THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,135) Harry Nilsson — “Together
From Harry Nilsson’s (see #1,168, 1,298, 1,854, 1,941) second LP — ’68’s Aerial Ballet — here is an “exquisite” (aaronwofford6282, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vhLiNHtw5vs&list=RDvhLiNHtw5vs&start_radio=1&pp=ygUWaGFycnkgbmlsc3NvbiB0b2dldGhlcqAHAQ%3D%3D&ra=m), “wonderfully, breezy pop tune”. (lonely_panda, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/nilsson/aerial-ballet/). Matthew Greenwald writes:
This breezy ballad was one of the highlights of Nilsson’s Aerial Ballet. It’s a graceful pop tune with mild and elegant classical touches. In this aspect, it’s not unlike Jimmy Webb’s more celebrated compositions of the period. There is a sense of syncopation in the melody, and this provides the hook in this hopeful love song.
And yet . . . “The lyrics alone touch the heart. Add the tune and the beautiful string and horn arrangement . . . and it touches the soul.” (aaronwofford6282, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vhLiNHtw5vs&list=RDvhLiNHtw5vs&start_radio=1&pp=ygUWaGFycnkgbmlsc3NvbiB0b2dldGhlcqAHAQ%3D%3D&ra=m) “Such a beautiful song . . . so insightful of the phases a relationship potentially can dissolve into. The lyrics and melody are so memorable”. (rusoviettovarich9221, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pTVpC2oV_2E&list=RDpTVpC2oV_2E&start_radio=1&pp=ygUWaGFycnkgbmlsc3NvbiB0b2dldGhlcqAHAQ%3D%3D&ra=m) “If you have lived a little, you know every word of this. I ache for the hearts hurt. It is perfect.” (andymassingham, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vhLiNHtw5vs&list=RDvhLiNHtw5vs&start_radio=1&pp=ygUWaGFycnkgbmlsc3NvbiB0b2dldGhlcqAHAQ%3D%3D&ra=m)
Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes of the album:
Aerial Ballet . . . . offer[s] another round of effervescent, devilishly clever pop, equal parts lite psychedelia, pretty ballads, and music hall cabaret. . . . emphasizing his lighter edges and humor, writing songs so cheerfully lightweight — a love song about his mom and dad, an ode to his favorite desk, an address or two to a “Little Cowboy” — that it may be a little too cloying for some tastes . . . . Those are balanced by a couple major steps forward, namely “Everybody’s Talkin'” and “One.” The former finds Nilsson adopting a rolling folk-pop backing for a Fred Neil song, making it into an instant, Grammy-winning classic. The latter was the greatest song he had written to date, a haunting tale of loneliness reminiscent of McCartney, yet with its own voice. These are the songs anchoring an album that may be a little lightweight, but it’s engagingly, deliberately lightweight. If it’s a bit dated, it wears its old charms well.
Here is Nilsson on Playboy After Dark:
Here is an alternate take:
Here is Sandie Shaw:
Here are Keith Moon and Ringo Starr (’75):
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