''A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night'' is a 1973 album of classic 20th-century standards sung by American singer

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

. The album was arranged by Frank Sinatra's arranger

Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Loui ...

, and produced by

Derek Taylor Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...

. This album is notable in being a standards album produced a decade before such works started to become popular again. The title is an allusion to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

'', Act 4, in which the Chorus refers to Henry's nocturnal visit to his troops as "a little touch of Harry in the night". The album's title refers to Nilsson's colloquial nickname from his previous two albums, "

Nilsson Schmilsson ''Nilsson Schmilsson'' is the seventh studio album by American singer Harry Nilsson, released by RCA Records in November 1971. It was Nilsson's most commercially successful work, producing three of his best-known songs. Among these was the numbe ...

" (1971) and "

Son of Schmilsson ''Son of Schmilsson'' is the eighth album by American singer Harry Nilsson. Background Nilsson was being pressured to produce a follow-up album similar to his 1971 breakthrough, ''Nilsson Schmilsson'', but instead, he created a more eccentric wo ...

" (1972). ''A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night'' was dedicated to Frank Willis, the security guard who discovered the

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

break-in. On the cover photograph, shot by Tom Hanley (known for his black and white shots of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

), Nilsson is wearing lapel buttons depicting Willis and the singer's son Zak. The back cover of the original gatefold edition features track-by-track commentary on the songs penned by Nilsson and producer Derek Taylor. The Gordon Jenkins arrangements incorporate interpolations of other standards in the collection as transitions between songs. The lyrics were sometimes altered from the most popular versions with alternate lyrics or occasional additions, changes that are referred to in the liner notes. "It Had to Be You" features a joke ending written by original songwriter

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' By ...

that finishes with the unusual lyrics "It had to be me/ Unlucky me/ It had to be you."

A Touch More Schmilsson In The Night (1988)

In 1988,

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

released ''A Touch More Schmilsson in the Night'', containing 6 previously unreleased songs, and 4 alternative takes from the original recording sessions. It also includes 2 songs from the 1977 album

Knnillssonn ''Knnillssonn'' is the fourteenth album by Harry Nilsson, released in July, 1977. ''Knnillssonn'' was Nilsson's final album for RCA Records and his personal favorite while recording it, as his voice had recovered from the damage done during the 1 ...

. That album was met with a small release, was primarily only released in Germany, and did not meet markets outside of Europe until 1995 when it was released on CD in Japan. The cover art was based on

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

's album cover art from ''

In the Wee Small Hours ''In the Wee Small Hours'' is the ninth studio album by American vocalist Frank Sinatra. It was released in April 1955 by Capitol and produced by Voyle Gilmore with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. All the songs on the album deal with themes ...

''.

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

*Harry Nilsson – "The Singer" *

Judd Proctor Judd Proctor ( Procter; 2 January 1931 – 21 August 2020) was a British jazz guitarist and session musician. Biography He was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, in 1931, though some sources give different years. His birth surname was Procter ...

– guitar *

Charlie LaVere Charles LaVere Johnson, better known as Charlie LaVere (July 18, 1910, Salina, Kansas - April 28, 1983, Ramona, California) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, bandleader, and composer. He is best known for his extensive work with arranger Go ...

– piano *Ken Dryden – flute * David Snell – harp *Derek Taylor, Jim Brown, Jim Buck – French horn *Bill Povey, Bob Burns, Jock Sutcliffe, Martin Gatt, Roy Willox – woodwind *Alan Dalziel, Ben Thomas, Bram Martin, Brian Hawkins, Derek Jacobs, Eric Eaden, Francisco Gabarró, Frank Clarke, Fred Parrington, Gwyn Edwards,

Harry Danks Harry Danks, (1912-2001) was a British violist and principal viola of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1946 to 1978. He was the founder and director of the London Consort of Viols. Biography Harry Danks was born in Pensnett near Bridgnorth in W ...

, Jack Mandel, Jack Rothstein, John Sharpe, John Underwood, Julian Gaillard, Laurie Lewis, Leo Birnbaum, Lou Sofier, Max Salpeter, Peter Benson, Peter Halling, Sidney Margo, Ted Bryett, Trevor Williams, William Armon – strings *

– arranger, conductor *Jack Mandel – music contractor ;Technical *Martin Wyatt – associate producer *Chrissie Hayes – assistant producer *

Phil McDonald Philip McDonald is an English recording studio audio engineer, best known as the engineer for EMI and later for Apple Records during the Beatles' The Beatles#Controversy.2C studio years and break-up .281966.E2.80.931970.29, studio years, along w ...

– engineer *Tom Hanley – cover photography

References

Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, A Covers albums RCA Records albums Albums arranged by Gordon Jenkins Albums conducted by Gordon Jenkins {{1970s-pop-album-stub