It was a publicist’s dream. During a press conference to introduce The Beatles’ Apple Records to the world, John & Paul casually dropped Nilsson’s name to the media… twice. Overnight, everyone wanted to know about Harry Nilsson. His RCA debut, Pandemonium Shadow Show, started all the fuss, but Aerial Ballet was Nilsson’s tour de force – confident, sophisticated, brimming with Harry’s natural melodic flair and God knows how many voices. For the first time, with all original material (… except, ironically, the album’s sole hit). One of the LP’s highlights, “One,” has inspired generations of singers from Three Dog Night to Al Kooper to Aimee Mann. Still, Harry’s original remains definitive – partly thanks to the atmospheric keyboard, partly arranger George Tipton’s sparse, “Eleanor Rigby”-style strings, but mostly it’s those perfect pop vocals.
Aerial Ballet had smart commercial instincts, proven hooks and a pleasing, eccentric diversity… but it failed to make the charts. A hit would have made all the difference. But it took another year before Midnight Cowboy would popularize “Everybody’s Talkin,'” and in the meantime, “One” had its thunder stolen by Three Dog Night’s Top 10 cover. “Daddy’s Song” was actually pulled from the LP after it was released, just to avoid competing with The Monkees’ version. And worst of all… the outstanding “Girlfriend,” a song that would later morph into one of the hookiest TV themes ever, “Best Friend” from The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, was simply left in the can. That’s what it takes to turn a top tier classic album into a cult footnote. Years later, in 1971, Harry would revisit Aerial Ballet, and his debut, Pandemonium Shadow Show, to remix, re-tool and re-release them both as one LP, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet.
Track listing:
Daddy’s Song
Good Old Desk
Don’t Leave Me
Mr. Richland’s Favorite Song
Little Cowboy 1
Together
Everybody’s Talkin’
I Said Goodbye To Me
Little Cowboy #2 (Mono)
Mr. Tinker
One
The Wailing Of The Willow
Bath
Related images including Feb. 28, 1897 Los Angeles Times advertisement for “Nilsson’s Aerial Ballet… The Original Flying Ballet.”
