Thanks for this post. I miss Harry.
I remember Cat's in the Cradle only too well. When Harry was recording the album in Bridgeport, Connecticut (my hometown), he had an idea that he wanted something at the beginning of the song. Not that Harry would copy another artist, but if you remember "He's So Vain" by Carly Simon...at the very beginning of the song you can hear a voice whisper very quietly...'listen!'.
At the beginning of Cat's, Harry thought it would be good to have a voice, a rather nasal voice similar to that of a telephone operator...oops, I just dated myself again; there are no more live telephone operators, are there?!...anyway, I was a 'gopher' at the recording studio and had the right kind of voice. Ron and Paul recorded my voice saying, "You've got to listen if you really want to hear"...repeated twice. No, not good enough. They had me stick money into the pay phone in the hall and call into the recording booth to say it again, and yet again. Yes, that's perfect.
(Well, they thought it was perfect, but...)
Harry was a perfectionist. He could hear an entire composition in his head and knew exactly what each note and voice should contribute. He listened to the tape of my voice and he just said, 'no'. I ended up on the cutting room floor.
My favorite song is 'Taxi'. I could sing that song in my sleep - and often do.
