Record of the Week #5: Nilsson Sings Newman - and Torrence, too!
Ever since I fell in love with the 'Nilsson Schmilson' record I received for Christmas, 1971 - a month after it was released, I was twelve - I have had a soft spot for Harry Nilsson. He hung around with interesting folks - the Beatles famously named him their favorite artist when they founded Apple Records - and he had a way with a song. Not the most commercially motivated artist, Nilsson followed his instincts throughout his life to record a quirky but memorable collection of tunes.
Nilsson's first commercially successful album, Harry, of 1969, included a song by the then relatively unknown songwriter, Randy Newman. So taken with Newman's songs, Nilsson proposed to record a whole album of his songs, and in 1970, 'Nilsson Sings Newman' was released.
'Nilsson Sings Newman' is a great record that more people should know. It is filled with classic, early Randy Newman songs, Nilsson's unique voice and interpretations, and backed by Newman, himself, on the piano. 'Living With You' is one of the highlights for me.
But, before you listen to the record, consider the album cover for a moment. A soft, pastoral pastel colored landscape backgrounds a vintage automobile with two guys visible through the windows. A blonde Nilsson is in the driver's seat, while a mustachioed Newman sits behind him, the passenger. It is quiet, there is little contrast, the colors are muted, out of time and in the rural hillside of an almost forgotten America.
Is the car even moving, everything seems so still.
The album cover perfectly captures the atmosphere of the music within. Nilsson IS in the driver's seat on the record, and Newman IS along for the ride, so to speak. Although not a famously memorable cover, it does what an album cover should do, helping the listener to place the music in some context before and during their listening. It feels like the music within, handmade and modest. And once you see it, you will never forget it.
Intrigued, I wanted to see who had created this mysterious image. Was it Nilsson himself? It fits the music so well. No,the back of the record sleeve reads, "Album designed by Dean O. Torrence /Kittyhawk Graphics." Why did that name sound so familiar? And then it dawned on me: Dean Torrence was once part of the famous surfer rock and roll duo of "Jan and Dean!"
Torrence's design of 'Nilsson Sings Newman' was hardly a one-off amateur affair. Torrence was prolific and professional. His album design career, beginning after Jan and Dean's 1960s surfer dude heyday faded and Jan's car wreck further slowed their recording career, included many classic albums by such artists as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Rondstadt, and The Supremes.
So, 'Nilsson Sings Newman' is an early celebration of several great artists, Nilsson, Newman - and Torrence, too.
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