Harry Nilsson – Everybody’s Talkin’ (1969)
Harry Nilsson – Without You 1972 (HD)
Harry Nilsson
| Harry Nilsson | |
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Nilsson in 1974
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Harry Edward Nilsson III |
| Also known as | Nilsson |
| Born | June 15, 1941 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 15, 1994 (aged 52) Agoura Hills, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, pop[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Piano, vocals, keyboards,guitar, harmonica |
| Years active | 1958–1994 |
| Labels | Tower Records, Musicor,RCA Victor, Mercury Records |
| Associated acts | Perry Botkin, Jr., John Lennon, The Monkees, Van Dyke Parks, Richard Perry,Phil Spector, Ringo Starr,George Tipton, Klaus Voormann |
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994[2]), usually credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering overdub experiments, returns to the Great American Songbook, and fusions of Caribbean sounds.[3]
A tenor with a three-and-a-half octave range, Nilsson was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists of his era to achieve significant commercial success without ever performing major public concerts or undertaking regular tours. He is known for the charting singles “Everybody’s Talkin’” (1969), “Without You” (1971), and “Coconut” (1972). Nilsson also wrote the song “One” (1968), made famous by the rock band Three Dog Night.[3]
His honors include Grammy Awards for two of his recordings; Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male in 1970 for “Everybody’s Talkin'”, a prominent song in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male in 1973 for “Without You”. In 2015, he was voted No. 62 in Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time”.[4]
Contents
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Biography[edit]
1941–61: Early life[edit]
Nilsson was born in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in 1941. His paternal grandparents were Swedish circus performers and dancers, especially known for their “aerial ballet” (which is the title of one of Nilsson’s albums). His father, Harry Edward Nilsson Jr., abandoned the family when Harry was three years old. An autobiographical reference to this is found in the opening to Nilsson’s song “1941”:
- Well, in 1941, the happy father had a son
- And in 1944, the father walked right out the door
Nilsson’s “Daddy’s Song” also refers to this period in Nilsson’s childhood.[5] He grew up with his mother Bette and his younger half-sister. His younger half-brother Drake was left with family or friends during their moves betweenCalifornia and New York, sometimes living with a succession of relatives and stepfathers. His uncle, a mechanic in San Bernardino, California, helped Nilsson improve his vocal and musical abilities.[6] As well as his half-brother and a half-sister through his mother he also had three half-sisters and one half-brother through his father.[5]
Because of the poor financial situation of his family, Nilsson worked from an early age, including a job at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles. When the theatre closed in 1960, he applied for a job at a bank, falsely claiming he was a high school graduate on his application (he only completed ninth grade).[6] He had an aptitude for computers, which were beginning to be employed by banks at the time. He performed so well the bank retained him even after uncovering his deception regarding being a high school graduate. He worked on bank computers at night, and in the daytime pursued his songwriting and singing career.[6]
1962–66: Musicianship beginnings[edit]
By 1958, Nilsson was intrigued by emerging forms of popular music, especially rhythm and blues artists like Ray Charles. He had made early attempts at performing while he was working at the Paramount, forming a vocal duo with his friend Jerry Smith and singing close harmonies in the style of the Everly Brothers. The manager at a favorite hangout gave Nilsson a plastic ukulele, which he learned to play, and he later learned to play the guitar and piano. In the 2006 documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?, Nilsson recalled that when he could not remember lyrics or parts of the melodies to popular songs, he created his own, which led to writing original songs.
Uncle John’s singing lessons, along with Nilsson’s natural talent, helped when he got a job singing demos for songwriter Scott Turner in 1962. Turner paid Nilsson five dollars for each track they recorded. (When Nilsson became famous, Turner decided to release these early recordings, and contacted Nilsson to work out a fair payment. Nilsson replied that he had already been paid – five dollars a track.).[5]
In 1963, Nilsson began to have some early success as a songwriter, working with John Marascalco on a song for Little Richard. Upon hearing Nilsson sing, Little Richard reportedly remarked: “My! You sing good for a white boy!”[6]Marascalco also financed some independent singles by Nilsson. One, “Baa Baa Blacksheep”, was released under the pseudonym “Bo Pete” to some small local airplay. Another recording, “Donna, I Understand”, convinced Mercury Records to offer Nilsson a contract, and release recordings by him under the name “Johnny Niles.”[6]
In 1964, Nilsson worked with Phil Spector, writing three songs with him. He also established a relationship with songwriter and publisher Perry Botkin, Jr., who began to find a market for Nilsson’s songs. Botkin also gave Nilsson a key to his office, providing another place to write after hours.[5] Through his association with Botkin, Nilsson met and became friends with musician, composer and arranger George Tipton, who was at the time working for Botkin as a music copyist. During 1964 Tipton invested his life savings – $2500 – to finance the recording of four Nilsson songs, which he arranged; they were able to sell the completed recordings to the Tower label, a recently established subsidiary of Capitol Records, and the tracks were subsequently included on Nilsson’s debut album. The fruitful association between Nilsson and Tipton continued after Nilsson signed with RCA Records – Tipton went on to create the arrangements for nearly all of Nilsson’s RCA recordings between 1967 and 1971 but their association ended in the 1970s when the two fell out for unknown reasons. Whatever the cause, it was evidently a source of lingering resentment for Tipton, who was one of the few significant collaborators who refused to participate in the 2010 documentary on Nilsson’s life and career.
