a song about aging, featuring a choir of senior citizens lustfully wishing for the blissful release of death; and (v) an orchestral faux-Disney finale with a farewell dialogue between Nilsson and his collaborator-producer Richard Perry.
The songs are uniformly excellent, though, and the humor is dished out in just the right amount (although I could do without "Joy", to be honest.) The players are also top-notch - George Harrison and Ringo play on a couple songs, and many of the songs feature a then-little-known Peter Frampton and ace pianist Nicky Hopkins. Some of the more direct songs like "Turn On Your Radio", "The Lottery Song", and "Spaceman" (the album's one hit) give the album some grounding, and the four bonus tracks on the current CD version are great. A particularly great addition is an orphan Nilsson single, "Daybreak", which was released only on the soundtrack of the movie Son of Dracula. It's taken from the same mold as the goofy "Coconut", but it is more focused and has an excellent slinky island vibe. Also, it features George Harrison on cowbell - and that's pretty cool.
"Daybreak" by Harry Nilsson
4 comments:
Good call on the Son of Schmilsson. I understand that this was widely derided upon its release, mostly by critics who took its title too literally. I think it's really a return of sorts to the more whimsical stylings of his earlier albums. Can't say enough good about "The Lottery Song"!
"Lottery Song" is definitely my favorite song on the Son Of... album. I was going to post that song with this write-up, but I love "Daybreak" a lot too, and that's one that a lot of people probably haven't heard. Any recommendations for what to listen to next? I'm leaning toward Knnillssonn right now, but for no particular reason.
I just downloaded 1969's Harry off emusic, which is really good. It's closer in sound to his earlier, more whimsical albums.
Knnillsonn is later, and I'm of the opinion that anything after Pussy Cats demonstrates a distinct lack of effort (alcohol-related) on his part. I haven't listened to it in a while, but even the least of his records have something to recommend them.
Son of is a great one. You want some Nilsson you should check out For The Love Of Harry. Tons O Stuff http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/
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