My final album of 1970 (which on the whole was an excellent year for music, I’ve discovered) is Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Sings Newman. This record is a collaboration between Nilsson and one of my favorite songwriters and performers of all time, Randy Newman.
Newman didn’t just write the ten tracks on this album but played piano on them as well. And while I can’t imagine anybody topping Newman’s readings of his own songs, Nilsson’s sweet vocals are a nice match for the masterfully simple tunes on this album. I think I need to buy this thing pronto.
One quirk of the album is Nilsson’s interruptions during some tracks to make production suggestions (you can hear one halfway through today’s SOTD). Apparently he wanted listeners to be keenly aware that they were listening to a studio product.
That concludes my look back at 1970. In a month or so I will jump ahead ten years and give the same treatment to 1980, when I was 8 years old and disco was passing the baton to new wave.
When things were green and movin’ slow
And people’d stop to say hello
Or they’d say “hi” to you
“Would you like to come over for tea
With the missus and me?”
It’s a real nice way
To spend the day
In Dayton, Ohio
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903
Sing a song of long ago
When things could grow
And days flowed quietly
The air was clean and you could see
And folks were nice to you
“Would you like to come over for tea
With the missus and me?”
It’s a real nice way
To spend the day
In Dayton, Ohio
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’m really not familiar with Nilsson’s music, but probably should be. I know this song from Newman, but Nilsson does a nice vocal on it.