VOL № C085 — June 2024
COMING SOON: A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night by Harry Nilsson will be the June 2024 Classics Record of the Month. You're on the interest list and will be notified when it becomes available. Sign up to be notified by email when this album launches.
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The phrase “standards album” was unheard of in 1973, yet within 20 years it had become common parlance in the careers of artists going back to the basics to underscore their vocal prowess. With A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, Nilsson created the template of the solo contemporary singer accompanied by a live orchestra, which set the bar for what followed from Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Bryan Ferry, and countless others. The decision to make an album like this one would have been unusual for any contemporary artist around at that time, but it was especially strange for Nilsson. His two most recent rock albums had been incredibly successful, and RCA was surely clawing for another guaranteed hit, but, for Nilsson, this was just another twist and turn in his career.
It is mind-boggling how far ahead Harry Nilsson was in recording A Little Touch. But where other musicians have turned to a standards album as a way to extend or even resurrect their career, Nilsson made one at his absolute artistic peak. No one has had the guts to do it like he did, before or since — and Nilsson knew it.
LP 1 / Side A
| 1 Lazy Moon |
| 2 For Me And My Gal |
| 3 It Had To Be You |
| 4 Always |
| 5 Makin' Whoopee! |
| 6 You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It) |
LP 1 / Side B
| 1 Lullaby in Ragtime |
| 2 I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now |
| 3 What'll I Do |
| 4 Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You) |
| 5 This Is All I Ask |
| 6 As Time Goes By |
