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Tyler: Peter, we’ve got a small wonder here. Twenty-six minutes, the sparest of musical arrangements, multi-tracked vocals en masse, and two of American music’s most celebrated ironists, Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman.  Randy wrote the songs and played the piano.  Harry sang.  Nilsson Sings Newman is the result.

Peter: Okay, so, I was not familiar with this album. I am (somewhat) familiar with both Nilsson and Newman. I love “Everybody’s Talkin’,” and “Jump Into The Fire,” (which is used to great effect in Goodfellas). I can tolerate Randy Newman in small doses. He has a song on the Major League soundtrack and it works well in the film. I see why he’s good at writing a song or two for a soundtrack, but for me a little goes a long way. It’s sort of a law of diminishing returns situation for me.

Tyler: Man, the Major League soundtrack.  How many movie songs has Randy written?

Peter: I feel like it’s kind of his thing now.

Tyler: I bought a single Randy Newman LP, 12 Songs, after I’d experienced Nilsson Sings Newman.  It didn’t leave much of an impression, or, rather, I didn’t give it much time.

Peter: He was on Live From Here and it got looong.

Neil Young once joked, whilst playing a show with Crazy Horse, “It’s all one song!” I feel that way about Randy. But I mostly knew him from soundtracks, so this was interesting to do.

Tyler: Randy has a crowd, though, doesn’t he?  Not just the Disney soundtrack crew, but a decent collection of fans who dig his dry-ass work.

Peter: 100%.

Tyler: Now, Nilsson, on the other hand, I know from some work. I’d heard of him from Beatle histories, where he spent some time as their new favorite American sensation. After enough coaching and coaxing from this source or another over the years, I gave Nilsson Schmilsson a try.  I enjoyed the hell out of it, so I took time with a lot of his other releases, especially the early quirk-a-doo classics Pandemonium Shadow Show, Aerial Ballet, and Harry.

Peter: I should check out more of his work. I love his voice.

Hey, you know who likes this album?

Tyler: I’m about to.

Peter: Joanna Newsom.

Tyler: Foreshadowing!

Peter: This is funny because I’m trying to get Tyler to listen to Joanna Newsom.

Tyler: I ain’t scared!  Honestly, if I choose to describe albums I enjoy as “quirk-a-doo classics,” I really should be open to some real musical eccentricity.

Peter: Anyway, let’s gooooo! It’s Nilsson! It’s Newman! Together again for the first time!

Tyler: We’re gonna get things started with a real kick!  A guitar!  It has no place anywhere on the rest of the album!

I dearly hope Randy played the lick.

Peter: It’s not credited on Wikipedia.

Tyler: Maybe Nilsson sang it.

Peter: It’s almost all piano and loads of Nilsson vocals. Tons of vocal overdubs.

I’m explaining the joke. For you, the readers.

This is the story of a failed band. The initial bit is their demo which “Never made the grade.”

Tyler: I dig “Vine Street.”  It’s like this Frankie Valli fantasy. “Me and my group/Would sit out on the stoop/And we would play for her/The songs she liked best to have us play.”

Peter: It’s good. The first bit is really fun. And it’s an engaging little tale. Sets a scene. Paints a picture.

Tyler: Plus, it really sets the table for all that’s to come in the vocals.  Layers upon layers of perfect harmonies, all Harry.

Peter: Yes. One of the big stories here is the Nilsson vocals. The layers and layers of Nilsson vocals. One of the real strengths of this album.

Tyler: These are really pocket-sized songs.  “Love Story (You And Me)” is another little character sketch, Harry singing prettily atop sensible piano from Randy.  Honestly, the one thing that clangs for me in this one is the line “He’s got to be straight/‘Cause we don’t want a bent one.”  I’m guessing Randy’s speaking through a character here, but it still doesn’t feel necessary.

It’s a nice tune.  Sad in the end, which is kind of a theme here.  Most things end in melancholy.

