The RCA Albums Collection (2013) - UPDATED

17CD Box set for release on July 30th. The following information is from Sony's press release (and Amazon, where you can pre-order HERE or HERE).

THE RCA ALBUMS COLLECTION is the newest entry in Legacy’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful Complete Album Collections series, introduced in 2011. The album catalogues of rock, pop, jazz, fusion, country, R&B, and classical artists from the Sony Music archives have been handsomely reissued in the series. In every case, each album in the box set is packaged in a replica mini-LP sleeve reproducing that LP’s original front and back cover artwork. Where applicable, the albums in each box include the bonus tracks that have been released on the various expanded CD editions over the years. Booklets are included with each box set, containing new liner notes essays and complete discographical information, including sources for all bonus material.

In the case of Harry Nilsson's THE RCA ALBUMS COLLECTION, extensive summaries of every album have been written by Andrew Sandoval, who compiled and produced the box set with Rob Santos of Legacy Recordings. Sandoval has previously worked on multiple reissue projects on Nilsson.

Within THE RCA ALBUMS COLLECTION, every one of Nilsson's 14 original albums is expanded with bonus material, starting with the first two, Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967) and Aerial Ballet (1968). On each of those, the full album sequence is presented in stereo, and then reprised in monaural sound. This marks the mono debuts of both programs in the digital era, and the first time they have been available in mono since their original releases 45-46 years ago, respectively. Aerial Ballet also adds a radio spot ad for the album as a bonus track, and with only a handful of exceptions, radio spots are then included for nearly every album in the box set.

Many of Nilsson’s albums have been the subjects of expanded edition reissues over the years. 1970’s 10-song Nilsson Sings Newman, for example, was reissued in 2000, as part of a Buddah Records series, and was expanded with an 11th song (“Snow”) and alternate versions of four songs. In the same Buddah series of 1999-2000, 1971’s Aerial Pandemonium Ballet added five bonus tracks, but this 2013 version ups the ante with newly-discovered Italian versions of five tunes, plus six tracks (four of which are full-length songs) documenting Nilsson’s visit to the BBC’s Saturday Club with compère Brian Matthew.

Likewise, there is the Buddah series expanded reissue of 1974’s Pussy Cats, produced by John Lennon at studios in Los Angeles and Hollywood in March and April 1974. This was the very beginning of John’s 18-month “Lost Weekend” hiatus from Yoko Ono, when May Pang rented a beach-front house in Santa Monica for John, Ringo, Nilsson, and Keith Moon (all of whom play on Pussy Cats). Listening to Pussy Cats, with its contributions by that all-star cast of "roommates" alongside Jim Keltner, Bobby Keys, Jesse Ed Davis, and others, and its freewheelin’ versions of Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers To Cross,” Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” Doc Pomus’ “Save The Last Dance For Me,” and the bonus tracks of the 1999 Buddah CD reissue, is a heady flashback to 1974.

The dozen swing era standards of 1973’s A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, from Irving Berlin’s “Always” and “What’ll I Do,” to Casablanca’s evocative “As Times Goes By,” could serve as a contemporary template for the likes of Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Steve Tyrell. The orchestral sessions recorded in London were lushly arranged by veteran Gordon Jenkins (renowned for his long association with Frank Sinatra). The LP also marked the debut of former Beatles press officer Derek Taylor as a producer. (It was Taylor who turned the Beatles on to Nilsson, when he gave them all copies of Pandemonium Shadow Show back in 1967). An entire album of completely different songs from the London sessions was issued by RCA Germany in 1988, A Touch More Schmilsson in the Night. Twenty-five years later in 2013, it provides six bonus tracks, among them “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows,” Bob Hope’s “Thanks For The Memory,” and two by Harold Arlen, “It’s Only A Paper Moon” and “Over The Rainbow.”

