harry nilsson did not resemble the 1940s swedish football star (above) of the same name.
max abelson's super groovy music video spectacular
1960s on mon
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
featuring the fine musical stylings of: the beatles, the rolling stones, serge gainsbourg, yo la tengo, the kinks, harry nilsson, ike & tina turner, antony, aretha franklin, wilco, elvis, talking heads, stephen foster, dr. dre, bonnie 'prince' billy, elvis c., neil young, the smiths, dusty springfield, al green, jimi hendrix, r.e.m., ray charles, belle & sebastian, randy newman, cat power, the cure, queen & pavement
i write for the observer, email me at mabelson at observer.com
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives, or a random post.
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"his wife was a spent piece of used jet trash, made good bloody marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time, had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"i’ve still got things inside me—sad things, happy things—that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes." -bob dylan
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. i didn't really understand too much of what that meant when i was just a boy. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset." -lou reed
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum: dirty ass rock and roll. -john cale
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"we were having coffee or something to drink, i forget, at 2 am at the plaza hotel. phil had this long hair, down to his shoulders, he’s a very strange looking guy, it’s, well, anyway, this was before longish hair was everywhere, it goes back. i could see at this table nearby, there were two couples, i remember, they were older people, at least in the 60s, they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home" -gram parsons
woody allen's reasons to live: "i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face."
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away" -lowell george
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police. i ate two loaves of bread. then the telephone rang. jonesy said, answer that for me will you? so i went downstairs to answer the phone and kept on walking right out into the street." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" -charles aznavour in shoot the piano player
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff" -radiohead
"i don't rap fast, i rap slow, 'cause i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead, don't let the microphones and loudspeakers faze you, make some yourself.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about the spectacular: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy."
the 33 1/3 book series' blog says: "whenever i start playing around on youtube i always end up watching that lady fall over while stomping grapes, so it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction."
see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & staches
make a tumblr!
2008: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2009: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2010: j. f.
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
featuring the fine musical stylings of: the beatles, the rolling stones, serge gainsbourg, yo la tengo, the kinks, harry nilsson, ike & tina turner, antony, aretha franklin, wilco, elvis, talking heads, stephen foster, dr. dre, bonnie 'prince' billy, elvis c., neil young, the smiths, dusty springfield, al green, jimi hendrix, r.e.m., ray charles, belle & sebastian, randy newman, cat power, the cure, queen & pavement
i write for the observer, email me at mabelson at observer.com
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives, or a random post.
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"his wife was a spent piece of used jet trash, made good bloody marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time, had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"i’ve still got things inside me—sad things, happy things—that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes." -bob dylan
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. i didn't really understand too much of what that meant when i was just a boy. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset." -lou reed
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum: dirty ass rock and roll. -john cale
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"we were having coffee or something to drink, i forget, at 2 am at the plaza hotel. phil had this long hair, down to his shoulders, he’s a very strange looking guy, it’s, well, anyway, this was before longish hair was everywhere, it goes back. i could see at this table nearby, there were two couples, i remember, they were older people, at least in the 60s, they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home" -gram parsons
woody allen's reasons to live: "i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face."
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away" -lowell george
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police. i ate two loaves of bread. then the telephone rang. jonesy said, answer that for me will you? so i went downstairs to answer the phone and kept on walking right out into the street." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" -charles aznavour in shoot the piano player
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff" -radiohead
"i don't rap fast, i rap slow, 'cause i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead, don't let the microphones and loudspeakers faze you, make some yourself.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about the spectacular: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy."
the 33 1/3 book series' blog says: "whenever i start playing around on youtube i always end up watching that lady fall over while stomping grapes, so it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction."
see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & staches
make a tumblr!
2008: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2009: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2010: j. f.
#506: harry nilsson - good old desk, together and skidoo (live on playboy after dark, 1968)
is it better to hear harry nilsson sing a beautiful lullaby about a desk, or to hear him convince young hugh hefner that its title is an anagram referring to “man’s modern concept about the meaning of god”? or is it better to hear him croon a swinging lounge love song about an ocean of sadness? or a song that’s made up of the credits to a druggy otto preminger film starring groucho marx, jackie gleason, slim pickens, peter lawford, frankie avalon and mickey rooney? no one can ever be sure.
10 albums to listen to in 2010: harry nilsson’s pandemonium shadow show (which sounds like rubber soul produced by phil spector baked into a cherry pie), aerial ballet (which sounds like ray bradbury written by oscar wilde baked into laurence sterne), and aerial pandemonium ballet (which is a combination of both albums that doesn’t quite sounds like either of them), and then listen to all three albums two more times, and then listen to aerial ballet again, and you can do it by clicking here.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Comments (View)
harry nilsson singing a sad and snowy randy newman love song that’s not on the original nilsson sings newman, somehow. after it’s over he says, “i think so.”
