''Pandemonium Shadow Show'' is the second 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 ov ...

, released in December 1967 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 Ar ...

Background

The album was the first product of Nilsson's three-year, $50,000 recording contract with

, and was recorded in their

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

studio. Unlike virtually all his earlier records, ''Show'' employed the full potential of Nilsson's voice in the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large en ...

, turning him into what was described as a "chorus of ninety-eight voices". Nilsson had hoped to use the title '' Something Wicked This Way Comes'', and had asked

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univ ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

for permission. But approval hadn't come by the release date, so the lesser-known title was chosen (of a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and uni ...

sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten s ...

appearing in Bradbury's novel) instead. As well as original songs by Nilsson, a number of covers were included on the album, including one by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

(who had earlier co-written a song with Nilsson),

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

and

Ellie Greenwich Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Be My Baby", " Maybe I Know", " Then He Kissed Me", " Do Wah Diddy Di ...

, "

River Deep - Mountain High A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

", and two by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

; "

She's Leaving Home "She's Leaving Home" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and released on their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Paul McCartney wrote and sang the verse and John Lennon ...

" and " You Can't Do That", the latter in an arrangement that quoted lyrics from 17 other Beatles songs. Three other songs were written by Jesse Lee Kincaid,

Botkin Botkin (russian: Боткин) or Botkina (feminine; Боткина) is a common Russian or Scottish surname which may refer to: * Benjamin A. Botkin (1901–1975), American folklorist and scholar * Cordelia Botkin (1854–1910), American murderer * ...

and Garfield, and Cliff Hess, Howard Johnson and Milton Ager. The album debuted to little public attention in the US and England, although it was an immediate hit in Canada, where "You Can't Do That" was a top 10 hit. Beatles

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists w ...

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 ...

heard "1941" on his car radio waiting for his wife at the supermarket and, enjoying the track, ordered a case of copies, sending them out to various industry people he believed would be interested, including The Beatles, who later invited Nilsson to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and helped further his career. A cover of "1941" by Canadian folk/rock artist Tom Northcott charted in both Canada and the US in 1968. Fellow musician and earlier collaborator

Chip Douglas Douglas Farthing Hatlelid (born August 27, 1942), better known as Chip Douglas, is an American songwriter, musician (bass, guitar and keyboards), and record producer, whose most famous work was during the 1960s. He was the bassist of the Turtle ...

introduced Nilsson to The

Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conce ...

whom he was producing. Nilsson gave an impromptu audition of his latest songs. The Monkees covered two of his songs -"Cuddly Toy" (which appeared on their fourth album), and later " Daddy's Song" (which appeared on ''

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

'') - as well as becoming friends. "Without Her" was covered by

Blood, Sweat and Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...

on '' Child Is Father to the Man'' and

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

and the Tijuana Brass on the album '' Warm''. His early work sold better after Nilsson had become better established through hits like " Without You" and albums like ''

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 ...

''. Nilsson revamped several tracks from his first two albums to produce one of the first

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 20 ...

s, '' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', in 1971.

Track listing

Personnel

*Harry Nilsson - vocals *

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

Lyle Ritz Lyle Joseph Ritz (January 10, 1930 – March 3, 2017) was an American musician, known for his work on ukulele and bass (both double bass and bass guitar). His early career in jazz as a ukulele player made him a key part of the Hawaii music scene ...

Mike Deasy Michael William Deasy (born February 4, 1941) is an American rock and jazz guitarist. As a session musician, he played on numerous hit singles and albums recorded in Los Angeles in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He is sometimes credited as Mike De ...

Milt Holland Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percus ...

George Tipton George Aliceson Tipton (January 23, 1932 – February 12, 2016) was an American composer, musical arranger, and conductor, who is well known for his work in television and for his collaborations with singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. Among Tip ...

- arrangements * Perry Botkin Jr. - arrangements on "Freckles" and "It's Been So Long" ;Technical *Dick Bogert - engineer *Jeff Gold - photography *Donald Burgess - photography montage

References

{{Authority control Harry Nilsson albums 1967 albums RCA Victor albums Albums produced by Rick Jarrard Albums arranged by George Tipton Albums arranged by Perry Botkin Jr.