Throughout these expanded versions, there are a wealth of demos, single mixes, alternate versions, foreign language versions, radio advertisements, non-U.S. album rarities, and much more. These are put to excellent use on the three compilations entitled Nilsson Sessions (aka Sessions Schmessions). When he was first signed to RCA in early 1967, Nilsson’s humble request was for an office where he could work on his songs. He often answered phone calls there, as many can attest. That office became his laboratory of sorts, and the 18 tracks on Nilsson Sessions 1967-1968 bear witness to his experiments.
The 14 previously unreleased tracks on Nilsson Sessions 1967-1968 begin with five demos taped for the Monkees: “1941,” “World,” “Signs,” “Cuddly Toy” and “This Could Be The Night.” There are three outtakes from his Pandemonium Shadow Show debut, “As I Wander Lonely,” “Miss Butter’s Lament,” and the previously unreleased “The Family.” Early previously unreleased takes of the classics “One,” “Together,” “Bath,” and “I Said Goodbye To Me” did not make the final cut for Aerial Ballet, and are heard here for the first time. Cover attempts of The Coasters’ “Searchin’,” The Addrisi Brothers’ “She’s Just Laughing At Me,” and Procol Harum’s “She Wandered Through The Garden Fence” were all scuttled. Finally, two rare, single-only tracks, “Sister Marie” and the Italian single “Leggenda” make their stereo debuts on Nilsson Sessions 1967-1968.

Nilsson Sessions 1968-1971 and Nilsson Sessions 1971-1974 carry on this unveiling of studio oddities, alternate versions, television rarities, etc. The box set’s concluding ‘souvenir’ track is the previously unreleased ode to Tricky Dick, “Also Sprach Schmilsson Schmixon.”

The release of THE RCA ALBUMS COLLECTION coincides with the July 18th arrival of Nilsson: The Life Of A Singer-Songwriter by Alyn Shipton. Published by Oxford University Press, this is the first ever full-length biography of Nilsson, drawing on interviews with family, friends, and associates, plus material from Nilsson’s unfinished autobiography. Shipton is a jazz critic for The Times in London, a jazz presenter on BBC radio, and an award-winning author of more than 20 books on music including Hi-De-Ho: The Life of Cab Calloway (2013), A New History of Jazz (2007), and Groovin' High: the Life of Dizzy Gillespie (2001). Shipton outlines Nilsson’s fatherless childhood in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, through his teenage years in Los Angeles where he found his legs as a singer-songwriter, ultimately winding up at the epicenter of the music revolution that engulfed the world in the late 1960s.

Another essential source is the 2010 documentary film, Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him?). A labor of love by executive producer Lee Blackman, producer-writer-director John Scheinfeld, and producer David Leaf, the two-hour documentary is a detailed and authoritative portrait of Harry Nilsson. Film clips, home movies, family photographs, and other revelatory material is worked into interviews and footage starring Nilsson and his family, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Micky Dolenz of the Monkees, Randy Newman, Dustin Hoffman, the Smothers Brothers, Jimmy Webb, Brian Wilson, Paul Williams, Robin Williams, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Stanley Dorfman of the BBC’s Top Of the Pops and In Concert series, Al Kooper, Mark Hudson, Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night, and others. The film is available on DVD from Lorber Films.

“In their marriage of ten years, Nilsson and RCA were the archetypical odd couple,” Sandoval writes. “He certainly was a talented beast: a prodigious songwriter, possessor of one of the most remarkable voices in popular music and a charming, intellectual wit. Through his music, Nilsson interpreted life and longing in a way few others have. . . Over some fourteen studio albums, (Nilsson and RCA) teamed for a musical aerial ballet. Nilsson did his song-and-dance on high while RCA held the safety net down below. The results were a genre-defying array of releases, no two alike in style or substance.

“This set represents nearly every recording Nilsson made under the RCA umbrella: remastered classic albums, alternate versions, single-only tracks, demos, foreign language one-offs, brilliance, whimsy, pathos and just a touch of sadness. This collection definitively documents Harry Nilsson’s gift to us all, a fearless feat of boundless creativity, direct from the center ring.”

Disc 1 PANDEMONIUM SHADOW SHOW (Stereo and Mono)
STEREO
1. Ten Little Indians
2. 1941
3. Cuddly Toy
4. She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune
5. You Can't Do That
6. Sleep Late, My Lady Friend
7. She's Leaving Home
8. There Will Never Be
9. Without Her
10. Freckles
11. It's Been So Long
12. River Deep - Mountain High
MONO
13. Ten Little Indians
14. 1941
15. Cuddly Toy
16. She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune
17. You Can't Do That
18. Sleep Late, My Lady Friend
19. She's Leaving Home
20. There Will Never Be
21. Without Her
22. Freckles
23. It's Been So Long
24. River Deep - Mountain High