Nilsson’s recording contract was picked up by Tower Records, which in 1966 released the first singles actually credited to him by name, as well as the debut album Spotlight on Nilsson. None of Nilsson’s Tower releases charted or gained much critical attention, although his songs were being recorded by Glen Campbell, Fred Astaire, The Shangri-Las, The Yardbirds, and others. Despite his growing success, Nilsson remained on the night shift at the bank.[5]
1967–68: Signing with RCA Records[edit]
Nilsson in 1967
Nilsson signed with RCA Records in 1966 and released an album the following year, Pandemonium Shadow Show, which was a critical (if not commercial) success. Music industry insiders were impressed both with the songwriting and with Nilsson’s pure-toned, multi-octave vocals. One such insider was Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, who bought an entire box of copies of the album to share this new sound with others. With a major-label release, and continued songwriting success (most notably with The Monkees, who had a hit with Nilsson’s “Cuddly Toy”[7] after meeting him through their producer Chip Douglas), Nilsson finally felt secure enough in the music business to quit his job with the bank. Monkees member Micky Dolenz maintained a close friendship until Nilsson’s death in 1994.
Some of the albums from Derek Taylor’s box eventually ended up with the Beatles themselves,[8] who quickly became Nilsson fans. This may have been helped by the track “You Can’t Do That”, in which Nilsson covered one Beatles song but added 22 others in the multi-tracked background vocals. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, Lennon was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, “Nilsson”. McCartney was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, “Nilsson”.[5]
Aided by the Beatles’ praise, “You Can’t Do That” became a minor hit in the US, and a top 10 hit in Canada.[5]
When RCA had asked if there was anything special he wanted as a signing premium, Nilsson asked for his own office at RCA, being used to working out of one. In the weeks after the Apple press conference, Nilsson’s office phone began ringing constantly, with offers and requests for interviews and inquiries about his performing schedule. Nilsson usually answered the calls himself, surprising the callers, and answered questions candidly. (He recalled years later the flow of a typical conversation: “When did you play last?” “I didn’t.” “Where have you played before?” “I haven’t.” “When will you be playing next?” “I don’t.”) Nilsson acquired a manager, who steered him into a handful of TV guest appearances, and a brief run of stage performances in Europe set up by RCA. He disliked the experiences he had, though, and decided to stick to the recording studio. He later admitted this was a huge mistake on his part.[5]
Once Lennon called and praised Pandemonium Shadow Show, which he had listened to in a 36-hour marathon.[6] McCartney called the following day, also expressing his admiration. Eventually a message came, inviting him to London to meet the Beatles, watch them at work, and possibly sign with Apple Corps.
Pandemonium Shadow Show was followed in 1968 by Aerial Ballet, an album that included Nilsson’s rendition of Fred Neil‘s song “Everybody’s Talkin’“. A minor US hit at the time of release (and a top 40 hit in Canada), the song would become extremely popular a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy, and it would earn Nilsson his first Grammy Award.[7] The song would also become Nilsson’s first US top 10 hit, reaching #6, and his first Canadian #1.
