Harry Nilsson

At 52 years old, Harry Nilsson has this physical status:

Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), also known as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the early 1970s.

His career is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experiments, revisions of the Great American Songbook, and fusions of Caribbean sounds.

Nilsson, a tenor with a 312 octave range, was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists of his time to have commercial success without appearing in major public concerts or running regular tours.

Born, Nilsson, a musician from Brooklyn, moved to Los Angeles as a youth to escape his family's poor financial situation.

He became involved in musical arrangement and close-harmony singing while working at a bank, and was able to get some of his songs recorded by various artists, including the Monkees.

He debuted on RCA Victor with the LP Pandemonium Shadow Exhibition in 1967, followed by a series of shows including a film with Randy Newman (Nilsson Newman, 1970) and the original children's tale The Point! (1971).

Early life

On June 15, 1941, Nilsson was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City. He paternal grandfather, born in Sweden, who would later immigrate to and become naturalized in the United States, performed an act dubbed an "aerial ballet" (which is the name of one of Nilsson's albums). His maternal grandparents were the pillars of his youth's life. Although his grandmother played piano, his grandfather, Charlie Martin, aided the family in a tiny railroad apartment on Jefferson Avenue in Brooklyn. Harry Edward Nilsson Jr., Harry Edward Nilsson Jr., and his family moved away when Harry was three years old. In the opening to Nilsson's song "1941," an autobiographical reference to this is found.

"Daddy's Song" by Nilsson refers to this period in Nilsson's childhood. He grew up with his mother Bette and his younger half-sister. During his relocation between California and New York, his younger brother Drake was left with family or friends, sometimes living with a succession of relatives and stepfathers. Nilsson's uncle, a mechanic in San Bernardino, California, helped him with his vocal and musical talents. He had three half-sisters and one half-brother through his father, in addition to his half-brother and a half-sister.

Nilsson began working at an early age, including a stint at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, due to his family's financial circumstances. When the theater closed in 1960, he applied for a bank, falsely claiming he was a high school graduate on his application (he finished in ninth grade). He had a natural aptitude for computers, which were not common at banks at the time. He later excelled in his position, and the bank retained him even after they learned he had lied about his education. He worked on bank computers at night and pursued his songwriting and singing career in the daytime.

Personal life

Sandi McTaggart was born on October 24, 1964, and Nilsson married Sandi McTaggart. Other than Scott Roberts, his stepson, were the only one on the family. They divorced in 1967. On December 31, 1969, Nilsson married Diane Clatworthy. They had one son, Zak Nine Nilsson, who died of colon cancer on March 4, 2021. In 1974, Nilsson and Clatworthy divorced. On August 12, 1976, Nilsson married Una O'Keeffe. Both were Catholics of Irish descent, with Nilsson inheriting it from his maternal grandfather, and they were married until his death on January 15, 1994. They had six children.

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Career

By 1958, Nilsson was intrigued by the arrival of popular music, particularly rhythm and blues artists like Ray Charles. He had begun performing when he was employed at the He'd formed a vocal pair with his buddy Jerry Smith and performed close harmonies in the style of the Everly Brothers and had started performing close harmonies. Nilsson's boss gave him a plastic ukulele, which he later learned to play, and he later learned how to play the guitar and piano. When he couldn't remember lyrics or portions of the popular songs, he made his own, which culminated in the writing of original songs.

When he first started singing demos for songwriter Scott Turner in 1962, his uncle's singing lessons, as well as Nilsson's natural talent, aided him. Turner charged Nilsson five dollars for each track they played. (When Nilsson became well-known, Turner decided to release these early recordings and approached Nilsson to ensure a fair compensation.) Nilsson said he had already been paid – five dollars a track. (Product: wikipedia) The emperor of the United States, who was named after him.

Nilsson's debut as a songwriter came in 1963, when he collaborated with John Marascalco on a song for Little Richard. Little Richard reportedly remarked: "My!" after hearing Nilsson sing.

You sing good for a white boy!"

Nilsson's independent singles were also funded by Marascalco. One, "Bo Pete" from "Baa Baa Blacksheep," was introduced to some small local airplay. Mercury Records was compelled to give Nilsson a contract and make available recordings under the name "Johnny Niles."

