Monday 29 December 2008

Harry and Randy

Over Christmas, I heard quite a lot of this album, which was definitely one of the best things the wildly wayward Harry Nilsson ever did - and, in effect, one of the best Randy Newman albums. Nilsson was blessed with a remarkable, even beautiful voice, and it does wonders for these early Newman songs (as the album did for Newman's profile). If you don't know it, it's well worth seeking out...

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tip-off, Nige, to what sounds like a perfect combination of two of my favorite musicians.

    BTW, what do you make of the purple squirrel? Is it part of some new strategem in the grey squirrels' war on humanity?

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  2. It's worrying, Dave, no doubt about it - but I notice the purple squirrel has appeared at a school. Can't help wondering if some schoolboy pranksters have dipped it in potassium permanganate solution...

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  3. Yes, Nige, one of Harry's great albums. He wrote me a letter once - after I wrote a long piece about him in one of the Philadelphia weeklies, and we talked over the phone a couple of times. Very funny and personable guy and immensely talented. And you're right: At his best, his voice was beautiful

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  4. In the NY Times article 'Saving a Squirrel by Eating One' I learn that 'British gray squirrels are being culled to protect beloved red squirrels.' Do you think, Nige, that this purple squirrel was going for red and just got it wrong?

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