Popeye {LP}

Well, the movie itself was a chaotic, confused mess, unsuccessful in almost every way. The ending of this flick seemed to go on longer than most entire movies. That being said, Harry and Van Dyke Parks did an outstanding job on what must have been a difficult assignment.

Not everything here is outstanding, and much of it is filler designed around whatever visual was accompanying it. There are several noteworthy tracks, including HN & VDP's rewrite of the Popeye theme song ^"I Yam What I Yam^", featuring a nice twisty arrangement; ^"He Needs Me^" that will make any hardcore Harry fan jump up with instant recognition of its quintessential Nilssonian melody, and the gorgeous ^"Sweepea's Lullaby^". ^"Sweethaven^" also stands out, freed from the chaotic visual it's saddled with in the movie. ^"He's Large^" is a nice tune with a funny lyric.

If the movie had been half as well conceived as its soundtrack, Popeye would be regarded as something more than a black mark on Robert Altman's resume...if you find a copy of this somewhere, pick it up. While Harry doesn't sing very much here, this show still belongs to him and Mr. Parks, and they acquit themselves well.

Altman created the world of Popeye with such accuracy that I was pulled in (but I have always been a huge Popeye fan). An amazing movie that is carried along by the music. I grew up with the soundtrack, and probably drove my mother nuts, playing the album over and over. The music is ingrained in me. This album definitely deserves a space in any Nilsson colection - I find myself listening to it often.

Why is this not available as a CD? It is one of my all time favorites. But what happened to "Food, Food Food?"