Aerial Ballet also contained Nilsson’s version of his own composition “One”, which was later taken to the top 5 of the US charts by Three Dog Night and also successfully covered in Australia by John Farnham. Nilsson was also commissioned at this time to write and perform the theme song for the ABC television series The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. The result, “Best Friend”, was very popular, but Nilsson never released the song on record; the original version of the song (entitled “Girlfriend”) was recorded during the making of Aerial Ballet but not included on that LP, and it eventually appeared on the 1995 Personal Best anthology, and as a bonus track on a later release of Aerial Ballet. Late in 1968, The Monkees‘ notorious experimental film Head premiered, featuring a memorable song-and-dance sequence with Davy Jones and Toni Basil performing Nilsson’s composition “Daddy’s Song.” (This is followed by Frank Zappa‘s cameo as “The Critic,” who dismisses the 1920s-style tune as “pretty white.”)[5]
With the success of Nilsson’s RCA recordings, Tower re-issued or re-packaged many of their early Nilsson recordings in various formats. All of these re-issues failed to chart, including a 1969 single “Good Times”.[5]
1969–72: Chart success[edit]
Nilsson’s next album, Harry (1969), was his first to hit the charts, and also provided a Top 40 single with “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City” (written as a contender for the theme to Midnight Cowboy), used in the Sophia Loren movie La Mortadella (1971) (US title: Lady Liberty). While the album still presented Nilsson as primarily a songwriter, his astute choice of cover material included, this time, a song by then-little-known composer Randy Newman, “Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear“. Nilsson was so impressed with Newman’s talent that he devoted his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson’s multi-tracked vocals.[6] The result, Nilsson Sings Newman (1970), was commercially disappointing but was named Record of the Year by Stereo Review magazine and provided momentum to Newman’s career.[6] The self-produced Nilsson Sings Newman also marked the end of his collaboration with RCA staff producer Rick Jarrard, who recounted in the Nilsson documentary that the partnership was terminated by a telegram from Nilsson, who abruptly informed Jarrard that he wanted to work with other producers, and the two never met or spoke again.[5]
Nilsson’s next project was an animated film, The Point! (aka Oblio), created with animation director Fred Wolf, and broadcast on ABC television on February 2, 1971, as an “ABC Movie of the Week“. Nilsson’s self-produced album of songs from The Point! was well received and it spawned a hit single, “Me and My Arrow”.[5]
Later that year, Nilsson went to England with producer Richard Perry to record what became the most successful album of his career. Nilsson Schmilsson yielded three very stylistically different hit singles. The first was a cover ofBadfinger‘s song “Without You” (by Pete Ham and Tom Evans), featuring a highly emotional arrangement and soaring vocals to match – recorded, according to Perry, in a single take.[5] His superb performance was rewarded with Nilsson’s second Grammy Award.[7]
The second single was “Coconut“, a novelty calypso number featuring four characters (the narrator, the brother, the sister, and the doctor) all sung (at Perry’s suggestion[5]) in different voices by Nilsson. The song is best remembered for its chorus lyric (“Put de lime in de coconut, and drink ’em both up”). Also notable is that the entire song is played using one chord, C7th.
The third single, “Jump into the Fire”, was raucous, screaming rock and roll, including a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos‘ Jim Gordon and a bass detuning by Herbie Flowers.
Nilsson followed quickly with Son of Schmilsson (1972), released while its predecessor was still in the charts. Besides the problem of competing with himself, Nilsson was by then ignoring most of Perry’s production advice[5] and his decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness on this release alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base. With lyrics like “I sang my balls off for you, baby”, “Roll the world over / And give her a kiss and a feel”, and the notorious “You’re breaking my heart / You’re tearing it apart / So fuck you” (a reference to his ongoing divorce), Nilsson had traveled far afield from his earlier work. The album nevertheless reached #12 on the Billboard200, and the single “Spaceman” was a Top 40 hit in October 1972. The follow-up single “Remember (Christmas)”, however, stalled at #53. A third single, the tongue-in-cheek C&W send up “Joy”, was issued on RCA’s country imprint Green and credited to Buck Earle, but it failed to chart.[5]
1973–79: Maverick[edit]
Nilsson in 1976
Nilsson’s disregard for commercialism in favor of artistic satisfaction showed itself in his next release, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). Performing a selection of pop standardsby the likes of Berlin, Kalmar and Ruby, Nilsson sang in front of an orchestra arranged and conducted by veteran Gordon Jenkins in sessions produced by Derek Taylor. This musical endeavor did not do well commercially. The session was filmed, and broadcast as a television special by the BBC in the UK.[5]
1973 found Nilsson back in California, and when John Lennon moved there during his separation from Yoko Ono, the two musicians rekindled their earlier friendship. Lennon was intent upon producing Nilsson’s next album, much to Nilsson’s delight. However, their time together in California became known much more for heavy drinking than it did for musical collaboration. In a widely publicized incident, the two were ejected from the Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood for drunken heckling of the Smothers Brothers.[9] Both men caused property damage during binges, with Lennon trashing a bedroom in Lou Adler‘s house, and Nilsson throwing a bottle through a 30-foot-high hotel window.[citation needed]
To make matters worse, at a late night party and jam session during the recording of the album, attended by Lennon, McCartney, Danny Kortchmar, and other musicians,[10] Nilsson ruptured avocal cord, but he hid the injury for fear that Lennon would call a halt to the production. The resulting album was Pussy Cats. In an effort to clean up, Lennon, Nilsson and Ringo Starr first rented a house together, then Lennon and Nilsson left for New York.[5] After the relative failure of his latest two albums, RCA Records considered dropping Nilsson’s contract. In a show of friendship, Lennon accompanied Nilsson to negotiations, and both intimated to RCA that Lennon and Starr might want to sign with them, once their Apple Records contracts with EMI expired in 1975, but would not be interested if Nilsson were no longer with the label.[6] RCA took the hint and re-signed Nilsson (adding a bonus clause, to apply to each new album completed), but neither Lennon nor Starr signed with RCA.
