Nilsson Jumps a Freight (July 3, 2007)

I still can't resist record bins. I used to collect, but kicked the habit years ago. I'd go to record conventions, lining up early, rushing in to madly flip through boxes and boxes of vinyl. Some people would throw their elbows out, so they could occupy two rows of records at once. It was rough and tumble, I got to tell you.

I was at a local antique store the other day, and saw a bunch of cardboard boxes of records stashed in the corner. There was some interesting stuff in there. I walked out with some great records by Porter Wagoner, Waylon Jennings, and The Buckaroos (featuring Mr. Brumely on pedal steel - look for a post in the near future). The strangest thing I picked up was a Harry Nilsson album on the Pickwick/ Capitol Label. It's called 'Rock N' Roll,' and appears to be a bunch of early recordings he did while working as a songwriter for Mercury and Tower. I could write forever about my love for Nilsson's music, and I'm sure if this silly blog keeps going, Nilsson will pop up a lot. If you've never listened to his music, go buy 'Nilsson Schmilsson,' or 'Pussy Cats' and be prepared to buy everything he's recorded. These two songs are posted for their novelty and rarity (is anything really "rare" anymore?) more than anything, but you can still hear his incredible voice. Both songs were written by Nilsson.

Born in Grenada:

Do You Believe:

Nelson Sings Nelson,

A couple of years ago, I worked with a woman who was a bit of a nutcase. She made all sorts of wild claims about her past. One of her stranger claims was that she was once married ("for a short spell") to the singer Ricky Nelson, and that one of the songson his album 'Garden Party' had been written for her. Seemed like too bizarre of aclaim to be hogwash, so I started doing a bit of research. Never found any proof either way, but I did discover some wonderful 70's era Ricky Nelson music. Here are a couple of songs off of his album 'Rick sings Nelson.' They were transferred off of vinyl, so please excuse the noise. The Stone Canyon Band is backing him, with Tom Brumley on Pedal steel (also plays on 'Garden Party'). Check out 'Garden Party,' if you haven't already. It's a fantastic album, and really his only early seventies album readily available on CD. Besides, it's worth it just for Brumley's steel playing.

California:



We've got a long way to go: