Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, from the Hawks and Bob Dylan to The Band
— written by rock scholar Stephen T. Lewis — The first full-scale biography of the soul-haunted voice behind The Band, tracing his roots in Stratford, his pivotal role with Dylan and The Hawks, and his enduring impact on rock history.
Jamming visually and audibly in the rock room today is a stellar video document of Harry Nilsson in performance from the aptly titled The Music of Harry Nilsson broadcast in 1972. Ironically, Nilsson has an aversion to live performance and never performed in concert. This particular performance was actually recorded in the studio with the audience applause overdubbed after the fact. This is no way affects the absolutely stunning performances contained herein. There is plenty of intimate footage and sticky sweet songwriting to go around. The half hour special plays more like a movie short or long play music video using goofy effects and some cool animation spots to accompany the music.
Luckily this performance captures one of the most extraordinary singer/songwriters of our time in an emotionally stirring and low key setting. Nilsson’s talent is put beneath glass for the duration of the performance, bearing his soul and sharing his gift through truthful renditions of many of his finest compositions. The entire half hour performance is available because of the loving time and effort of an enterprising fan. Clips have been put together seamlessly and from multiple sources to create perfect representation of the 1972 BBC broadcast. It could be and should be an officially sanctioned release.
The concert features Nilsson solo, with voice and piano (sometimes guitar) and some silly shenanigans to keep things interesting and to deflect the cameras from their subject, I’m sure.
The performance begins with the dampened blue and rolling saloon introduction of ‘Mr Richland’s Favorite Song’, a shifty narrative outlining a confused rock star and his equally special admirers.Nilsson’s vocals are gripping, wringing out the storyline from the songs sneaky melody. The verses of ‘Richland’ weave their way in and out of the Nilsson original and 1969 hit for Three Dog Night, ‘One’ and then back into ‘Mr. Richland’ seamlessly. The song continues into a wordless scat outro jam where Nilsson rises and falls with regal resonance.
After the simulated audience participation, Nilsson bounds into ‘Got To Get Up’ from1971’s Nilsson Schmilsson, album, his succinct piano melody evoking a melodic hustle and bustle and the inevitably of time. This rendition is sparse in comparison to the wide spread of the studio rendition, but is no less effective. Nilsson’s colored piano trills that conclude the song are especially inspiring.
‘Walk Right Back’ follows, a cover song probably learned via the Everly Brothers, the song weaves and bobs on a delicious Nilsson piano line. Two Harry’s share the piano bench harmonizing together. Verse two begins and a third Harry appears lending the sparkling counter melody and eventually some wheezing harmonica. The footage is antiquated with its split screen, but stunning in its portrayal of Nilsson’s stratified vocal styling’s and quirky sense of humor.The triad of Harry’s segue into a honky-tonk appearance of ‘Let the Good the Good Times Roll’ and conclude with a glimpse of Nilsson watching himself in the studio amidst a snoozing crowd of onlookers.
The delicate simplicity of “Life Line’ from Nilsson’s 1971 LP and The Point makes a welcome and rare appearance. His performance here reminds me of a John Lennon home demo tape in its scarce but effective lyrics and chanted piano mantras. Nilsson’s influence on Lennon is obvious when this track is looked at closely. Nilsson applies vibrato and vocal droning effects to enunciate the lyrics.
Nilsson looks out at a staged and disinterested crowd and then gazes into a television screen placed on his piano, where an animation for the cartoon adaptation of Harry’s LP The Point illustrates the fairytale lyricism of ‘Think About Your Troubles’. The songs natural progression of events and tic-toc cadence provides a cool little interlude.
The soaring contrasts of sorrow and ‘Joy,’ emanate from a song not yet released by Nilsson until its appearance on the Son of Schmilsson record. Nilsson again sings with a deep passion and his vocals are rich, vibrant and flexing, like a hired hand at an upscale saloon. The song is a highlight of the performance and possibly a highlight of any available Harry footage. Only one person claps at the songs conclusion though …
‘Are You Sleeping’, another song from The Point is joined by the animated footage and is the official studio version as far as I can tell. The dreamy wandering of the song plays against a cartoon background of stars and again acts as a diversion from featuring Nilsson in more footage humorously.
Nilsson next dons his acoustic guitar and sings an intimate reading of ‘Without Her’ from 1967’s Pandemonium Shadow Show in a version that stays remarkably true to the original minus the swirling strings. Each line is dressed in angelic falsetto and wordless ‘do do do’s’ that add a carelessness to the expressed desperation illustrated in the narrative.
Nilsson’s classic ‘Coconut’ follows ‘Without Her’ and is performed by three gorilla’s in bowler caps, one on piano, one on percussion and one on guitar. Those familiar with the pop culture effect of the ‘Coconut’ song will be interested to know that the song is only played entirely on one chord. Again, this performance has a home demo feel, with Nilsson’s perfectly layered vocals and the spacious one man (3 gorilla) instrumentation constructing the song. The accompanying video, well, check it out for yourself.
The performance and broadcast closes with ‘1941’ as Nilsson’s sneakered shoe taps while his fingers pluck out the acoustic melody. The song’s lyrics use years to express the circular way that family’s often find themselves in the same traps the generations the precede them. Autobiographical in a sense, the song reminds us of the way some are doomed to repeat the mistakes that our parents did. The camera pulls away and back poignantly as Nilsson fades to black and just as the drama reaches its breaking point, he is tagged in the face with a cream pie. A gentle reminder to all of us that when we are in danger of getting too deep or taking things a bit too seriously, its nice to remember that its all in good fun.
1971’s The Music of Nilsson is required viewing and should be preserved forever with an official and specially packaged edition so fans and prospective listeners can witness this special collection of performances. Humor, poignancy, and musical revelation abound through the songwriting and instrumental expressions of Nilsson. He was a man of multifaceted talents and abilities and this document captures them for eternity and all our musical enjoyment.
0 Comments