Nilsson’s voice had mostly recovered by his next release, Duit on Mon Dei (1975), but neither it nor its follow-ups, Sandman and …That’s the Way It Is (both 1976), met with chart success. Finally, Nilsson recorded what he later considered to be his favorite album Knnillssonn (1977). With his voice strong again, and his songs exploring musical territory reminiscent of Harry or The Point!, Nilsson anticipated Knnillssonn to be a comeback album. RCA seemed to agree, and promised Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. However, the death of Elvis Presley caused RCA to ignore everything except meeting demand for Presley’s back catalog, and the promised marketing push never happened.[11] This, combined with RCA releasing a Nilsson Greatest Hits collection without consulting him, prompted Nilsson to leave the label.[5]
Nilsson’s London flat[edit]
9 Curzon Square, London in 2012; flat on 4th floor, at top right was Nilsson’s, the site of both Cass Elliot‘s and Keith Moon‘s deaths.
Nilsson’s 1970s London flat, at Flat 12, 9 Curzon Street on the edge of Mayfair, was a two-bedroom apartment decorated by the ROR (“Ringo or Robin”) design company owned by Starr and interior designer Robin Cruikshank. Nilsson cumulatively spent several years at the flat, which was located near Apple Records, the Playboy Club, Tramp and the homes of friends and business associates. Nilsson’s work and interests took him to the US for extended periods, and while he was away he lent his place to numerous musician friends. During one of his absences, formerThe Mamas & the Papas singer Cass Elliot and a few members of her tour group stayed at the flat while she performed solo at the London Palladium, headlining with her torch songs and “Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore“. Following a strenuous performance with encores on July 29, 1974, Elliot was discovered in one of the bedrooms, dead of heart failure at 32.[6]
On September 7, 1978, The Who‘s drummer Keith Moon returned to the same room in the flat after a night out, and died at 32 from an overdose of Clomethiazole, a prescribed anti-alcohol drug.[6] Nilsson, distraught over another friend’s death in his flat, and having little need for the property, sold it to Moon’s bandmate Pete Townshend and consolidated his life in Los Angeles.[citation needed]
1980–92: Winding down[edit]
Nilsson’s musical work after leaving RCA Victor was sporadic. He wrote a musical, Zapata, with Perry Botkin Jr. and libretto by Allan Katz, which was produced and directed by longtime friendBert Convy. The show was mounted at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, but never had another production. He wrote all the songs for Robert Altman‘s movie-musicalPopeye (1980),[6] the score of which met with unfavorable reviews. Nilsson’s Popeye compositions included several songs that were representative of Nilsson’s acclaimed Point era, such as “Everything Is Food” and “Sweethaven”. The song “He Needs Me” featured years later in the film Punch-Drunk Love. Nilsson recorded one more album, Flash Harry, co-produced by Bruce Robb and Steve Cropper, which was released in the UK but not in the US. From this point onward, Nilsson increasingly began referring to himself as a “retired musician”.
Nilsson was profoundly affected by the death of John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He joined the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and overcame his preference for privacy to make appearances for gun control fundraising. He began to appear at Beatlefest conventions and he would get on stage with the Beatlefest house band “Liverpool” to either sing some of his own songs or “Give Peace a Chance.”[5]
After a long hiatus from the studio, Nilsson started recording sporadically once again in the mid to late 1980s. Most of these recordings were commissioned songs for movies or television shows. One notable exception was his work on a Yoko Ono Lennon tribute album, Every Man Has A Woman (1984) (Polydor); another was a cover of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” recorded for Hal Willner‘s 1988 tribute album Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Nilsson donated his performance royalties from the song to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.[5]
In 1985 Nilsson set up a production company, Hawkeye, to oversee various film, TV and multimedia projects for which he was involved. He appointed his friend, satirist and screenwriter Terry Southern, as one of the principals. They collaborated on a number of screenplays including Obits (a Citizen Kane-style story about a journalist investigating an obituary notice) and The Telephone, a comedy about an unhinged unemployed actor.[5]
The Telephone was virtually the only Hawkeye project that made it to the screen. It had been written with Robin Williams in mind but he turned it down; comedian-actress Whoopi Goldberg then signed on, with Southern’s friend Rip Torn directing, but the project was troubled. Torn battled with Goldberg, who interfered in the production and constantly digressed from the script during shooting, and Torn was forced to plead with her to perform takes that stuck to the screenplay. Torn, Southern and Nilsson put together their own version of the film, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in early 1988, but it was overtaken by the “official” version from the studio, and this version premiered to poor reviews in late January 1988. The project reportedly had some later success when adapted as a theatre piece in Germany.[12]
In 1990, Hawkeye floundered and Nilsson found himself in a dire financial situation after it was discovered that his financial adviser Cindy Sims had embezzled all the funds he had earned as a recording artist. The Nilssons were left with $300 in the bank and a mountain of debt, while Sims served less than two years and was released from prison in 1994 without making restitution.[13]
In 1991, the Disney CD For Our Children, a compilation of children’s music performed by celebrities to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, included Nilsson’s original composition “Blanket for a Sail,” recorded at the Shandaliza Recording Studio in Los Angeles.[5]
Nilsson made his last concert appearance September 1, 1992, when he joined Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band on stage at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada to sing “Without You” with Todd Rundgren handling the high notes. Afterwards, an emotional Starr embraced Nilsson on stage.[5]
1993–94: Heart attack and death[edit]
Nilsson suffered a massive heart attack on February 14, 1993.[14] After surviving that, he began pressing his old label, RCA, to release a boxed-set retrospective of his career, and resumed recording, attempting to complete one final album. He finished the vocal tracks for the album with producer Mark Hudson, who has the tapes of that session.[citation needed] Nilsson died of heart failure on January 15, 1994 in his Agoura Hills, California home.[14] In 1995, the 2-CD anthology he worked on with RCA, Personal Best, was released.[5]
Nilsson is interred in Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park.[citation needed]
Personal life[edit]
Nilsson married Sandra McTaggart on October 24, 1964. They divorced in 1966 (one stepson).
