Warner have been pressing new vinyl editions of various 60s and 70s albums this year: no marketing, no fanfare… just working through the back catalogue, making sure some essential markers in the history of pop are back on the vinyl racks. This month, you’ll find The Byrds’ Sweetheart Of The Rodeo and Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson appearing once again on vinyl.
Of this album’s two singles, Jump Into The Fire is the one that’s very much of its time, while Side Two’s opener, Without You, is timeless. The Grammy Award-winning cut was co-written with Apple Records’ Badfinger, recorded in London, and was the first taste of what Nilsson would sound like with some English musical input.
This was something he’d always yearned for since coming out as The Beatles’ biggest fan, covering both You Can’t Do That and She’s Leaving Home on his sophomore set, Pandemonium Shadow Show.
This is a delightful album that – given Nilsson’s reputation as a hell-raiser, the Beatles connections, the documentaries and the all-encompassing grandeur of Without You – has become somewhat overlooked, albeit unfairly. So drop the needle and give it another chance.
