A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night

Harry Nilsson

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1973
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002W5F
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,754 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Harry Nilsson wrote hits for other people (including the Monkees, Three Dog Night, and the Modern Folk Quartet) yet had his biggest hits with covers of other folks' material (Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'," Badfinger's "Without You"). So it makes a perverse kind of sense that his most enduringly popular album is a collection of pre-World War II standards. With Sinatra arranger Gordon Jenkins on hand for traffic control, Nilsson wraps his lungs around such time-honored classics as "Makin' Whoopee!," "It Had to be You," and "As Time Goes By." Although Aerial Ballet and Nilsson Schmilsson are his finest outings, this album is extremely enjoyable on its own terms. --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An incomplete masterpiece, July 31, 2000

By	R. Claster "Bob Claster" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This album, featuring brilliant performances by both singer Harry Nilsson and arranger Gordon Jenkins, was (for some reason) hacked up and only about 65% of it was released. As the entire album was conceived as a whole, with links bridging the songs, this was a real shame.

However, the full album has recently been restored and released under the title "As Time Goes By: The Complete Schmilsson in the Night," and so you should absolutely avoid "A Little Touch" and make sure to get "As Time Goes By." You won't be sorry.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant, January 23, 2001

By	David Pearlman "sound fanatic" (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When this album was released in the early '70s--a collection of songs that were already decades old, carefully arranged by Sinatra's best ballad arranger Gorden Jenkins--it wasn't clear if this was intended as a loving tribute or an ironic statement. Coming from then poster boy for hip music lovers and years before this type of record would be popularized by people like Linda Ronstadt, and in light of Nilsson's well-known sense of humor, it just seemed this couldn't be serious.

Or could it?

Well, the truth is, it doesn't matter. Because context becomes irrelevant over time, and what's left is the music. And, what beautiful music it is. Tremendously well-chosen standards from throughout the first half of the 20th century, tremendously well orchestrated by a master, and sung with passion AND precision by a man of great vocal talent. Who cares what anyone was thinking? All you ever need to know is on the record.

Time has only been kind to this album, and to these ears it has dated not a whit in the more than quarter century since it was released. Perhaps because it was never of its time in the first place. Lush romantic music from a happier, simpler time--something we all need.

dap

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the all-time song stylists, May 25, 2000

By	Bruce Kendall "BEK" (Southern Pines, NC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This album reintroduced me to the "standards" of songwriting's golden era. Harry was one of my idols from the time I saw him perform with John Lennon in Central Park in the early 70's. I am starting to develop a real anathema for Brian Glasser and his reviews in "E-Map," whatever that is. Generally, the albums he disses, I love. We don't exactly see eye-to-eye, obviously. This album is one of the acoustic joys of all time in my humble opinion. The arrangements are gorgeous, and Harry interprets each song in his own inimitable style. These are not your standard interpretations. Harry was a true iconoclast. "Lazy Moon" and "As Time Goes By" are particularly brilliant reworkings. These tunes will stick with you. I find that I sing them to myself 20 years after first listening to them. And it's not Sinatra's voice that I hear in the inner chamber of my ear - it's Harry's.