#434: harry nilsson - think about your troubles (from the point!) (1971)
september is here, august is gone—but it will forever remain in our hearts as the month nancy sinatra managed to get an op-ed printed in the times. actually her piece made a good argument for why singers like her father deserve radio royalty payments: “when he sings, ‘weatherwise it’s such a lovely day’ in come fly with me, he lingers on the word lovely, and you can actually imagine yourself floating in a blue sky on a lovely day.”
that’s a nice point, and it makes me think about harry nilsson, who was like frank sinatra except he crooned about baths, desks, limes, bad fathers and the circus while wearing bathrobes and binge drinking with john lennon. in think about your troubles—a song about crying into a teacup that’s poured into the ocean, drunk up by fishes who are swallowed by a whale that dies and melts into the water, which is filtered and made into tea—he sings the word decomposed with enough fatal wobble to remind you that everyone is going to die. but then the song’s melody is so splendid that life seems worth living. it’s perfect music for september.
#311: harry nilsson - coconut (1971, bbc’s the music of nilsson)
my pal ted introduced me to the blog for the love of harry, which is, for the love of god, totally heavenly. among other things, you’ll find 1964 harry nilsson singles like baa baa blacksheep, excerpts about harry from albert goldman biographies, insane covers from vintage harry songbooks, and a t-shirt that says harry schmarry, which i aspire to one day wearing.
and then there’s this 1971 bbc show. click here to watch the whole thing, which will literally, well, no, figuratively, make steam burst from your ears. it starts with mr. richland’s favorite song, which is the saddest song a then-young (but future has-been) songwriter ever wrote about a has-been songwriter.
then there are three harrys singing walk right back, cathy’s clown and let the good times roll, followed by life line, which i’d never heard before and am not immediately crazy about. but then, phew, there’s think about your troubles and are you sleeping from the point, his animated film that came about, he said, because, “i was on acid and i looked at the trees and i realized that they all came to points, and the little branches came to points, and the houses came to points. i thought, ‘oh! everything has a point, and if it doesn’t, then there’s a point to it.’”
in between those cartoonish tunes is the very non-cartoonish joy. and then there’s without her, which might be the saddest break-up song in the history of break up songs, even though it doesn’t have the line, “two can be as bad as one/ it’s the loneliest number since the number one,” which is from, of course, harry’s one.
then, shown above, there are monkeys performing coconut, which is too bad because, if you really want to know, i think coconut is a totally serious song, and not monkey business at all, in between dylan’s rainy day women and the beatles’ being for the benefit of mr. kite.
and then lastly, holy heavens, is 1941, which i’m not going to say anything about, except that it’s better than neutral milk hotel’s holland, 1945, which is saying a lot.
#247: ringo starr - only you (1974)
sunday evening nilsson special (pt. 2)! john lennon wasn’t the only member of the beatles who got to sit around and ingest industrial quantities of pharmaceuticals with harry nilsson while wearing spacemen suits and bathrobes in mid-70s los angeles. the real question is: were there any drugs left in california by the time nilsson was done making music videos with his friends?
#241: harry nilsson - pussy cats (advertisement) (1974)
sunday evening nilsson special! in 2006 the walkmen remade 1974’s super-druggy harry nilsson/john lennon album pussy cats (the rug in between the “d” and the “s” on the cover spells something if you think really hard about it), but now it’s 2008 and i promise to remake this 1974 advertisement for nilsson’s album if obama wins.
#226: the monkees - daddy’s song (from head, 1968)
my favorite harry nilsson song sung by the monkees in a jack nicholson-directed movie? with druggy dancing? and frank zappa appears afterwards with a talking donkey to say, “you’ve been working on your dancing, doesn’t leave much time for your music. you should spend some more time on it because the youth of america depends on you to show the way”? it’s like god hath bestowed a columbus day music video gift.
update: god giveth and god taketh away; the daddy’s song video was taken down, so here’s a commercial for head instead.
#87: harry nilsson - walk right back/cathy’s clown/let the good times roll (1971, bbc)
oh, harry! in 1968, when there was a press conference to announce the start of apple records, john lennon was asked for his favorite u.s. singer. “nilsson,” he said. then paul mccartney was asked for his favorite u.s. group. “nilsson,” he said.
maybe they liked his tipsy psychedelia (pandemonium shadow show), or his morbid acoustic folk (aerial ballet), or his old-school sinatra miming (a little touch of schmilsson in the night) or all that bizarre bathrobe kitch (“you put the lime in the coconut…”).
nilsson’s has a syrupy swagger that makes things interesting even when he’s playing everly brothers tunes (and a 1946 hit) on the piano. there’s something especially nefarious about harry singing such perfectly sweet songs with two other versions of himself. (don’t forget that two years after this show, he accompanied his new pal john lennon on his famous LA drug binge. a year after that, mama cass elliott died in nilsson’s bedroom, and the who’s keith moon happened to do the very same thing in 1978.)
bonus! the creepy cut-off clapping and overall goofiness here is calendar-approriate. happy april fool’s day ‘08. woo.
