Coconut
Now let me get this straight…
You put the lime in the coconut and drink ’em both together?
You put the lime in the coconut and then you feel better?
I saw in the "Vail Daily" that the Yale Alley Cats were performing at the Four Seasons.
For free.
You see MP3s are not the only thing given away. Then again, something called the Vail Symposium sponsored the gig, there’s always money underneath, just like you may be stealing music, but you’re paying for bandwidth…
I felt like my mother, a culture vulture. Everywhere she goes she’s combing the paper, looking for some highfalutin’ event. Which, of course, leads her to many losers, especially when they’re free. You see you get what you pay for.
But I love a cappella.
And I don’t think everybody else in attendance was a fan, but they liked the free entertainment. So the lobby was packed. To the point where they had to move the second set to the ballroom.
Highlight of the first set?
"Norwegian Wood".
Famous for the sitar, all these years later it’s the lyrics that resonate. Not only because they encapsulate the sixties sexual revolution, but because they’re the opposite of today’s musical media circus. Today you kick ’em to the curb. You get the party started with Pink, puke with Ke$ha and then laugh as you continue to live your meaningless life. But in "Norwegian Wood", it’s John Lennon who’s left behind, who’s been used. Great art is about vulnerability. See any vulnerability in the Top Forty? I rest my case.
Anyway, I’d love to tell you the Alley Cats kicked ass. But Straight No Chaser is a whole level of professionalism above. Still, it’s fun to revel in the magic of music, when it’s not about the money, but the pure sound. In this case, of fourteen voices. Singing their piece de resistance, Harry Nilsson’s "Coconut".
He was famous for singing someone else’s song. Harry Nilsson sang Fred Neil’s "Everybody’s Talkin", the theme to "Midnight Cowboy", after his original composition, "I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City", was rejected.
That established a trend. Nilsson’s biggest hit was written by Badfinger. Not that anybody heard it, it was off the second Badfinger album, "No Dice", most people believed it was a Nilsson original. Now most people believe Mariah Carey wrote it. But that’s ridiculous. Mariah Carey can sing, at least she used to be able to, but she can’t write a decent song. Argue with me all you want. I wish her luck with her twins, but she’s almost already been forgotten, because she stands for nothing more than melisma and excessive boob jobs. Ooh, let the hate mail begin!
So, Nilsson was in the wilderness both before and after his "Midnight Cowboy" hit. Didn’t matter that he wrote "The Point" and covered Randy Newman, only hard core fans were buying. Until…
"Without You".
This was 1971. When you assumed the album would be a good companion to the single. Unlike today, when the album is seen as a bloated statement made to make money.
And when people played "Nilsson Schmilsson" they were exposed to a three dimensional personality. Unlike today’s Top Forty beat-infused music, which all sounds the same, because it’s made by the same people, the cuts on "Nilsson Schmilsson" were wildly different. In some cases outrageous, always engaging.
"Gotta Get Up" was not a single, but is one of the greatest album openers ever. Imagine an artist taking your hand, imploring you to jump from your perch and go for an exquisite adventure, a veritable magical mystery tour. Some people turn on the TV and watch the "Today Show" when they wake up…try dropping the needle on "Gotta Get Up", it’ll wake you up, it’ll give you a peek into an era when we pooh-poohed TV and lived for music.
And the follow-up, "Driving Along", with its acoustic guitar and engine starting…
How do I explain this? That this former bank teller could not only write but sing in a multi-dimensional voice that exhibited a three-dimensional personality. Lock "American Idol" contestants up with "Nilsson Schmilsson", erase the one-dimensional Mariah Carey from their memories. It’s not about showing us your c.v., it’s about what you do with it! In other words, Bob Dylan may have a fraction of the voice of Ms. Carey, but he does a whole hell of a lot more with it.
Then there’s "Early In The Morning"…
I hate the dawn. It’s the beginning of a new day. When I haven’t quite escaped the last one. You’re thinking about the evening that’s past, the alcohol consumed, the things that were said. You know how the light enters behind the curtains, that’s what this track SOUNDS LIKE!
Now I’m not gonna delineate every single track, I’m not gonna beat you over the head. I’m just gonna say "Nilsson Schmilsson" was an album when people didn’t only consume from one trough, when you could love Zeppelin and this singer/songwriter/crooner too. When people lament the loss of the album they’re reminiscing about shit like this, not the bloated seventy minute CDs compressed to the point they sound like space artifacts, electronic detritus that makes you cover your ears.
But, of course, "Nilsson Schmilsson" contains "Coconut". The song the Alley Cats performed last night.
It’s one of those songs you hate the first couple times through. Then you can’t get it out of your brain. At random moments someone in your party quotes a lyric. Then you realize you love it, it bonds you with your buddies, it makes you feel good, it makes you feel fully alive.
"Coconut" sounds like nothing else on "Nilsson Schmilsson". Can you take that risk?
OF COURSE NOT!
Do it the way they tell you to, don’t break any rules.
Or else you’re doing it your own way and you suck.
Harry Nilsson did not suck. He put in his 10,000 hours. You’ve got to have all that experience in order to throw off excellence. It’s when you’re totally skilled, when your confidence is wailing instead of waning, that you can come up with gems.
Once upon a time our musical stars were artists.
Artists are those people you stayed away from in high school. They were not captain of the football team. They were not class president. They were brooding loners, or they ran in alienated packs. And they never complained about their outcast status, they just laughed at you grade-grubbing, playing the popularity game.
And after graduation, the cheerleaders had babies and got fat. The athletes got middle-aged spread and boring jobs. The smart people worked themselves to death making money, raping and pillaging our society, trying to erase the abuse they got in high school. And the artists?
The artists flowered.
We were only interested in their work. We wanted to see the movies and plays and hear the music of those who were just slightly skewed, who didn’t play the game, who truly thought about life.
Today an artist is a loser. Because he’s POOR! And our country is solely about money and…
Put the lime in the coconut and drink ’em both together…
Life is about the simple moments. The euphoria of beautiful weather. The sensation of eating chocolate. Hearing the creation of a great artist.
How did Harry Nilsson come up with this?
I’d love to tell you I know.
But I don’t.
That’s the power of artists.
And frequently they can’t even explain it themselves.
But when we hear their work, we swoon.
Yale Alley Cats "Coconut"
Click on "Our Music", fifth choice on left
Scroll down to "Coconut", the last selection, and click "Launch Track"