Nilsson began working with Phil Spector in 1964, writing three songs with him. Perry Botkin, Jr., a writer and publisher, Jr., who started to look for a market for Nilsson's songs, has also established a friendship with him. Nilsson was also given a key to his office by Botkin, giving him another place to write after hours. Nilsson became acquainted with guitarist, composer, and arranger George Tipton, who was then working for Botkin as a music copyist, through his relationship with Botkin. Tipton invested his money – $2,500 – to finance the recording of four Nilsson songs, which he also arranged. They were able to sell the finished recordings to Tower label, a newly established Capitol Records affiliate, and the tracks were later added to Nilsson's debut album. Since Nilsson signed with RCA Victor, the fruitful collaboration between Nilsson and Tipton continued. Tipton went on to make the arrangements for nearly all of Nilsson's RCA recordings between 1967 and 1971, but the two parted out in the 1970s when the two were separated for unknown reasons.

Tower Records, which in 1966, released the first singles actually credited to him by name, as well as the debut album Spotlight on Nilsson, were picked up by Nilsson's recording contract. Although Nilsson's Tower recordings were being released by Glen Campbell, Fred Astaire, The Shangri-Las, The Yardbirds, and others, none of Nilsson's Tower releases have piqued or attracted much critical attention, perhaps because they were being performed by others. Despite his growing success, Nilsson stayed on the night shift at the bank.

In 1966, Nilsson joined RCA Victor and launched an album, Pandemonium Shadow Show, which was a critical (but not commercial) success. Insiders of the music industry were impressed both with the songwriting and with Nilsson's pure-toned, multi-octave vocals. Derek Taylor, the Beatles' press officer, bought a complete box of copies of the album to broadcast this new music to others. With a major-label debut and continued songwriting success (most notably with The Monkees, who performed Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy" after meeting him through their producer Chip Douglas), Nilsson finally felt secure enough in the music market to leave the bank. Micky Dolenz, a Monkees member, maintained close friendship until Nilsson's death in 1994.

A collection of the albums from Derek Taylor's box eventually joined the Beatles, who then became Nilsson fans. This may have been aided by the song "You Can't Do That," in which Nilsson covered the John Lennon penned tune and also hinted at 17 other Beatles songs in the mix, often by quoting snippets of Beatles lyrics in the multi-layered backing vocals. Lennon was asked to name his favorite American artist when John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the Apple Corps's establishment. "Nilsson," he replied. McCartney was then asked to choose his favorite American group. "Nilsson" replied, his reply.

"You Can't Do That" was Nilsson's first appearance as a performer, but it fell at No. 29. It came in 122nd on the US charts, with Canada ranked 122nd in the top ten.

Nilsson, who had been used to working out of a one, asked RCA if there was anything special he wanted as a signing privilege. Nilsson's office phone was ringing continuously, with calls and calls for interviews and concerns regarding his performance schedule in the weeks after the Beatles' Apple press conference. Although surprised by the callers, Nilsson answered the calls himself and answered questions openly. "When did you play last?" He recalled years later as the flow of a normal conversation: "When did you play last?" "I didn't know it" said the narrator.

"Where have you played before?"

"I haven't" says the narrator.

"When will you be playing next?"

(I don't know what I don't have) Nilsson recruited a manager who steered him into a handful of TV appearances, as well as a brief run of stage performances in Europe organized by RCA. He hated the experiences he had, but he opted to stay in the recording studio. He later admitted that this was a huge mistake on his part.

When John Lennon called and praised the Pandemonium Shadow Exhibition, which he had attended in a 36-hour marathon, he praised it. Paul McCartney called the next day, expressing his admiration while still expressing his admiration. Eventually, a letter arrived inviting him to visit the Beatles, watch them at work, and even sign with Apple.

The Pandemonium Shadow Show was preceded by Aerial Ballet in 1968, an album that included Nilsson's interpretation of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" ("Everybody's Talkin'" by the artist. The song, which was a minor US hit at the time (and a top 40 hit in Canada), would become more popular a year later, and it would earn Nilsson his first Grammy Award a year later. The album would also be Nilsson's first top ten hit, debuting at No. 106. He was the first Canadian top-five in six years.

