Harry Nilsson - Pussy Cats (1974/2017) [Hi-Res]

Produced by John Lennon during his infamous “Lost Weekend” period in 1974, Pussy Cats is often regarded as one of Nilsson’s weaker albums due to the fact that he lost his voice halfway through the recording of it. Keeping the news from Lennon out of fear he’d abandon the project, Nilsson forged ahead, recording a slew of rock n’ roll classics and engaging in revelry with a huge cast of backing musicians that included Ringo, Keith Moon, Bobby Keys and Sneaky Pete Kleinow. While it’s entertaining to hear Nilsson run through these oldies (each coated in a layer of Phil Spector glaze), the real treats here are his originals, which stack up as some of the most engaging in his entire catalog — namely “Don’t Forget Me” and “All My Life.”

„The relationship between Harry Nilsson and John Lennon is legendary. They were notorious booze hounds and carousers, getting kicked out of clubs for misbehavior and generally terrorizing L.A. during Lennon's "lost weekend" of 1974. They wanted to make an album together -- hell, anyone working at such a peak would -- and the result was Pussy Cats, a Nilsson album produced by Lennon. Almost immediately, Nilsson got sick, resulting in a ruptured vocal cord. Not wanting Lennon to stop the sessions, Nilsson never told his friend, stubbornly working his way through the sessions until he lost his voice entirely. These are the sessions that make up Pussy Cats, an utterly bewildering record that's more baffling than entertaining. Like many superstar projects of its time, this is studded with contributions from friends and studio musicians, all intent on having a good time in the studio -- which usually means hammering out rock & roll oldies. In this case, it meant both Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and the children's song "Loop de Loop," which gives a good idea where Nilsson was at. Through its messiness, Pussy Cats winds up showing how he and Lennon violently careened between hedonism and self-loathing. Of the new songs, the inadvertently revealing "All My Life" is the strongest, followed by the sweet "Don't Forget Me," yet this is more about tone than substance. It's about hearing Nilsson's voice getting progressively harsher, as the backing remains appealingly professional and slick. It doesn't quite jibe, and it's certainly incoherent, but that's its charm. It may not be as wild as the lost weekend itself, but it couldn't have been recorded at any other time and remains a fascinating aural snapshot of the early days of 1974.“ (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Harry Nilsson, guitar, vocals, piano, Clavinet
Danny Kootch, guitar
Jesse Ed Davis, guitar
Willie Smith, organ
Sneeky Pete, pedal steel guitar
Ken Ascher, piano
Jane Getz, piano
Bobby Keys, saxophone
Trevor Lawrence, saxophone
Gene Cipriano, saxophone
Klaus Voormann, bass
Jim Keltner, drums
Ringo Starr, drums
Keith Monn, drums

Recorded March–May 1974 at Burbank Studios, Los Angeles; Record Plant, New York
Produced by John Lennon

Digitally remastered