Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)

Nilsson often reminds the listener that he is listening to the recording of a studio album. Nilsson’s voice in the control room is heard on several songs, instructing the recording engineer to add more echo or remove a voice. On the album’s final song “So Long Dad”, amid a multi-Nilsson chorus of voices, Nilsson softly asks for “more first voice.”^[3] Louder, he counters himself by saying “actually I need more current voice. Forget the one that’s saying ‘more first voice.‘“^[3]

Besides piano, other instruments were sometimes used in the studio, including bass drum, tambourine and various electronic keyboards. On the song “Cowboy”, Nilsson used electronic harpsichord to bring in a different concluding theme, quoting John Barry’s theme from the film Midnight Cowboy, an inside joke that referenced Fred Neil‘s “Everybody’s Talkin’“ from the same film, a major success for Nilsson earlier that year.^[3]