Hi MM, certainly not 1981 - at a guess, that date would be for the US LP reissue in the "Best Buy" series (catalogue numbers prefixed AYL1-) - and the earliest CDs anywhere were in Japan in 1982 and 1983 in the rest of the world. The 1988 Music Master says October 1987 for this issue, but I wonder whether that is correct, because there seems to be a date on the back insert where it says "(C) 1981 RCA Records 6/85/R", suggesting that the actual date might be June 1985? On the other hand, the distribution credit says BMG Records, and I'm pretty sure that name didn't come into use until 1987, so either this is a 1987 reprint of a 1985 issue, or the 6/85 isn't a date at all. Music Master also shows a previous CD issue with catalogue number PD 84515, which they have as November 1984.
I couldn't enter the date for this, as the drop down box doesn't go that far back for CDs... in order to enter the date given of 1981.
...But this must surely be wrong anyway?
Barcodes don't appear until 1983, so my copy at least, must be from then at the very earliest, but also, CDs themselves were almost certainly not available in 1981... so what can this date refer to? - And what is the actual likely date?.
-- Also, "Harry Nilsson" is given on the spine as the artist, but only: "Nilsson" on disc and front and back covers, so I saw that this varies in the Nilsson CD discography here, and just went for the disc info --