Harry Nilsson’s sixteenth and final album, Flash Harry, was never released in the United States, only seeing the light of day in the U.K. and Japan in 1980.
Nilsson Flash Harry
The album was produced by Bruce Robb and Steve Cropper and included the song Old Dirt Road which had been recorded on John Lennon’s Walls and Bridges album. Even in the countries where it was released, the album was not promoted by Mercury Records and no single was released, so its sales were anemic at best.
Later that year, John Lennon was killed, an event that strongly affected Nilsson and he went into retirement, even though he occasionally came out to record for movie soundtracks and did lay down tracks for a final, still unreleased album shortly before his death in early 1994.
Flash Harry is finally going to receive a proper U.S. release on August 13 via Varese Sarabande with both the original album and four bonus tracks from the era. Joining Harry on the album were a lengthy list of guest musicians including Ringo Starr, Van Dyke Parks, Klaus Voorman, Dr. John, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Jim Keltner, Jim Gordon and Lowell George, Fred Tackett and Bill Payne of Little Feat.
The CD version will include a booklet with liner notes by Jerry McCulley. A limited edition vinyl version will not include the bonus cuts.
The track list:
- Harry (by Eric Idle and Charlie Dore)
- Cheek To Cheek
- Best Move
- Old Dirt Road
- I Don’t Need You
- Rain
- I’ve Got It!
- It’s So Easy
- How Long Can Disco On
- Bright Side Of Life
- Old Dirt Road (alternative version – bonus track)
- Feet (bonus track)
- Leave The Rest To Molly (bonus track)
- She Drifted Away (bonus track)
