Hatrack River Forum: I love the way you wear your trees -- a tribute to Harry Nilsson

This is topic I love the way you wear your trees -- a tribute to Harry Nilsson in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Nilsson Schmilsson has been re-released remastered, etc. At the same time, Son of Schmilsson is available on CD also.

Put them together and you'll have a rough idea the reason why I think most popular music today is just not as good as that which was available in my youth.

I've learned to really love folk music lately, and I realized after listening to Nilsson again after so many years that it could very well be BECAUSE the artists in folk music know how to have fun and convey an emotion (or two or ten).

Anyway, for those of you who haven't ever heard of Harry Nilsson or think of him only as the guy who wrote Me and My Arrow (the Point song) and the themesong for Courtship of Eddies Father I just have to tell you that you are missing one of the timeless gems of audio recording. His voice had an amazing range and his control over it was superb. But the main thing are his lyrics and melodies. He just was a natural.

I'm sure there are places to sample his stuff to see if you like it. I defy anyone to listen to one of his tunes and not get happy feet.

Thanks to RCA & BMG for rereleasing this stuff.

Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :

Thanks for the heads up, Bob. I'll have to go out and get that CD.

The Point soundtrack finds its way into my CD player fairly regularly. [Cool]

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Thanks, Bob. I like it. It's a little bit like Paul McCartney singing the blues.

Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :

You can listen to clips on Amazon, but to be honest, Bob, they really scared Tom and I! *giggle*

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Yes, it's a LITTLE like Paul McCartney, but not much. It's more like those freakin' squirrels with gums. *shudder*

Bob, you've occasioned an argument between me and my wife; she thinks you genuinely like this guy, whereas I've been insisting that you're joking about the whole thing. Because -- and I'll try to soften the blow, here -- I'm deaf in one ear already, but this "music" made me wish I was deaf in the other one, too.

*continues to shudder* It stays with me. It's like a sonic disease.

Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :

Bob, you're breaking my heart. You're tearin' it apart. So...

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

"It's more like those freakin' squirrels with gums."

Yes, gum-chewing squirrels freak me out, too, Tom.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Tom & Christy...I'll give you a pass because you're expecting a child, but I have to say that you are PHILISTINES!!!

Look for the following cuts to listen to:

Without You
Early in the Morning
The Most Beautiful World in the World
Coconut

Chris! [ROFL]

Actually, H.N.'s voice is much better than McCartney's. I'd put it on par with Steve Winwood for range and control.

IMHO, the two best voices in rock, ever.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

"IMHO, the two best voices in rock, ever."

Them's fightin words, Sir Bobalot. I put up my sword in defense of the following voices, for their intensity and uniqueness:

Bob Dylan
Jerry Garcia
Bruce Springsteen
Mick Jagger
Richard Thompson
Van Morrison
Neil Young

Sincerely,
Elizabeth

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Those are all GREAT voices. I put Neil Young 3rd on the list.

I don't really like Dylan's voice. His lyrics and melodies...you bet!

Van Morrison, check!

Oh, and I forgot John Fogarty's CCR days.

[Big Grin]

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Donald Fagan
Nils Lofgren

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

It really is amazing when you think how different all those voices are, yet(to me) they are so powerful.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Todd Rundgren

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Yes!
Todd is God!

You know, there is a local, sort of sweet, goofy singer named Josh. I wrote to him, and at the end of the email I said:

"Josh is Gosh!"

I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever said, and he didn't get it.

Edited to explain to the youngsters that Rundgren fans used to chant "Todd is God!"
Edited to add to the edit that they probably still do, but are now older and grayer.

[ March 07, 2004, 10:02 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]

Posted by Godric (Member # 4587) on :

Speaking of under-appreciated folk singers, I submit to you Loudon Wainwright III.

Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :

$0.02

re voices:

as a product of my generation - eddie vedder. can emulate neil young in a nutshell... but sing songs that don't sound sooo whiney.

fallow

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Oh fallow...you need a copy of Harvest to get in touch with the truly great Neil Young.

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Or, as he points out, he can buy pretty much any Pearl Jam album. [Smile]

Me, I'm partial to Maynard James Keenan.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Bob, do you have "Harvest Moon?" It is sort of a twenty-years-later update of "Harvest." And my all time favorite(other than "Harvest Moon") is "Comes a Time."

I can't help thinking that any one of the folks we have mentioned would not have even made it into the auditions of "American Idol," but I get a real chuckle imagining Jerry G. in front of Simon.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

No, I haven't heard Harvest Moon. I'll check it out though.

The image of Jerry Garcia and Simon is just too much!

You know, Simon doesn't have a Ben & Jerry's flavor named after him, so he shouldn't be all impressed with himself.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Speed, I never did see The Point but I think I'd like to.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

You know, I was just thinking that since Harry Nilsson is dead and buried, the title of this thread is a little bit macabre...

[Wall Bash]

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

Could have been daisies. [Wink]

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Bob,

Just add "oak" to trees, and it brings in a whole bunch of allusions to Norse mythology. An oak tree symbolized many things. Don't beat yourself up, Bob. Please let us do it!

As for Jerry Garcia and Ben and Jerry. I went to college in Vermont in the early 80's when Ben and Jerry's ice cream was only in local stores. There were two Ben and Jerry's shops in Burlington, and that was it. We would get a pizza, a six-pack, and a pint of Ben and Jerry's(chocolate Mystic mint-now defunct)I bought a t-shirt.

A few years later, I was in California at a Dead show. I wore the shirt. I can't tell you how many people came up to me to express the coolness of the shirt, due to the name "Jerry" emblazoned on the back. We thought we were mighty important at the time.

Anyway, it was wild to watch Ben and Jerry's grow within the next three or four years(so that would have been about 1988 or 1989) Suddenly, Ben and Jerry's was in stores, then it was ahead of Haagen Dazs, and then Jerry was featured as a flavor.

If only we had bought stock!

Liz

Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :

I saw "The Point"... it's got some good bits, but it's kinda slow compared to the album -- think the film is twice as long as the album?

Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :

I will always and forever not get the appeal of Bob Dylan. [Smile]

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

S.S. wrote:
"I will always and forever not get the appeal of Bob Dylan."

Heh.
You are not alone, but I love him. I did not love his live show this summer, however. He was a blithering drunk, and I was disappointed yet again(but for the last time)in his live show. His band was excellent, and the warm-up band, The Waifs, was incredible. it was almost worth it to get to see and "discover" them.

Bob, if you think Simon would have a field day with Jerry, how about old Bob Dylan?

"Bob, you were HORRIBLE. You have no right to even call yourself a singer. Go home, take a bath, and get a job washing dishes at your local Denny's."

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

[ROFL]

The voice of his generation!!!

Hey, I forgot Paul Simon.

The Graceland album is in my top 10 list.

[Big Grin]

I don't like Simon & Garfunkle but mainly because every time I see Art Garfunkle I think of his role in that weird movie with Jack Nicholson where they do wife swapping and one of the women dies... It was TERRIBLE!!!

Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :

*loves both Paul Simon and Simon and Garfunkel*

Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :

Sadly, Paul Simon didn't love both Paul Simon and Simon and Garfunkel.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Simon:

"Paul, you have a pretty voice, but absloutely NO stage presence. I see you in a chaep hotel lounge, with one drunken couple in the audience. The only thing noteworthy about you is your last name. I'll pass you on for that alone."

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

[ROFL]