HARRY NILSSON

Incredibly rare 1974 UK 12" metal acetate of the soundtrack LP of the Son Of Dracula film starring Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr. The film was produced by Ringo and released by Apple Films. This acetate LP differs greatly from the commercially-released soundtrack LP that was released on Rapple Records. It represents an early, significantly different concept than the eventual release.

The released version contains 14 total tracks. There are 7 tracks on Side One and 7 tracks on Side Two. All the way through, the tracks alternate between 6 pieces of film dialogue underscored with instrumental music by Paul Buckmaster and 8 songs sung by Nilsson - 5 of which are complete songs that he wrote, 1 of which is a cover of a 1955 El Dorados song, 1 of which is a cover of a Badfinger song and 1 of which is a partial reprise of the Nilsson-penned "The Moonbeam Song" (which appears in its entirety elsewhere on the soundtrack).
This acetate, however, contains 12 total tracks and there are huge differences in the sequencing and the tracks themselves. Most obviously, the 7 complete Nilsson performances are ALL on Side One (minus the partial reprise of "The Moonbeam Song") and they are in different playing order than the released version. Also, there are 5 dialogue-free Buckmaster instrumental tracks on Side Two. In fact, there is no film dialogue on the acetate at all. See below for more important details about the Buckmaster tracks.

The labels on the acetate have the film's title incorrectly typed as "Countdown" (perhaps an early working title based on the film's lead character "Count Downe"?). This was crossed out and the correct title "Son Of Dracula" was written in black marker.

Also included here is a manufactured mock-up of the LP cover. This prototype cover, which is the only one we've ever seen, clearly illustrates that the LP soundtrack was originally considered for release in this configuration. The "open cape" or "bat wing" front cover design is similar to the released version, except that it only shows an enlarged film/album title - there are no song titles or film credits. Although the back cover has the same photo as the released version, it features an Apple Films logo instead of the Rapple Records logo. Also, there are slight variations in the text layout, but major differences among the song titles. It lists the 7 Harry Nilsson songs that comprise Side One and it lists the 5 Paul Buckmaster instrumentals that comprise Side Two, but none of the Buckmaster tracks are titled the same as the dialogue vignettes on the released album. Only small, brief snippets of the 5 Buckmaster acetate tracks were used as underscore for the dialogue vignettes on the released soundtrack, so it appears the dialogue-dominant tracks on the released version were titled to better describe the film action being heard, not the music underlying it. So, the bulk of the approximately 17 minutes of Buckmaster score that appears on the acetate was not used at all on the released soundtrack.

Back cover track listing and actual playing order of the acetate:
Side One (Nilsson): Down, At My Front Door, Remember Christmas, The Moonbeam Song, Jump Into the Fire, Daybreak, Without You.

Side Two (Buckmaster): A Dream Of Dracula's Death, Downe's Dance, Our Lady Of The Flowers, Robbery And Chase, Bat's And Pieces.

The acetate has a slight warp which does not affect play, but is otherwise in great condition and plays well with some minor crackling.

This item has to be one of the rarest Harry Nilsson items that exists, as well as one of the rarest Apple items that exists.

A CD transfer of the acetate will also be included.