''Sandman'' is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter

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 ...

, released in January 1976 on

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

Track listing

All music and lyrics by Harry Nilsson, except where noted. #"I'll Take a Tango" (Alex Harvey) – 2:58 #"Something True" (Nilsson,

Perry Botkin, Jr. Perry Botkin Jr. (April 16, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American composer, Record producer, producer, arranger, and musician. The tune "Nadia's Theme", composed by Botkin and Barry De Vorzon, peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

) – 2:54 #"Pretty Soon There'll Be Nothing Left for Everybody" – 2:50 #"The Ivy Covered Walls" – 3:15 #"Here's Why I Did Not Go to Work Today" (Nilsson,

Danny Kortchmar Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, ...

) – 4:05 #"The Flying Saucer Song" – 6:40 #"How to Write a Song" – 3:12 #"Jesus Christ You're Tall" – 4:08 #"Will She Miss Me" – 4:43

Personnel

*Harry Nilsson –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

– vocals on "The Flying Saucer Song" *

Doug Dillard Douglas Flint Dillard (March 6, 1937 – May 16, 2012) was an American musician noted for his banjo proficiency and his pioneering participation in late-60s country rock. Biography Early life Dillard, who grew up on a farm near Salem, Missouri, ...

–

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including "You're So V ...

– bass *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America".Howard Sounes. ''Down ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Fred Tackett Fred Tackett (born August 30, 1945) is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known as a member of the band Little Feat. In addition to his work with Little F ...

Jesse Ed Davis Jesse Edwin Davis III (September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988) was a Native American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist and solo performer, was a member of Taj Mahal's backing band and played with musicians such as Eric Clapton, J ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Jane Getz Jane Getz (born 12 September 1942) is an American jazz pianist and session musician. She learned classical piano as a child and began playing jazz at the age of nine. She lived in California early in life but when she was sixteen moved to New Yo ...

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks. He is best known for his 1967 album ''Song Cycle (album), Song Cycle'' and for his ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Emil Richards Emil Richards (born Emilio Joseph Radocchia; September 2, 1932 – December 13, 2019) was an American vibraphonist and percussionist. Biography Musician Richards began playing the xylophone aged six. In High School, he performed with the Hartfor ...

, Emmett Kennedy, Gary Coleman, Joe DeAguero, Pat Murphy,

Robert Greenidge Robert Greenidge (born 28 April 1950 in Success Village, Laventille, Trinidad) is a steelpan player. He is a member of popular music singer Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and the instrumental group Club Trini. Greenidge has also collaborated ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...

Gene Cipriano Gene Fred Cipriano (July 6, 1928 – November 12, 2022), known familiarly as "Cip", was an American woodwindist and session musician, playing clarinet, oboe, flute and saxophone among other instruments. He played on hundreds of recording sessions ...

Jay Migliori Jay Migliori (November 14, 1930 – September 2, 2001) was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker. Biography Migliori started playing the saxophone after he received one as a birthday ...

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for f ...

, John Rotella,

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospects, he won the 2019 National C ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

*Bobby Bruce, Ilene Novog, The Perry Botkin, Jr. Orchestra and Singers –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

;Production and technical personnel *

Perry Botkin Jr. Perry Botkin Jr. (April 16, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American composer, producer, arranger, and musician. The tune " Nadia's Theme", composed by Botkin and Barry De Vorzon, peaked at No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1976 and bec ...

–

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

s on "Something True", "The Ivy Covered Walls" and "Will She Miss Me" *Richie Schmitt – recording engineer, associate producer *Pete Abbott, Artie Torgersen, Mike Moran – second engineers *Gribbitt – design and graphics *Klaus Voormann – inside artwork * Mal "The Pal" Evans – cover photography *Marge Meoli – A&R coordination

Charts

The Flying Saucer Song

Many people think they recognize one of the main voices in Harry Nilsson's ^"The Flying Saucer Song^" as

. But the voices are all Nilsson using three distinct voice inflections. The gruff background vocals, however, are provided by Joe Cocker, whose coarse delivery is similar to Nilsson's. "I don't think there's that much of a similarity," Nilsson remarked, "It's just that we both can occasionally muster up a brandy tone. We're whiskey-throated tenors. The

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

type of guy from

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...

." ^"The Flying Saucer Song^" was written for, and originally recorded, during the ''

Pussy Cats ''Pussy Cats'' is the tenth album by American singer Harry Nilsson, released by RCA Records in 1974. It was produced by John Lennon during his " Lost Weekend" period. The album title was inspired by the bad press Nilsson and Lennon were getting ...

'' sessions but was not released until ''Sandman''.

References

Harry Nilsson albums 1976 albums Albums arranged by Perry Botkin Jr. RCA Records albums {{1970s-rock-album-stub