Music: Pop Records

A Little Touch of Sehmilsson in the Night

(Harry Nilsson, RCA; $5.98). Are there any surprises left in the record business? Two LPs after his auspicious transformation from pop poet to hard rocker, Nilsson steps forward as crooner of a dozen old goldies like As Time Goes By and I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now. Such an exercise in nostalgia is a precious fancy that Nilsson manages to bring off because his crooning is so fancy-free. He has an original crooning style that is notable for its freedom from the Sinatra mannerisms that have intimidated a generation of pop balladeers. Gordon Jenkins’ luxurious string-and-wind arrangements lend added gilt.

Light as a Feather (Chick Corea, pianist, Polydor; $5.98). Imagine Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 playing variations on Miles Davis and you get some idea of the results produced here by Jazz Pianist Chick Corea and his group Return to Forever. This is an ingenious blend of Latin, pop and jazz, both traditional and avantgarde.

Red Rose Speedway (Paul McCartney and Wings, Apple; $5.98). Perhaps McCartney’s best post-Beatle album. Although it seems obvious that he is never going to become the pithy lyricist John Lennon was, and sometimes still is, McCartney remains a musical nonpareil. Rarely is he better than when dealing with blues-based material like this album’s Get on the Right Thing.

Seott Joplin: The Red Back Book (New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble, Gunther Schuller conducting. Angel; $5.98). Rag is essentially piano music, but in Scott Joplin’s heyday (1897-1917) many of his most popular rags were orchestrated for marching, singing, dancing and just plain strutting. The orchestrations, New Orleans in style (squeaky clarinets and feisty trumpets), make good listening too. Indeed there is not a pianist around these days who—so far, at least—can match the cascading joy of these performances.

There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (Paul Simon, Columbia; $5.98). Simon’s second solo album since his breakup with Art Garfunkel testifies anew to a major talent that simply will not stop growing. By now a pop composer with no superiors and few equals, Simon, 31, manages to distill a diversity of pop styles into an original blend, yet remarkably enough never loses the original force or point, whether it be rock, gospel, folk, soul, jazz, or even hymnody.