Sandman {Stereophonic LP}

After about four years of perceived goofing around, Harry Nilsson seemed to buckle down and give RCA a commercial record. Unfortunately, nobody cared. This was as close to a "Nilsson" record as Harry was able to do, it seems, and it's pretty wonderful...but by 1976 his star had dimmed and Sandman died a quick chart death.

Shame, too, because this is really his strongest set of original songs since Son of Schmilsson. Among the highlights are ^"I'll Take a Tango^", with a clever arrangement and funny lyric; the gorgeous ^"Something True^", which really deserves to be considered right there beside ^"Without You^" on the short list of great Nilsson ballads; ^"The Flying Saucer Song^", which is a long rambling joke set to music and showcases HN's comedic skills; the hilarious ^"How To Write A Song^", which solves that age old problem of what rhymes with talent; and ^"Will She Miss Me^", which frames its forlorn lyric with a gliding violin and some great vocalese on the fade.

There's not a bad track on Sandman, and it's a good thing that it's FINALLY going to get its release on CD soon. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

This is, by far, Nilsson's worst album. You know you're not in Schmilsson land when Harry's first words on the album are "Down in my soul, I hate rock and roll...". Strangely produced, the best song on it, a delicate ballad called ^"Something True^" is marred by a drum mixed up way too high. This album is full of inside jokes the average listener doesn't know about, and by the end of listening, doesn't care (^"The Ivy Covered Walls^", ^"How To Write A Song^" and ^"The Flying Saucer Song^"). Plus, Harry gets to overproduce and otherwise wreck a promising song demoed on his previous album, Duit on Mon Dei (the song is called ^"Jesus Christ You're Tall^").

Harry sounds like a drunken fool on this album, and his picture on the beach holding a bottle of wine seems more like a cry for help rather than hip. I was, and still am, a big Nilsson fan, but I was never more disappointed in an album than when I bought this back in 1976, and time has not made it any better.

I really like this album. There's a few throw away songs, but it's hard to beat the beautiful "Something True". I've always loved "The Flying Saucer Song" as well.

I bought Sandman when it came out and I played the hell out of it. It is a very unusual Harry album, but it is no stranger than Duit on Mon Dei (God's Greatest Hits).

Was Harry drunk when he did this material? Probably. Was he sick of the music business by this time in his career? Maybe. But this in no way detracts from the beauty and humor that are intermingled in this album.

If you love Harry, you'll love this, too and understand it.

If you're looking for ^"Coconut^" and ^"Me And My Arrow^" forget this album.

Harry lives !