Peter: It’s another little story. It sort of borders on too sweet. I feel like Harry’s vocals help save it.

If Randy sang this, I probably would not be on board.

Tyler: A quick glance reveals that Randy released his own version, on a self-titled debut album released in 1968.  To eBay!

I don’t wanna throw shade on Randy.  It’s too easy.

Peter: True.

Okay, the next song…

Tyler: Irony alert!  We hope!

Peter: The next song is called “Yellow Man.”

Tyler: Off to a lovely start.

Peter: Okay, right off. Yikes. Even the piano intro is racist. The lyrics are… something. To say this hasn’t aged well would be a huge understatement.

Tyler: There has to be underlying satire here, right?

Like, that unfortunate kind of “I’m one of the good guys, so I’ll be racist ironically” humor.

Peter: Yes, of course. I don’t think Randy Newman sat down with the intention of writing a racist song.

Tyler: Maybe if it was for Song Of The South he might.

I digress.  The vocals are still great!  There’s an unexpected bit of studio chatter, which is odd, but not too troublesome.  The whole enterprise, though, is…less.

Peter: The studio chatter is good. It adds a bit of texture. The vocals are great.

Tyler: The lyrics, as noted, are a bunch of racism.  Weird tropes about Asians strung together in the wake of the yuk-yuk pidgin-Chinese-music that introduces the song, as you noted.

Peter: In today’s world, it’s a bit of a hard listen. “Different times” and whatnot, but still.

Tyler: Next song up is a fairly straightforward love ballad called “Caroline.”  We’re hitting a very low-key stretch of the album here.

Peter: This one is not offensive at all.

I’m kind of on the fence about this one.

I didn’t love it at first. It does have some beautiful vocals.

Tyler: It appears and fades pretty damn quickly, and quietly.

Coming in next, with a healthy dose of swirling-wind sound effects, is “Cowboy.”

Peter: It’s a weird one. I feel like I’m always pointing out the weirdest song on the album when we do one of these things.

Tyler: You’ve got an ear for it.

Peter: I’m very judgy, apparently.

Tyler: I enjoy “Cowboy,” its kinda tale of classic country-mouse longing to get outta the city.  It’s got a great little multi-keyboard shimmer at the end.

Peter: It really doesn’t sound like Randy Newman wrote it. And then it’s got the blowing wind in the background for the bulk of the song and it ends with a weird sort of harpsichord(esque) breakdown.  It’s weird and I like it.

Tyler: There’s a neat-o bit of connection, when you consider it, between “Cowboy” and Nilsson’s classic recording of “Everybody’s Talkin’,” which was featured in Midnight Cowboy, another tale of a country fellow getting lost in a metropolis. On top of that, there’s Harry’s “Little Cowboy,” which came a few albums before this one.

Peter: I was going to say it’s short but I looked it up and it’s the second longest song on the album.

Tyler: Really! What’s it clock in at?

Peter: 2:55.

Tyler: And that’s the second-longest? Man, these are brief jams.

Peter: There’s only one song on the album, “Love Story,” that breaks the three minute mark.

It’s the anti-Be Here Now.

Tyler: I’m glancing at those track times and, wow, this one really does get to the point and get out.

Peter: That’s a good thing! I’m not knocking the songs here, either. Sometimes less is more, and I think they were smart to keep the pace they do here. The album really clips along.

Tyler: It does.  I dig it for that as well.

On the heels of “Cowboy,” now, we’ve got “The Beehive State.”  I’m forever baffled by the inclusion of this one amongst the rest of the crowd here, but it is catchy and the vocals are stellar.  It just sounds, overall, out of place.  Am I crazy?

Peter: I think both this and “Cowboy” sound out of place.

Tyler: “Cowboy” to my ear always blends a bit with “Caroline” before it.

“Beehive State” is so damn clonky and overpowering when you compare it to everything else here.  And is it making a political comment? If so, the comment’s lost on me.

