I'm sorry. I'm not ready to let Harry Nilsson rest in peace just yet.
Along with a few other famous people I knew or admired, the eccentric singer and songwriter died last month while I was out of the country.The death of Harry Nilsson, at 52, was a rabbit punch. (Although, from all accounts, Harry lived and partied hard enough to run out of gas at 52.)
I read all the obits on him that I could find. They were pretty brief. All made much of the two Grammies he won, for "Everybody's Talkin' " (1969) and "Without You" (1972). Only one obituary even mentioned what I consider Nilsson's major contribution to society: "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night."
One of the most bizarre but delightful albums ever created, "Schmilsson" was recorded in England in March 1973. It was a fantastic - and I do not use that word cavalierly - collaboration between the quirky rocker and one of America's truly great orchestral arrangers, Gordon Jenkins.
Yes, the same Gordon Jenkins whose lush string arrangements are nearly synonymous with Frank Sinatra at the height of Frankie's powers in the 1950s and '60s.
Keep in mind, "Schmilsson" was made way before Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb married Broadway to bubble gum rock. Before Linda Ronstadt dreamed of singing in front of Nelson Riddle's big band. Before it occurred to Willie Nelson that he, too, had a right to Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael.
It was before the term "cross-over" even existed in music.
In other words, 1973, Harry Nilsson and Gordon Jenkins? About as likely a musical pair as Placido Domingo and Dr. Dre.
But Nilsson's desire to make an album of beautiful, old standards turned out to be genius - even if the record-buying public didn't recognize it back then. (Jenkins' willingness to take such a risk bordered on valor.)
Two decades after it was recorded, "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night" not only holds up as a piece of superb craftsmanship, it shines with an extra luster precisely because it was way ahead of its time.
San Francisco sports columnist Bruce Jenkins, son of the late Gordon Jenkins, remembers the leap of creative faith his father took back in '73 when Nilsson proposed the truly radical idea of making an album together.
"This was, on the surface, probably the last guy my dad would do anything with," said Bruce Jenkins.
"But he did take the time to listen to a couple of Nilsson albums - which was, in itself, something for my dad to do with (rock) - and he heard something that made him think it might be worth a try."
So, Jenkins packed up the family and headed to London to lead weird Harry and a pit full of "very hip" British symphony musicians through his own lovely and sometimes playful arrangements of 12 great American standards.
Among his many inspired moves, Jenkins used melodies from other songs to lead into or segue from one vocal to another. For example, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" serves as a bittersweet bridge between "You Made Me Love You" and "Always."
The result: Harry Nilsson's voice, rarely described by his admirers as sweet or beautiful, is both on "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night." Plaintively, convincingly, he makes his way through such classics as Berlin's "What'll I Do?" and the Bert Kalmar-Harry Ruby treasure, "Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)," and Gordon Jenkins' own poignant, gorgeous composition, "This Is All I Ask."
"Beautiful girl, walk a little slower when you walk by me.
"Lingering sunset, stay a little longer with the lonely sea . . . "
Even more important than the wild idea of just doing "Schmils-son," Bruce Jenkins said, "The great thing about the album is, it was really good."
Exactly. Was and is. "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night" is on compact disc now, and the people at RCA tell me it will be included in a forthcoming boxed set of selected Nilsson efforts.
That said, I guess I can let Harry go now. But only if he leaves, singing the last line of "This Is All I Ask."
Remember, Harry?
"And let the music play
"as long as there's a song to sing
"and I will stay much younger
"than spring.