Disc 2 AERIAL BALLET (Stereo and Mono)
STEREO
1. Daddy's Song
2. Good Old Desk
3. Don't Leave Me
4. Mr. Richland's Favorite Song
5. Little Cowboy
6. Together
7. Everybody's Talkin'
8. I Said Goodbye To Me
9. Little Cowboy
10. Mr. Tinker
11. One
12. The Wailing Of The Willow
13. Bath
MONO
14. Daddy's Song
15. Good Old Desk
16. Don't Leave Me
17. Mr. Richland's Favorite Song
18. Little Cowboy
19. Together
20. Everybody's Talkin'
21. I Said Goodbye To Me
22. Little Cowboy
23. Mr. Tinker
24. One
25. The Wailing Of The Willow
26. Bath
BONUS TRACK
27. Aerial Ballet radio spot (previously unreleased)

Disc 3 HARRY
1. The Puppy Song
2. Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore
3. Open Your Window
4. Mother Nature's Son
5. Fairfax Rag
6. City Life
7. Mournin' Glory Story
8. Maybe
9. Marchin' Down Broadway
10. I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City
11. Rainmaker
12. Mr. Bojangles
13. Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear
BONUS TRACKS
14. I Will Take You There - single mix
15. Waiting (from the motion picture Jenny)
16. Rainmaker - single mix
17. Mournin' Glory Story - UK single (previously unissued on CD)
18. Garbage Can Ballet - alternate (previously unreleased)
19. Harry Radio Spot (previously unreleased)
20. Voices Of Vista radio spots (previously unreleased)

Disc 4 NILSSON SINGS NEWMAN
1. Vine St.
2. Love Story
3. Yellow Man
4. Caroline
5. Cowboy
6. The Beehive State
7. I'll Be Home
8. Living Without You
9. Dayton, Ohio 1903
10. So Long Dad
BONUS TRACKS
11. Snow
12. Love Story - alternate version
13. Cowboy - alternate version
14. I'll Be Home - alternate version
15. Living Without You - alternate version
Tracks 11-15 first issued on Nilsson Sings Newman (Buddha CD 74465 99703 2, Released 2000)

Disc 5 THE POINT!
1. Everything's Got 'Em
2. The Town
3. Me And My Arrow
4. The Game
5. Poli High
6. The Trial And Banishment
7. Think About Your Troubles
8. The Pointed Man
9. Life Line
10. The Birds
11. P.O.V. Waltz
12. The Clearing In The Woods
13. Are You Sleeping?
14. Oblio's Return
BONUS TRACKS
15. Think About Your Troubles - alternate version
16. Life Line - alternate version
17. Down To The Valley - alternate mix/extended ending
18. I'll Never Leave You
19. The Point! Travel Brochure radio spot w/ Bill Martin (previously unreleased)
Tracks 15-18 first issued on The Point! (BMG Heritage CD 07863 65128 2, Released 2002)

Disc 6 AERIAL PANDEMONIUM BALLET
1. Introduction
2. 1941 - slowed down track and remixed
3. Daddy's Song - new vocals, guitar/piano out of sync
4. Mr. Richland's Favorite Song - new background vocals and remixed
5. Good Old Desk - slowed down track and remixed
6. Everybody's Talkin' - dumped second voice and remixed
7. Bath - re-eq'd original tracks
8. River Deep-Mountain High - new vocals and remixed
9. Sleep Late, My Lady Friend - remixed
10. Don't Leave Me - remixed
11. Without Her - new vocals and remixed
12. Together - new vocals, edited out bridge and remixed
13. One - remixed
14. Closing
BONUS TRACKS
15. You Can't Do That - remix
16. It's Been So Long - Italian version (previously unreleased)
17. Sleep Late, My Lady Friend - Italian version (previously unreleased)
18. Without Her - Italian version (previously unreleased)
19. Cuddly Toy - Italian version (previously unreleased)
20. You Can't Do That - Italian version (previously unreleased)
21. BBC Saturday Club intro (previously unreleased)
21. 1941 - Live on BBC's Saturday Club (previously unreleased)
23. Mr. Richland's Favorite Song - Live on BBC's Saturday Club (unreleased)
24. Nilsson talks with Brian Matthew (previously unreleased)
25. Together - Live on BBC's Saturday Club (previously unreleased)
26. Good Old Desk - Live on BBC's Saturday Club (previously unreleased)
27. Aerial Pandemonium Ballet radio spot (previously unreleased)