Nilsson married Diane Clatworthy on December 31, 1969. They had one son. Nilsson and Clatworthy divorced in 1974.
Nilsson married Una O’Keeffe on August 12, 1976; they remained married until his death on January 15, 1994. They had six children.
Legacy[edit]
Nilsson is the subject of a 2006 documentary, Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)? produced by David Leaf and John Schienfeld. The film was screened in 2006 at the Seattle International Film Festivaland the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In August 2006, the film received its Los Angeles premiere when it was screened at the 7th Annual Mods & Rockers Film Festival followed by a panel discussion about Nilsson featuring the filmmakers and two friends of Nilsson, producer Richard Perry and attorney/executive producer Lee Blackman.[5]
The filmmakers re-edited the film with rare found footage of Nilsson, further interviews, and family photographs, and finally released it on September 17, 2010 at selected theaters in the United States. A DVD, including additional footage not in the theatrical release, was released on October 26, 2010.[5]
Nilsson’s final album, tentatively titled Papa’s Got a Brown New Robe (produced by Mark Hudson) was not released, though several demos from the album were available on promotional CDs and online.[5]
The musical Everyday Rapture features three songs by Nilsson and, similarly, the film A Good Year starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard features “Gotta get up”, “Jump into the fire” and “How can I be sure of you”.
On July 30, 2013, Sony released a definitive box-set of his RCA era albums, The RCA Albums Collection.[15] Each of the albums in the 17-CD set had additional bonus tracks, along with 3 of the 17 discs which contained rarities and outtakes spanning his entire career. Additionally, several weeks later on August 13, Flash Harry was finally issued on CD[16] also featuring additional material. Completing the two CD releases, the first book written about Nilsson was published covering his life story.[17]
Awards and nominations[edit]
Nilsson won two Grammy Awards. He received several more Grammy nominations for the album Nilsson Schmilsson.[18]
The New York Post rated Nilsson’s cover of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talking” #51 on their list of the 100 Best Cover Songs of All Time.[19]
Rolling Stone ranked Nilsson as No. 62 on “The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time”.[4]
Discography[edit]
Studio albums
- Spotlight on Nilsson (1966)
- Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967)
- Aerial Ballet (1968)
- Skidoo (1968)
- Harry (1969)
- Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
- The Point! (1971)
- Nilsson Schmilsson (1971) RCA/Victor #LSP 4515
- Son of Schmilsson (1972)
- A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
- Son of Dracula (1974)
- Pussy Cats (1974)
- Duit on Mon Dei (1975)
- Sandman (1976)
- …That’s the Way It Is (1976)
- Knnillssonn (1977)
- Flash Harry (1980)
- Popeye (1980)
Filmography[edit]
 |
This list (which may have dates, numbers, etc.) may be better in a sortable table format. (March 2016) |
- I Spy (1965 TV Series) – In 1966 Episode Sparrowhawk “Untitled Composition” sung by Nilsson in background of a conversation scene.
- Skidoo (1968) songs written and performed, soundtrack music composer, actor (bit role)
- The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1969 TV Series) acted and sang – He appeared in the episode “The Music Maker”, and his character name was Tim Seagirt. He sang “Without Her” and “If Only I Could Touch Your Hand.”
