Aerial Ballet

Aerial Ballet
Aerial Ballet
	File:Aerial Ballet.png
Studio album by Nilsson
Released	July 1968
Recorded	Late 1967–early 1968
Genre	Pop
Length	25:15
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Rick Jarrard
Nilsson chronology
Singles from Aerial Ballet
	"One"; Released: 1968; "Everybody's Talkin'"; Released: August 1969;
1980 Pickwick reissue cover

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
The Essential Rock Discography	6/10^[2]
Rolling Stone	(mixed)^[3]

Aerial Ballet is the third album by Harry Nilsson released in 1968.

Aerial Ballet was Nilsson's second album for RCA Victor, and was titled after the highwire circus act of his grandparents. It consists almost entirely of songs written by him, including "One", which later became a Number Five hit for Three Dog Night. (The song's opening line, "One is the loneliest number", is a common phrase to this day.) The title of the album has been given by Joey Kramer as the inspiration for Aerosmith's name and wings motif.^[4]

The most familiar track from Aerial Ballet is its one cover song, Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'". It was released as a single in North America in 1968, and reached the top forty in Canada—but initially flopped in the US. However, the song was subsequently selected for use in the Oscar-winning film Midnight Cowboy and became one of Nilsson's biggest hits as a performer, hitting the US top ten in 1969. Another song, "Little Cowboy", later featured in The Courtship of Eddie's Father, was written by Nilsson's mother.

The original opening number for Aerial Ballet was "Daddy's Song", but this track was removed (apparently without Nilsson's awareness) after the first copies were issued, because The Monkees had recorded a cover version to be featured in their film Head, and had paid $35,000 for exclusive rights to the song. The CD reissue restores "Daddy's Song" (with the Monkees' contract long expired) to its rightful place in the lineup.

When Nilsson visited the Beatles in London during 1968, John Lennon played Nilsson "Revolution" and selections from the (then-upcoming) 'White Album', and Nilsson, in turn, played to Lennon (who had spent thirty-six hours listening to Nilsson's previous album, Pandemonium Shadow Show) a demo cut of this record.

The album was reissued in 1980 on Pickwick (ACL-7075). It had a different cover featuring a biplane in a field, with the pilot standing in the foreground smoking a cigarette in a holder. It had a printed stamp in the upper right corner announcing "Grammy Award Winner, Best Contemporary Male Vocalist, Everybody's Talkin'". The song order was different, and the final song "Bath" was missing.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Harry Nilsson, except where noted

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Daddy's Song"	2:19
2.	"Good Old Desk"	2:22
3.	"Don't Leave Me"	2:18
4.	"Mr. Richland's Favorite Song"	2:12
5.	"Little Cowboy"	1:22
6.	"Together"	2:08

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Everybody's Talkin'"	Fred Neil	2:41
8.	"I Said Goodbye to Me"		2:13
9.	"Little Cowboy"		0:52
10.	"Mr. Tinker"		2:41
11.	"One"		2:50
12.	"The Wailing of the Willow"	Harry Nilsson, Ian Freebairn-Smith	1:57
13.	"Bath"		1:44

Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Sister Marie"	3:01
15.	"Miss Butter's Lament"	2:20
16.	"Girlfriend"	1:50

References

^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Aerial Ballet – Harry Nilsson | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
^ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 758. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9.
^ Hansen, Barret (14 September 1968). "Records". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Rolling Stone.
^ "Interview with Steven Tyler". AeroNewsDaily. March 13, 2008. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

[1] Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Aerial Ballet – Harry Nilsson | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-03-25.

[2] Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 758. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9.

[3] Hansen, Barret (14 September 1968). "Records". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Rolling Stone.

[4] "Interview with Steven Tyler". AeroNewsDaily. March 13, 2008. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

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v t e Harry Nilsson
Studio albums	Spotlight on Nilsson Pandemonium Shadow Show Aerial Ballet Harry Nilsson Sings Newman The Point! Nilsson Schmilsson Son of Schmilsson A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night Pussy Cats Duit on Mon Dei Sandman ...That's the Way It Is Knnillssonn Flash Harry Losst and Founnd
Soundtracks	Skidoo The Point! Son of Dracula Popeye
Remixes	Aerial Pandemonium Ballet
Compilations	Early Tymes Nilsson The RCA Albums Collection
Singles	"All for the Beatles" "Sixteen Tons" "Without Her" "You Can't Do That" "River Deep – Mountain High" "One" "Everybody's Talkin'" "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" "Me and My Arrow" "Without You" "Jump into the Fire" "Coconut" "Spaceman" "As Time Goes By" "Subterranean Homesick Blues" "Save the Last Dance for Me" "Many Rivers to Cross" "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" "Sail Away" "Just One Look/Baby I'm Yours (medley)"
Other songs	"Gotta Get Up" "Old Dirt Road" "The Puppy Song" "Ten Little Indians" "This Could Be the Night" "You're Breakin' My Heart"
Collaborations	Pussy Cats Every Man Has a Woman Ringo Son of Dracula Walls and Bridges Goodnight Vienna Ringo's Rotogravure Stop and Smell the Roses Two Sides of the Moon Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films
Related articles	Discography The Monkees Richard Perry The Hollywood Vampires The Telephone "Pussy Cats" Starring the Walkmen For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?