Disc 7 NILSSON SCHMILSSON
1. Gotta Get Up
2. Driving Along
3. Early In The Morning
4. The Moonbeam Song
5. Down
6. Without You
7. Coconut
8. Let The Good Times Roll
9. Jump Into The Fire
10. I'll Never Leave You
BONUS TRACKS
11. Si No Estas Tu - Spanish version Of "Without You"
12. How Can I Be Sure Of You
13. The Moonbeam Song - demo
14. Lamaze
15. Old Forgotten Soldier
16. Gotta Get Up - alternate version
17. Nilsson Schmilsson radio spots
Tracks 12-17 first issued on Nilsson Schmilsson (RCA/BMG CD 82876 57265 2, released 2004)

Disc 8 SON OF SCHMILSSON
1. Take 54
2. Remember (Christmas)
3. Joy
4. Turn On Your Radio
5. You're Breakin' My Heart
6. Spaceman
7. The Lottery Song
8. At My Front Door
9. Ambush
10. I'd Rather Be Dead
11. The Most Beautiful World In The World
BONUS TRACKS
12. What's Your Sign?
13. Take 54 - alternate
14. Campo De Encino
15. Daybreak - single version
16. It Had To Be You/I'd Rather Be Dead
17. Son Of Schmilsson radio spot
Tracks 12-16 first issued on Son Of Schmilsson (RCA/Legacy CD 82876 78249 2, released 2006)

Disc 9 A LITTLE TOUCH OF SCHMILSSON IN THE NIGHT
1. Lazy Moon
2. For Me And My Gal
3. It Had To Be You
4. Always
5. Makin' Whoopee!
6. You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It)
7. Lullaby In Ragtime
8. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
9. What'll I Do
10. Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)
11. This Is All I Ask
12. As Time Goes By
BONUS TRACKS
13. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
14. Make Believe
15. Trust In Me
16. It's Only A Paper Moon
17. Thanks For The Memory
18. Over The Rainbow
Tracks 13-18 first issued on A Touch More Schmilsson In The Night (RCA Germany 90251, released 1988)

Disc 10 PUSSY CATS
1. Many Rivers To Cross
2. Subterranean Homesick Blues
3. Don't Forget Me
4. All My Life
5. Old Forgotten Soldier
6. Save The Last Dance For Me
7. Mucho Mungo/Mt. Elga
8. Loop De Loop
9. Black Sails
10. Rock Around The Clock
BONUS TRACKS
11. Down By The Sea
12. The Flying Saucer Song
13. Turn Out The Light
14. Save The Last Dance For Me - alternate
15. Don't Forget Me - demo
16. Black Sails - demo
17. Pussy Cats radio spots with Eddie Lawrence (previously unreleased)
Tracks 11-16 first issued on Pussy Cats (Buddha CD 74465 99815 2, released 1999)

Disc 11 DUIT ON MON DEI
1. Jesus Christ You're Tall
2. It's A Jungle Out There
3. Down By The Sea
4. Kojak Columbo
5. Easier For Me
6. Turn Out The Light
7. Salmon Falls
8. Puget Sound
9. What's Your Sign?
10. Home
11. Good For God
BONUS TRACK
12. Goin' Down - alternate (previously unreleased)

Disc 12 SANDMAN
1. I'll Take A Tango
2. Something True
3. Pretty Soon There'll Be Nothing Left For Everybody
4. The Ivy Covered Walls
5. Here's Why I Did Not Go To Work Today
6. The Flying Saucer Song
7. How To Write A Song
8. Jesus Christ You're Tall
9. Will She Miss Me?
BONUS TRACK
10. A Tree Out In The Yard (Central Park) (previously unreleased)

Disc 13 ...THAT'S THE WAY IT IS
1. That Is All
2. Just One Look/Baby I'm Yours
3. Moonshine Bandit
4. I Need You
5. A Thousand Miles Away
6. Sail Away
7. She Sits Down On Me
8. Daylight Has Caught Me
9. Zombie Jamboree (Back To Back)
10. That Is All - Reprise
BONUS TRACK
11. . . . That's The Way It Is radio spot (previously unreleased)