- The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (TV series, 1969–1972) theme song written and performed, incidental music
- Midnight Cowboy (1969) new version of “Everybody’s Talkin'” performed
- Jenny (1970) song “Waiting” written and performed
- The Point! (1971) story, all songs written and performed
- Son of Dracula (1974) actor (lead role), all songs performed
- The World’s Greatest Lover (1978) song “Ain’t It Kinda Wonderful” performed
- In God We Tru$t (1980) new version of “Good For God” performed
- Popeye (1980) all songs written, except “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man”
- Handgun (1983) song “Lay Down Your Arms” written and performed
- First Impressions, (TV series, 1988) theme song co-written, performed
- Camp Candy (TV series, animated, 1989–1991) theme song written, and performed with John Candy
- The Fisher King (1991) song “How About You” performed
- Me, Myself, and I (1992) song “Me, Myself and I” written and performed
- Harry Nilsson
- 1941 births
- 1994 deaths
- 20th-century American singers
- 20th-century pianists
- American expatriates in the United Kingdom
- American male singer-songwriters
- American people of Swedish descent
- American pianists
- American singer-songwriters
- American rock songwriters
- American male songwriters
- American rock singers
- American pop singers
- American rock pianists
- American keyboardists
- American rock guitarists
- Disease-related deaths in California
- Grammy Award winners
- Musicians from Brooklyn
- Singers from New York City
- RCA Records artists
- Singers with a three-octave vocal range
- Songwriters from New York
- American tenors
When Harry met… John, Paul, George and Ringo: The American Beatle’s 18-month ‘lost weekend’ with Lennon
By ALYN SHIPTON
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-2382537/The-Beatles-When-Harry-met–John-Paul-George-Ringo-The-American-Beatles-18-month-lost-weekend-Lennon.html#ixzz4B5TCln8C
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Epic brandy binges. Guns in the studio. The famous ‘Lost Weekend’. How Harry Nilsson, the hellraising singer of Without You, befriended and bewitched the Fab Four – and drove himself into an early grave
One long party: During the infamous ‘lost weekend’ Harry Nilsson with John Lennon and May Pang. Nilsson always slightly hero-worshipped Lennon, and there was a shared love of the outrageous
Somewhere between three and four o’clock on a Monday morning in April 1968, the telephone rang in the little office at RCA Records in Los Angeles where an obscure singer-songwriter named Harry Nilsson was keeping his usual nocturnal hours.
‘I was half asleep,’ Nilsson recalled. ‘A voice says: “Hello, Harry. This is John. Man you’re too f***ing much, you’re just great. We’ve got to get together and do something.”
‘I said, “Who is this?”
‘“John Lennon.”
‘I said: “Yeah, right, who is this?”
‘“It’s John Lennon. I’m just trying to say you’re fantastic. Have a good night’s sleep. Speak to you soon. Goodbye.”
‘I thought, “Was that a dream?”’ Not a dream, but the start of an association that would change Nilsson’s life.
The year before, Nilsson recorded The Beatles’ You Can’t Do That, cleverly using quotes from 14 other Beatles songs.
That had led to an invitation to a party at George Harrison’s rented house in the Hollywood Hills.
Harry recalled that the Beatle, ‘in a white windblown robe with a beard and long hair, looking like Christ with a camcorder’, had listened to his songs and been ‘very complimentary’.
Nilsson was described as ‘the finest white male singer on the planet’, and was an accomplished songwriter who happened to have huge hits with two songs he did not write: Everybody’s Talkin’ and Without You
Harrison took Nilsson’s demos away and played them to the other Beatles, who were now calling Harry in the middle of the night.
The Monday after Lennon’s call, Paul McCartney rang. ‘Hello, Harry. Yeah, this is Paul. Just wanted to say you’re great, man! John gave me the album. It’s great; you’re terrific. Look forward to seeing you.’
The next Monday, Nilsson dressed and waited for a four o’clock call from Ringo. It didn’t come. But on May 14, Lennon and McCartney appeared at a press conference in New York.
Asked to name their favourite American artist, Lennon replied ‘Nilsson’. The two gave the same response when asked their favourite group.
Later that day, when a journalist wondered what they thought about American music, Lennon replied, ‘Nilsson! Nilsson for president!’
A unique relationship would form between Nilsson and The Beatles. He would write a song for McCartney, make films and party through the 1970s with Ringo Starr, and record and raise hell with Lennon in the notorious 18-month ‘lost weekend’ period in 1973 and 1974, when John left Yoko Ono for a wild life in Los Angeles.
There was, it should be said, much more to Nilsson than his Beatles associations.
He was described by his producer Richard Perry as ‘the finest white male singer on the planet’, and was an accomplished songwriter who happened to have huge hits with two songs he did not write: Everybody’s Talkin’ and Without You.
Not long after Lennon and McCartney returned from New York, Derek Taylor, The Beatles’ press officer at Apple, made a call to Harry.
‘Derek says: “The lads, the boys, the Fabs would like you to come over and join them at a session,”’ Nilsson remembered. ‘“They’re recording at Abbey Road. They’re dying to see you.”’
Nilsson with Ringo Starr and Lynsey de Paul. ‘When he got to make records with John Lennon and be friends with Ringo Starr, his life was complete,’ said legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb
Within a few days, Nilsson was sitting on a plane crossing the Atlantic.
Arriving at Heathrow, he found that Ringo had kindly left his Daimler limousine at the airport for him.
Suddenly famous, having been endorsed by the world’s biggest band, Nilsson went straight to a reception for his own record, where the other three Beatles were the stars of a guest list that included everybody who was anybody in swinging London.
That afternoon, another limo arrived to take Harry out to Lennon’s home in the Surrey commuter belt.
Nilsson was greeted warmly by Lennon, and a single look between them was the start of a lifelong friendship.
