Thursday, January 25, 2007

Hello Mum....



Harry Nilsson & Shelley Duvall - He Needs Me (Demo)

Harry Nilsson & Shelley Duvall - He Needs Me

What a gorgeous song....

Many of you will remember that bloody awful film 'Popeye'...
You know, the one with that bloody awful Robin Williams in...
Even the usually suberb Shelley Duvall seemed stifled in it. But the film did have one great redeeming feature, and that was the music written by Harry Nilsson.
For me it was a case of great songs, shame about the film. Strangely though it seemed to be the music that most of the bad reviews focused on... there's no accounting for taste eh!

Anyway, nestling amongst the tracks was a little gem called 'He Needs Me', all wonderfully produced with strange yet warm strings that make you feel a little woozy about half way through before soaring, and then there's the lovely sweet voice of Shelley Duvall. Cracking!

A few years back I managed to track down a copy of the demo recordings that Harry had recorded and was instantly blown away by the wonderful stripped down version of 'He Needs Me'.
Basically it's a slow umpa type affair with Shelley sounding sweeter than ever and Harry making tuba or possibly trombone(?) noises... magical.
How can you not love this track.

Whether you like Harry Nilsson or not, you can't deny he had a cracking ear for a tune, and never really took himself too seriously.

Sadly Harry died in 1994 from a heart attack without ever having played live, a sad loss indeed, not least for my Mum...

Some of you might remember I wrote about Nilsson a couple of years ago (my how time flies!) where I mentioned I had Harry Nilsson at the bottom of the bed wearing a dressing gown... it was a poster!
Well that was my mother's fault.
She has been a lifelong fan of Nilsson's (him and Golden Balls himself Neil Diamond) and took every opportunity to play him at us at high volume whenever there was a party or any vague gathering, I guess some of it has stuck.
So if you're reading this Mum, this track is for you, and I promise I'll get a copy to you next time I see you.


Buy - Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson
Visit - Harry Nilsson


Simon
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