Disc 14 KNNILLSSONN
1. All I Think About Is You
2. I Never Thought I'd Get This Lonely
3. Who Done It?
4. Lean On Me
5. Goin' Down
6. Old Bones
7. Sweet Surrender
8. Blanket For A Sail
9. Laughin' Man
10. Perfect Day
BONUS TRACKS
11. Ain't It Kinda Wonderful (from The World's Greatest Lover)
12. Sweet Lorraine - Nilsson & Dr. John (previously unreleased)
13. Shuffle Off To Buffalo (previously unreleased)
14. Ballin' The Jack - Nilsson & Dr. John (previously unreleased)
15. All I Think About Is You - Harry Nilsson & Dr. John (previously unreleased)
16. Knnillssonn radio spot (previously unreleased)

Disc 15 NILSSON SESSIONS 1967-1968
1. 1941 - demo (previously unreleased)
2. World - demo (previously unreleased)
3. Signs - demo (previously unreleased)
4. Cuddly Toy - demo (previously unreleased)
5. This Could Be The Night - demo
6. As I Wander Lonely
7. The Family (previously unreleased)
8. Miss Butter's Lament
9. Mr. Tinker - alternate version (previously unreleased)
10. Leggenda (Italian Single)
11. Sister Marie (previously unreleased stereo remix)
12. She Wandered Through The Garden Fence (previously unreleased)
13. One - alternate version (previously unreleased)
14. I Said Goodbye To Me - alternate version (previously unreleased)
15. Searchin' (previously unreleased)
16. She's Just Laughing At Me (previously unreleased)
17. Together - alternate version (previously unreleased)
18. Bath - alternate version (previously unreleased)
Tracks 6 & 8 first issued on Personal Best: The Harry Nilsson Anthology (RCA CD 07863 66354 2, released 1995). Tracks 1-16 recorded 1967; tracks 17-18 recorded 1968.

Disc 16 NILSSON SESSIONS 1968-1971
1. You Are Here (previously unreleased)
2. The Cast And Crew (from Skidoo)
3. Garbage Can Ballet (from Skidoo)
4. I Will Take You There (from Skidoo)
5. Girlfriend
6. Wasting My Time - alternate mix (previously unreleased)
7. Rainmaker - alternate version (previously unreleased)
8. Open Your Window - alternate take (previously unreleased)
9. Postcard (previously unreleased)
10. Think About Your Troubles - alternate version (previously unreleased)
11. Marry Me A Little (previously unreleased)
12. Ballin' The Jack (previously unreleased)
13. Gotta Get Up - demo (previously unreleased)
14. Down To The Valley - single mix
15. Buy My Album - single mix
16. Joy - alternate version
17. Blackbird (previously unreleased)
18. Paradise (previously unreleased)
19. Lucille (previously unreleased)
20. Early In The Morning - alternate version
Tracks 2-4 first issued on Skidoo RCA 1152, released 1968. Track 5 first issued on Personal Best: The Harry Nilsson Anthology (RCA CD 07863 66354 2, released 1995). Tracks 16 & 20 first issued on Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (Buddha CD 74465 99704 2, released 2000). Tracks 1-8 recorded 1968; tracks 9-11 recorded 1969; tracks 12-17 recorded 1970; tracks 18-20, 1971.

Disc 17 NILSSON SESSIONS 1971-1974
1. Walk Right Back
2. Jump Into The Fire - alternate version (previously unreleased)
3. Isolation
4. Without You - demo
5. Driving Along - demo
6. Gotta Get Up - demo
7. Coconut - demo
8. Old Forgotten Soldier - alternate demo
9. Down - demo
10. The Moonbeam Song - alternate demo
11. Jump Into the Fire
12. Per Chi - Italian Version Of "Without You"
13. Joy - guitar demo
14. Joy - piano demo
15. You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It) - alternate version
16. Lullaby In Ragtime - alternate version
17. Always - alternate version
18. It Had To Be You - alternate version
19. I Want You To Sit On My Face (previously unreleased)
20. A Souvenir - Also Sprach Schmilsson Schmixon (previously unreleased)
Tracks 1 & 3 first issued on Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (Buddha CD 74465 99704 2, released 2000). Tracks 4-10 first issued on Nilsson Schmilsson (UK Camden Deluxe CD 74321 75742 2, released 2000). Tracks 13 & 14 first issued on Son Of Schmilsson (UK Camden Deluxe CD 74321 75746 2, released 2000). Tracks 15-18 first issued on A Touch More Schmilsson In The Night (RCA Germany 90251, released 1988). Tracks 1-12 recorded 1971; tracks 13 & 14 recorded 1972; tracks 15-19 recorded 1973; track 20 recorded 1974.