‘We spent the entire night talking until dawn,’ said Nilsson.
‘Yoko ended up like a kitten at John’s feet, curled up. And John and I are on about marriage, life, death, divorce, women. And I’m thinking, “This is it! This is truthful. This is good. This is honest. This is exciting. It’s inspirational.”’
Lennon gave Nilsson an Indian gold braided jacket with fur trim lining he had worn in Magical Mystery Tour.
The following day McCartney announced he was coming over to Nilsson’s hotel, and he ran through rough versions of several of his newly written songs.
Nilsson sent down for a bottle or two of the best wine on the hotel’s room service list, and they carried on singing songs for one another into the small hours, until there was a thunderous banging on the door from the occupants of the room next door: ‘What the hell do you people think you’re doing? Don’t you know some people work for a living? Some people have to get up in the morning!’
Nilsson calmly introduced them to his visitors, and Paul gently apologised. The neighbours were impressed to find that the disturbance had been created by so famous a guest and made no further complaints. The evening ended with McCartney driving Nilsson around London in his Aston Martin.
It laid the groundwork for future collaborations between Nilsson and all four members of the group.
The song Everybody’s Talkin’ had made Nilsson a star in his own right by the time his friendship with Ringo – soon to be one of the cornerstones of Nilsson’s life – blossomed in the early 1970s.
‘Ringo and I spent a thousand hours laughing,’ said Nilsson.
Lennon and Nilsson are thrown out of the Troubador in LA on March 13, 1974, for heckling
Ringo, often sporting mirrored sunglasses that disguised the effects of the night before, was at the heart of a social set that enjoyed late nights, exclusive bars, nightclubs and brandy.
Along with Nilsson and Ringo, there would be Marc Bolan of T Rex, Keith Moon, and Graham Chapman of Monty Python.
When in London, they would meet in the afternoon, drinking brandy and swapping yarns, each new arrival dropping in with the catchphrase: ‘I hope I’m not interrupting anything?’
‘We would drink until 9pm,’ Nilsson recalled. ‘That’s six hours of brandy. Then between 9 and 10, we would usually end up at Tramp, the most uproarious, exclusive disco-restaurant in the world.
‘Royalty, movie stars, world champions all frequented the place. It was a ride, meeting luminaries and having blow-outs every night.’
Nilsson was back in Los Angeles by the time of John Lennon’s arrival in the city in the autumn of 1973.
Ever since their time together at Lennon’s home, there had been a strong bond of friendship between the two of them.
However, unlike the camaraderie he enjoyed with Ringo, Nilsson always slightly hero-worshipped Lennon, and there was a shared love of the outrageous. This could, and often did, prove to be a destructive force.
Lennon was at a crossroads. His album Mind Games would be released in October to indifferent reviews, and in June he had split from Yoko. He and Ono’s former personal assistant, May Pang, eloped to the West Coast, where Lennon planned to make an album of rock classics, to be produced by Phil Spector.
Lennon’s drinking was under control in New York, but in Los Angeles, away from Yoko, it increased dramatically as he began socialising with Nilsson.
As she watched Lennon match Nilsson’s intake of brandy and cocaine, May Pang felt powerless: ‘(Nilsson) had charm. We loved him. But he went to extremes.’
Nilsson and Micky Dolenz at the Rainbow
According to Spector, Nilsson was a hindrance to the sessions, and one of his more extreme pranks involved suggesting holding up a 7-Eleven store.Spector was no less outrageous.
He started arriving at the studio dressed up in various costumes, first as a doctor, then a karate instructor, and finally a cowboy, complete with loaded revolver.
Trying to assert his authority, Spector fired the gun into the air.
Covering his ears, Lennon quipped, ‘Listen Phil, if you’re going to kill me, kill me. But don’t f*** with me ears – I need ’em.’
The sessions broke down, leaving Lennon to spend more time with Nilsson, who introduced him to all his nocturnal haunts.
These included the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Hollywood, where the upstairs room still has a plaque on the wall commemorating their late-night drinking club, ‘the Hollywood Vampires’, which included Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, Keith Moon and Alice Cooper.
On March 13, 1974, Nilsson took his friend to see comedians the Smothers Brothers at the Troubadour club. Lennon proceeded to get seriously drunk on Brandy Alexanders.
The press the next day reported: ‘Customers in the jammed nightclub complained Lennon made sarcastic comments and shouted obscenities during the show.
Said the Smothers’ manager, Ken Fritz: ‘I went over and asked Harry to try to shut up Lennon. Harry said: “I’m trying – don’t blame me!”
‘When Lennon continued, I told him to keep quiet. He swung and hit me in the jaw.’
The bouncers had Lennon out in seconds.
Photographer Brenda Mary Perkins tried to snap him, but the enraged Lennon took a swing and his fist allegedly hit her right eye.
