Harry Nilsson Album Reviews

Harry Edward Nilsson III successfully walked the line in the 1960s and 1970s. He enjoyed hit singles like ‘Everybody’s Talkin” and ‘Without You’. But he followed an idiosyncratic path – in the early 1970s, he released a Randy Newman covers album, a standards album, and a soundtrack to an animated movie. Uniquely, he was both an accomplished songwriter and a gifted interpreter of other people’s songs. He wrote hits for other artists like Three Dog Night and Mary Hopkin, but his own biggest hits were covers.

Nilsson started his music career singing demos for songwriter Scott Turner. He then worked as a songwriter with Phil Spector – the Beach Boys-inspired ‘This Could Be The Night’ is an early highlight. Arranger George Tipton was an early ally, spending his life savings to finance Nilsson’s early singles.

Nilsson’s career faded after the mid-1970s. He shredded his voice recording Pussy Cats with John Lennon, and largely retired from music after 1980’s Flash Harry. He was working on a comeback album when he passed away from heart disease in his early fifties.

Harry Nilsson Album Reviews

Spotlight on Nilsson

1966, 6/10
Nilsson’s first LP is a collection of his early singles, released on Tower, a budget imprint of Capitol Records. Glenn Tipton financed these early singles and arranged them. The recordings are basic – the ten tracks flash by in just over twenty minutes. It doesn’t have much of Nilsson’s musical personality, as it lacks his intricate backing vocal arrangements.

But it has a lyrical personality – even though a lot of the songs are covers, and were released as singles, they form a coherent narrative, with Nilsson a downtrodden, romantic loser. ‘Good Times’ later became the title track to The Monkees’ final album in 2016. It’s more country-oriented than anything else in his discography – he covers Merle Travis and Marvin Rainwater.

In hindsight, Spotlight is more like an interesting prelude to Nilsson’s discography proper, but it’s worth hearing.

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Pandemonium Shadow Show

1967, 7/10
Harry Nilsson signed with RCA Victor in 1967, starting a partnership with arranger George Tipton. Nilsson constructs elaborate backing vocals, overdubbing himself in “a chorus of ninety-eight voices”. With the orchestral arrangements, it’s comparable to Scott Walker’s 1960’s work. But it’s quite different – Nilsson’s much cuddlier, and there’s only a hint of darkness to most of these tunes. Nilsson only wrote half of these tunes. If you’re a pop/rock fan, you’ll probably find his later albums more approachable, but it’s worth checking through here for gems.

Chief among the gems is ‘1941’, a biographical tale that Nilsson named after his year of birth. He also wrote ‘Ten Little Indians’ about the Ten Commandments, later a minor hit for The Yardbirds. A variety of artists later covered ‘Without Her’, including Glen Campbell and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

It’s fun hearing him mimic Lennon’s Greek chorus vocals on ‘She’s Leaving Home’. He also covers The Beatles’ ‘You Can’t Do That’, quoting seventeen other Beatles songs in the process.

Pandemonium Shadow Show is worthwhile, but Nilsson became more interesting as his songwriting developed.

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Aerial Ballet

1968, 8/10
Aerial Ballet is named for the highwire circus act that Nilsson’s grandparents developed. It’s a step forward – the baroque arrangements are pushed to the background, making it feel more intimate. Nilsson wrote almost all of the songs – the exception is the hit cover of Fred Neil’s ‘Everybody’s Talkin”. It feels much stronger, although its success was belated. ‘Everybody’s Talkin” became a hit when it was featured in 1969’s Midnight Cowboy, while ‘One’ was later a hit for Three Dog Night.

10 Best Harry Nilsson Songs

• 1941