Peter: I agree. I find the lyrics confusing. Is it supposed to “mean” something? It’s fine if it’s just nonsense, but it kind of seems like there’s supposed to be some underlying message here. Is there a reason he picks Kansas and Utah?

Tyler: I thought I’d check Newman’s birthplace.  No dice.  He actually does come from L.A.

Peter: I don’t mind the tune. The outro’s good.

Tyler: Vocals on vocals on vocals.  What an achievement, those deliveries.

Peter: Terrific.

The next two songs are also terrific!

Tyler: Yeah they are. A real pair of standouts.

Peter: “I’ll Be Home,” a gentle love song, slows things back down after the previous two oddballs. The backing vocals on this are interesting and I like the organ. For an album that is predominantly just piano and vocals, there are some surprising production flourishes on a lot of these songs that help keep things interesting.

Tyler: Yeah, there’s just enough adventurous spirit to much of it.

“I’ll Be Home” and the next track are both heartbreakers for me.  Harry and Randy knock this stuff outta the park.

Peter: They are both highlights. Both very straightforward, it should be noted. They’re not being “clever” here.

“Living Without You” also doesn’t sound like Randy to me, but what do I know? Maybe the Newmaniacs out there consider this quintessential “Randy.”

Tyler: “Living Without You” has some damn striking stanzas going on. “Milk truck hauls the sun up/Paper hits the door/Subway shakes my floor/And I think about you.”

Peter: It is the best song on the album in my opinion. If you haven’t heard it, I would encourage you to give it a listen.

Long time readers will know that’s a first. I’ve never “encouraged you to give it a listen” before, but here we are.

Tyler: Hey, I’ll second you.  This one’s a stunner.  And yet another delightful finale, the outta-nowhere vocal crescendos.

Peter: Terrific stuff. Also, he’s double-tracked on the lead vocal for much of the song, and it works really well. Another good production choice.

Tyler: Another good production choice: the entirety of our next song, “Dayton Ohio 1903.”  I shamelessly love this one.

It’s compact, it’s evocative, and it’s earnest enough.  If Randy’s having a laugh, I’ll ignore it.

Peter: It clocks in at 1:53.

Tyler: All I need.  Love it.

Peter: This one (and the next one) sound more like Randy Newman.

Tyler: Yeah, I’ve long wondered whether he’s taking the piss out of nostalgia in “Dayton.” Those days weren’t really all that great, were they?

Peter: Nilsson’s voice really helps these songs shine. I wouldn’t want to hear Randy sing them.

Tyler: Oh, how Nilsson could sing.  What a talent.

Peter: He’s magnificent.

Tyler: It’s not just the voice, which is a ridiculous diamond.  It’s his deliveries.  He’s interpreting, not just singing.

That make sense?

Peter: Absolutely.

For me, this album peaks with “Living Without You,” but the last two tracks work as a sort of “falling action.” Coming in for a landing after the heights of “LWY.”

Tyler: I can see that.  “So Long Dad” as a closer works, chronicling another sad tale, this one of a son pushing his father out of his life with deceptively cheery couplets like “Just come by when it’s convenient to/You should call before you do.”

Peter: Yeah, that line stands out.

Tyler: These two really captured something.  It’s kind of amazing that two known wiseasses like Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman don’t let their inner imps take over the proceedings.  The finest moments here—and in a vacuum number-one might just be “Living Without You”—are real and heartfelt.  No snark to them.

Peter: I was a little hesitant about this one. Not to draw back the curtain too much, but when you suggested NSN to me behind the scenes I actually asked you if I could think about it. But, after hearing it a bunch of times, I can see its appeal. “Vine Street” has been stuck in my head for weeks (not necessarily a good thing), but this album has real hooks. I can see why it’s a beloved classic.

For the Newmaniacs.

Or Fandys.

Or just regular people. Also.

Tyler: All are welcome.

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