The Nixon administration had tried to have Lennon returned to Britain because of an ancient drug charge. When Perkins filed charges at the sheriff’s office, a Nilsson cover-up and charm campaign quelled an investigation that could have got Lennon deported.
Lennon and Nilsson agreed they had to do something more positive than going out on wild benders. John announced his intention of producing an album for Nilsson, and they decided they and the musicians should rent a beach house close to Santa Monica.
The sessions yielded the disappointing Pussy Cats, but were notable for a rare reunion of the principal Beatles.
Round midnight on the first night, McCartney appeared with Stevie Wonder. Lennon was passing cocaine around, and his offer of a ‘toot’ to Stevie gave the subsequent bootleg album its title: A Toot And A Snore In ’74. It was the last time the two ex-Beatles would ever play together in a studio.
On December 8, 1980, Nilsson was in the studio when he heard Lennon had been shot – it brought his professional life to a complete stop.
He would never make another completed studio album of his own. But by the early 1990s, his weight, his drinking, and the years of cocaine intake had taken a serious toll on his wellbeing.
A business venture resulted in bankruptcy, and Ringo had to step in to provide Harry and his family with a house and spending money. Beset by ill health, Nilsson died on January 15, 1994, aged 52.
In most obituaries, Nilsson’s career was summed up by his two Grammy-winning records, with the suggestion that the rest was an inexorable downturn into self-destruction.
Nilsson seemed to agree: ‘Being relegated to Everybody’s Talkin’ and Without You ain’t exactly what I set out to do.’
‘When he got to make records with John Lennon and be friends with Ringo Starr, his life was complete,’ said close friend and legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb.
‘That’s all he ever wanted. He wanted to know those people, to be admired by them. Everything else was the small print.’
From ‘Nilsson’ by Alyn Shipton, published by OUP USA, £18.99.
To order at a special price of £14.99 with free p&p, please call the Mail Book Shop on 0844 472 4157 or visit mailbookshop.co.uk
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-2382537/The-Beatles-When-Harry-met–John-Paul-George-Ringo-The-American-Beatles-18-month-lost-weekend-Lennon.html#ixzz4B5T1h1vJ
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Faith Ringgold, painter, writer, speaker, mixed media sculptor and performance artist lives and works in Englewood, New Jersey. Ms Ringgold is professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego where she taught art from 1987 until 2002. Professor Ringgold is the recipient of more than 75 awards including 22 Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees. She has received fellowships and grants that include the National Endowment For the Arts Award for sculpture (1978) and for painting (1989); The La Napoule Foundation Award for painting in France (1990); The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for painting (1987); The New York Foundation For the Arts Award for painting (1988); The American Association of University Women for travel to Africa (1976); The Creative Artists Public Service Award for painting (1971). Ringgold’s art has been exhibited in museums and galleries in the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Her art is included in many private and public art collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Boston Museum of Fine Art, The Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, The Baltimore Museum, Williams College Museum of Art, The High Museum of Fine Art, The Newark Museum, The Phillip Morris Collection, The St. Louis Art Museum and The Spencer Museum. Ms. Ringgold is represented by ACA Gallery in New York City. Ringgold’s public commissions include; People Portraits, 52 mosaics installed in the Los Angeles, California, Civic center subway station (2010); Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines, two 25 foot mosaic murals installed in the 125th street Subway station in New York City in 1996; The Crown Heights Children’s Story Quilt featuring folklore from the 12 major cultures that settled Crown Heights is installed in the library at PS 90 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Eugenio Maria de Hostos: A Man and His Dream, (1994) A mural celebrating the life of Eugenio Maria de Hostos for De Hostos Community College in the Bronx is installed in the atrium of the college. Ringgold’s first published book, the award winning, Tar Beach, “a book for children of all ages”, was published by Random House in 1991 and has won more than 30 awards including, a Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King award for the best illustrated children’s book of 1991. The book, Tar Beach, is based on the story quilt Tar Beach, from Ringgold’s The Woman On A Bridge Series of 1988 and is in the permanent collection of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. HBO included an animated version of Tar Beach in “Good Night Moon and Other Sleepy Time Lullabies.” This program runs periodically on HBO and has been released as a DVD. Ringgold has completed sixteen children’s books including the above mentioned Tar Beach, Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad In The Sky, My Dream of Martin Luther King and Talking to Faith Ringgold, (an autobiographical interactive art book for children of all ages), The Invisible Princess, an original African American Fairy Tale based on the quilt Born in a Cotton Field all published by Random House. If a Bus Could Talk; The Story of Ms. Rosa Parks won the NAACP’s Image Award 2000 and is available from Simon and Schuster. O Holy Night and The Three Witches, and Bronzeville Boys and Girls are from Harper Collins. Faith Ringgold’s latest children’s book is Henry O. Tanner: His Boyhood Dream Comes True published by Bunker Hill Publishing. We Flew Over the Bridge: The Memoirs of Faith Ringgold, Ringgold’s first adult book was published by Little, Brown in 1995 and has been re-released by Duke University Press.
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