THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,941) Harry Nilsson — “1941”
From Harry Nilsson’s (see #1,168, 1,298, 1,854) first LP — Pandemonium Shadow Show — here is one of his greatest songs, “quietly heartbreaking beneath its jaunty cabaret”. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/pandemonium-shadow-show-mw0000179116) Matthew Greenwald writes that:
“1941” is a lovely, Beatlesque song that is auto-biographical in nature. A slow, lilting pop waltz, the song goes through the author’s early decades, his father leaving home, and his own restless nature. Aside from the excellent sense of craft that embodies the song, Nilsson’s incredible scat singing gets a whole verse devoted to just that. Pretty adventurous for an unknown artist.
Aimee Ferrier enthuses:
While the storytelling is simple, the way the story comes full circle, with Nilsson tricking us into thinking that the subject has broken the cycle of parental trauma, is incredibly clever. It is just one of many examples of Nilsson’s understated genius; the contrast between the initial melancholy of the opening notes (which possess a funeral-horn quality), with the ambiguous lyrics and upbeat vocal sections make the song an interesting and refreshing listen. It feels like there’s something new to discover with every listen, whether that be the emotive instrumentals or the false sense of security that Nilsson lulls us into with his lyrics. With this song, he cemented himself as a songwriting legend.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1941-song-that-truly-showed-the-vast-talent-of-harry-nilsson/
Nilsson et Peggy March – filmed for French TV (’68):
BBC (’71):
Here is a demo:
1,942) Tom Northcott — “1941”
Here is Canadian Tom Northcott’s (see #20, 420) incredible cover (which actually reached #88 in the U.S. and #68 in Canada). Matthew Greenwald tells us that:
Although the definitive version of the heavily auto-biographical “1941” was by Harry Nilsson himself, this fabulous version by Tom Northcott is one of the great lost singles of the late ’60s. Northcott, one of the finest singer/songwriters to come out of Vancouver, has a vocal quality somewhat similar to Nilsson and Sal Valentino, and his reading gives the recording a great emotional core. However, the production by Leon Russell is positively devastating, combining a deceptively breezy opening with some wild tempo changes, including a syncopated, circus-like bridge, chorus, and coda, which mirror the lyrical reference perfectly. The song and recording are buttressed even further by Van Dyke Parks’ fabulous harpsichord playing, and (very probably) arrangement touches.
Andrew Sandoval interviews Northcott:
“1941” got good exposure,” remarks Tom, “but, for example, it would be falling off the charts in Chicago just as it began to chart in Miami, and so on around the continent. No sustained momentum. It was a solid hit in Australia.” Resultantly, the single made an appearance on the U.S. Pop chart, staying for a mere two weeks, reaching a high of #88. . . . Northcott was encouraged by Tiger Beat editor Ann Moses to cover [“1941”]. The song features one of Leon Russell’s many grandiloquent arrangements for Tom. Tom: “The basic track was a metronome and Leon’s performance on a massive theater organ built into the studio . . . . literally pulled out all the stops on the organ, and we just turned off the ones we didn’t like.”
liner notes to the CD comp Sunny Goodge Street: The Warner Bros Recordings
As to Northcott, Sandoval says “Blessed with one of the most distinctive voices of the ’60s — a folky flutter sure to carry listeners on a magical ride of winsome wonder — Tom Northcott is perhaps the last and best-kept secret of the era. Excluding two almost-U.S. hit singles (‘Sunny Goodge Street’ [see #20] and ‘1941’), his career outside his homeland of Canada amounts to a mere handful of 7-inch discs.” (liner notes again)
Ray McGinnis tells us that:
Tom Northcott is a Vancouver folk-rock singer with hits on the local pop charts from the mid-60s into the early 70s. He became known to a Canadian audience by his regular appearances on CBC Television’s Let’s Go music program in 1964-68. He was nominated as best male vocalist for a Juno Award in 1971. . . . [I]n his teens [he] was gaining a reputation performing on the Vancouver coffeehouse circuit in the early ’60s. In particular, he was a regular in the Kitsilano neighborhood, the nexus of the hippie scene north of San Francisco. In 1965, Northcott took over . . . as the lead singer for the Vancouver Playboys . . . . [H]e [then] formed The Tom Northcott Trio . . . . [who] were soon regulars on . . . Let’s Go . . . . Meanwhile they were selling out the top clubs in the area . . . . The Tom Northcott Trio traveled to California and played gigs in San Fransisco and Los Angeles. This exposure got them further performances . . . and they opened for The Who, The Doors and Jefferson Airplane. . . .
https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/1941-tom-northcott/
Joe Marchese adds that:
[Northcott] gained solid regional airplay and a minor chart entry in the U.S., but his music never struck the same chord in America as in his native Canada. . . . Is it sunshine folk? Is it baroque coffeehouse? This genre-defying and blissfully offbeat music speaks for itself. Northcott was supported by a virtual “Who’s Who” of the L.A. scene, including Harry Nilsson, Leon Russell, Randy Newman [see #174] and Jack Nitzsche, all under the watchful eye of Warner Bros.’ supreme A&R man, Lenny Waronker. He stood apart from many of his contemporaries, though, by his reliance on material from outside songwriters. Though an accomplished composer and lyricist . . . Northcott was launched by Warner Bros. as an interpretive singer . . . .
McGinnis adds a footnote:
[Northcott] changed careers in the early 1970s and got a license to become a commercial fisherman in British Columbia. At the end of the decade Northcott ran for public office under the banner of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia in the New Democratic Party stronghold of East Vancouver. He lost the campaign. Once again he switched careers and, after studying law at university, he specialized in maritime and admiralty law.
Joe Marchese ponders that “had things turned out a little differently, he might be remembered in the same breath as Joni Mitchell or Gordon Lightfoot [see #92, 167, 392], fellow Canadian troubadours.” (https://theseconddisc.com/2012/04/02/review-tom-northcott-sunny-goodge-street-the-warner-bros-recordings/)
Here are New Zealand’s Avengers:
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