songs were "Snow" and "Linda". Newman wrote one song specifically for the album: "Caroline", a straightforward love song. According to Nilsson, Newman was "tired of the album when we were finished making it. ... For him it was just doing piano and voice ... over and over." He explained that "once I got the take down, I knew what I was going to do with it later. He didn't." Newman said of his experience that he "was honored that a writer with Harry's talent would choose to do an album of someone else's songs. ... he was such a great singer, a virtuoso singer, really, and he could do so many things as a vocalist that I couldn't do—like hold a note." Release In February 1970, Nilsson Sings Newman was released by RCA Records. The cover art was drawn by Dean Torrence; his sepia tone scene depicted Nilsson driving an old American car through the countryside with Newman in the back seat. Sales of the album were underwhelming. Courrier speculates that this was possibly because of the "idiosyncratic quality" of its ballads and the paucity of reviews. Newman said in an interview how he personally went to assess the sales of the album at a record store in Los Angeles. He asked a clerk (who did not recognize him) "do you have any Nilsson albums?" The clerk guided Newman through each one, describing its sales and whether he recommended it; he came to Nilsson Sings Newman and said, "this is the one that nearly finished him off." Writing for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau awarded the album a B+ and wrote: "For those benighted who still believe the original can't sing, here's a sweeter version, including appropriately lovely versions of two rare urban celebrations—'Vine Street' ... and 'Dayton, Ohio 1903.' Not so dynamic musically, though—just Nilsson singing, and Newman behind on piano." The audio equipment and record review magazine Stereo Review named Nilsson Sings Newman their album of the year. The weekly magazine Cue in New York praised the artistry saying that "Nilsson was dealing with material as powerful as his own, but was free to concentrate entirely on his gifts as a performer." Cue said that the album was free of the "overwhelmingly complex" personal expressions that came earlier from "Nilsson singing Nilsson, and Newman singing Newman". Legacy Here Comes Inspiration, a 1974 album by Paul Williams, begins with