Aerial Ballet (1968)

It’s not surprising that Harry Nilsson, the man responsible for the theme songs for the 1960s TV sitcom The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, would serve up a tub of corn syrup on his third LP, where he was well coming into his own as a recording artist. The album is rich and delicious, veering in lounge directions but saved always by the musicality. I don’t know Nilsson that well, at least not until recently. I have tended to think of him as a songwriter chiefly—and he is that, however eccentric—but recent forays into Aerial Ballet have convinced me his real strength is as a singer. His exuberant swoops and scats are only more impressive when you try to sing with them, and he packs his most surprising bolts of feeling into exactly that. Or, as he might put it, “Doo-wack doo-wack doo-wack doo-wacka-doo wacka-doo wacka-doo.” This album is the home of “Everybody’s Talkin’,” his inspired cover of Greenwich Village folkie Fred Neil, and “One,” later covered by Three Dog Night into a #5 hit. Both sound more amazing than ever in the context of this album. The album also includes performative turns of innocence that remind me a little of Jonathan Richman, in all the best ways (and make me wonder what Richman, a dedicated VU fan approximately then, might have thought of Nilsson). I read somewhere, for example, that “Little Cowboy” and its reprise was a lullaby his mother sang to him (I also remember reading that he copyrighted it to her, but that does not appear to be the case). Or, perhaps my favorite, “Good Old Desk,” in which he celebrates his dedicated workspace. “My old desk does an arabesque / In the morning when I first arrive / It's a pleasure to see it's waiting there for me / To keep my hopes alive.” Versioning problems exist with Aerial Ballet, unfortunately. A couple of songs, “Daddy’s Song” and “Bath,” were deleted at the last minute before the original release. Nilsson wrote both but had sold the exclusive rights to the Monkees, who had it removed from the album. The songs are back on streaming versions now but three bonus tracks from a later version have been separated away from the album. “Girlfriend”—adapted for the theme to The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (which I seem to recall did not have a laugh track, but maybe I’m confusing it with Room 222)—“Girlfriend” is there but you have to search for it specifically on my service.