A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night

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A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night is a 1973 album of classic 20th-century standards sung by American singer Harry Nilsson. The album was arranged by Frank Sinatra’s arranger Gordon Jenkins, and produced by Derek Taylor.

This album is notable in being a standards album produced a decade before such works started to become popular again.[1] The title is an allusion to Shakespeare’s Henry V, Act 4, in which the Chorus refers to Henry’s nocturnal visit to his troops as “a little touch of Harry in the night”.

The album’s title refers to Nilsson’s colloquial nickname from his previous two albums, “Nilsson Schmilsson” (1971) and “Son of Schmilsson” (1972).

A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night was dedicated to Frank Wills,[9] the security guard who discovered the Watergate break-in. On the cover photograph, shot by Tom Hanley (known for his black and white shots of The Beatles), Nilsson is wearing lapel buttons depicting Wills and the singer’s son Zak.[10]

The back cover of the original gatefold edition features track-by-track commentary on the songs penned by Nilsson and producer Derek Taylor.[11]

The Gordon Jenkins arrangements incorporate interpolations of other standards in the collection as transitions between songs. The lyrics were sometimes altered from the most popular versions with alternate lyrics or occasional additions, changes that are referred to in the liner notes.[12]“It Had to Be You” features a joke ending written by original songwriter Gus Kahn that finishes with the unusual lyrics “It had to be me/ Unlucky me/ It had to be you.”[13]

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A Touch More Schmilsson In The Night (1988)[edit]

In 1988, RCA released A Touch More Schmilsson in the Night, containing 6 previously unreleased songs, and 4 alternative takes from the original recording sessions. It also includes 2 songs from the 1977 album Knnillssonn.[14] The album was met with a small release, was primarily only released in Germany, and did not meet markets outside of Europe until 1995 when it was released on CD in Japan. The cover art was based on Frank Sinatra’s album cover art from In the Wee Small Hours.[15]

Tracklist
Title Writer(s)
1. “Intro”   0:15
2. “Lazy Moon” Bob Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson 3:20
3. “For Me and My Gal” Edgar Leslie, E. Ray Goetz, George W. Meyer 2:47
4. “It Had to Be You” Isham Jones, Gus Kahn 2:45
5. “Always” Irving Berlin 1:34
6. “Makin’ Whoopee!” Kahn, Walter Donaldson 4:25
7. “You Made Me Love You” Joseph McCarthy, James V. Monaco 2:32
8. “Lullaby in Ragtime” Sylvia Fine 3:39
9. “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” Joe Howard, Harold Orlob, Frank R. Adams, Will M. Hough 2:40
10. “What’ll I Do” Irving Berlin 2:25
11. “Nevertheless (I’m In Love with You)” Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby 2:38
12. “This Is All I Ask” Gordon Jenkins 3:35
13. “As Time Goes By” Herman Hupfeld 3:21
14. “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” Harry Carroll, McCarthy 3:16
15. “Make Believe” (from Show Boat) Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern 2:21
16. “Trust in Me” Ned Wever, Milton Ager, Jean Schwartz 2:26
17. “It’s Only a Paper Moon” Harold Arlen, E. Y. Harburg, Billy Rose 3:12
18. “Thanks for the Memory” Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin 2:46
19. “Over the Rainbow” (The Wizard of Oz) Arlen, Harburg 3:29
20. “Outro”   0:14

Track listing[edit]

Title Writer(s)
1. “Lazy Moon” Bob Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson 3:20
2. “For Me and My Gal” Edgar Leslie, E. Ray Goetz, George W. Meyer 2:47
3. “It Had to Be You” Isham Jones, Gus Kahn 2:45
4. “Always” Irving Berlin 1:34
5. “Makin’ Whoopee!” Kahn, Walter Donaldson 4:25
6. “You Made Me Love You” Joseph McCarthy, James V. Monaco 2:32
7. “Lullaby in Ragtime” Sylvia Fine 3:39
8. “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” Joe Howard, Harold Orlob, Frank R. Adams, Will M. Hough 2:40
9. “What’ll I Do” Berlin 2:25
10. “Nevertheless (I’m In Love with You)” Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby 2:38
11. “This Is All I Ask” Gordon Jenkins 3:35
12. “As Time Goes By” Herman Hupfeld 3:21

Personnel[edit]

  • Harry Nilsson – “The Singer”
  • Derek Taylor – producer
  • Judd Proctor – guitar
  • Charlie LaVere – piano
  • Ken Dryden – flute
  • David Snell – harp
  • Derek Taylor, Jim Brown, Jim Buck – French horn
  • Bill Povey, Bob Burns, Jock Sutcliffe, Martin Gatt, Roy Willox – woodwind
  • Alan Dalziel, Ben Thomas, Bram Martin, Brian Hawkins, Derek Jacobs, Eric Eaden, Francisco Gabarró, Frank Clarke, Fred Parrington, Gwyn Edwards, Harry Danks, Jack Mandel, Jack Rothstein, John Sharpe, John Underwood, Julian Gaillard, Laurie Lewis, Leo Birnbaum, Lou Sofier, Max Salpeter, Peter Benson, Peter Halling, Sidney Margo, Ted Bryett, Trevor Williams, William Armon – strings
  • Gordon Jenkins – arranger, conductor
  • Jack Mandel – music contractor
Technical
  • Martin Wyatt – associate producer
  • Chrissie Hayes – assistant producer
  • Phil McDonald – engineer
  • Tom Hanley – cover photography

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. “A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night”. AllMusic.
  2. ^ Schroeder, Audra (August 25, 2006). “Son of Schmilsson, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, Everybody’s Talkin’: The Best of Harry Nilsson”. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). “Consumer Guide ’70s: N”. Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 758. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9.
  5. ^ Gary Graff & Daniel Durchholz (eds), MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ISBN 1-57859-061-2), p. 815.
  6. ^ link
  7. ^ Horning, Bob (May 16, 2006). “Harry Nilsson: Son of Schmilsson / A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night”. PopMatters. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  8. ^ Randall, Mac; Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds) (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. p. 586. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ Taylor, Derek and Harry Nilsson (1973). A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (liner notes). Harry Nilsson. New York: RCA. Gatefold copy.
  10. ^ Taylor, Derek and Harry Nilsson (1973). A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (liner notes). Harry Nilsson. New York: RCA. Cover and gatefold copy.
  11. ^ Taylor, Derek and Harry Nilsson (1973). A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (liner notes). Harry Nilsson. New York: RCA. Back cover.
  12. ^ OriginTaylor, Derek and Harry Nilsson (1973). A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (liner notes). Harry Nilsson. New York: RCA. Back cover.
  13. ^ Taylor, Derek and Harry Nilsson (1973). A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (liner notes). Harry Nilsson. New York: RCA. Back cover.
  14. ^ “A Touch More Schmilsson In The Night”. Official Nilsson Site. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  15. ^ “Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours Album Cover Parodies”. amIright. Archived from the original on July 19, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  16. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 218. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.


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