The Aerial Ballet also included Nilsson's version of his piece "One" which was later added to the top of the US charts by Three Dog Night and also by John Farnham in Australia. At this point, Nilsson was hired to produce and perform the theme tune for ABC television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The result, "Best Friend," was extremely popular, but Nilsson never released the song on record; the original version of the song, "Girlfriend"), was released during Aerial Ballet's recording but not on the album; it later appeared on Aerial Ballet's album; and as a bonus track on a later release of Aerial Ballet. The Monkees' most popular experimental film Head premiered in 1968, showcasing a memorable song-and-dance scene with Davy Jones and Toni Basil performing Nilsson's composition "Daddy's Song." (Frank Zappa's appearance as "The Critic" is followed by Frank Zappa's appearance as "pretty white," refers to the 1920s-style tune as "pretty white."

Tower re-issued or re-packaged several of their early Nilsson albums in various sizes as a result of their success with Nilsson's RCA recordings. All of these reissues failed to chart, including a 1969 single "Good Times." This song was revived as a tribute to Micky Dolenz' album of the same name in 2016 Monkees, adding new tracks to an unknown Monkee backing track that was first released in 1968.

Harry (1969), Nilsson's next album, was his first to reach the top 40, as well as "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" (written as a contender for the theme to Midnight Cowboy), a compilation of the Sophia Loren film La Mortadella (1971) (US title: Lady Liberty). Although Nilsson was still primarily a writer, his astute choice of cover material included, this time, "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear," a song by then-little-known composer Randy Newman. Nilsson was so impressed by Newman's talent that he dedicated his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson's multi-tracked vocals. The result, Nilsson Sings Newman (1970), was commercially disappointing, but by Stereo Review magazine, it was named Year of the Year for the first time in Newman's career, giving him a boost. The self-produced Nilsson Sings Newman came to an end during his Nilsson film that told Jarrard that the relationship was ended by a telegram from Nilsson, who inadvertently told Jarrard that he wanted to work with other designers, and the pair never met or talked again.

Nilsson's next project, The Point!, was an animated film co-created with animation director Fred Wolf, and was 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! It was well-reced, and it resulted in the release of "Me and My Arrow," a top-40 hit.

Nilsson and producer Richard Perry were able to tour England later this year to record what became his most popular album of his career. Three stylistically different hit singles were produced by Nilsson Schmilsson. The first was a recreation of Badfinger's "Without You" (by Welsh songwriter Pete Ham and Tom Evans), which had a dramatic arrangement and soaring vocals to match – according to Perry, the first was a single take. His second Grammy Award was given to him thanks to his appearance. In different voices by Nilsson, the narrator, the brother, the sister, and the doctor all sang (at Perry's request) in different voices. The song is best remembered for its chorus lyric ("Put de lime in de coconut") and "em both up" (with a toast). The whole song is also played using a single chord, C7, which is also noteworthy. The third single, "Jump into the Fire," featured a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon and a detuned bass part by Herbie Flowers, as well as a raucous rock and roll.

Son of Schmilsson (1972), which was released shortly after its predecessor was already on the charts, was followed quickly by Nilsson. Nilsson was ignoring most of Perry's production advice at the time, and his decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness about this post alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base. With lyrics ranging from "I sang my balls off for you, baby," "Roll the world over" and "You're breaking it apart" (a reference to his ongoing divorce), Nilsson had travelled afar away from his earlier work. The album has remained at No. 1 on the charts, despite that. The single "Spaceman" on the Billboard 200 was a Top 40 hit in October 1972, and the single "Spaceman" was a Top 40 hit. Nevertheless, the sequel to "Remember (Christmas)" stalled at No. 1, though. 53 years old. On RCA's country imprint Green and credited to Buck Earle, a third single, the tongue-in-cheek C&W Send Up "Joy," was released, but it failed to chart.

In his next release, A Little Touch of Schmilsson (1973), Nilsson's abandonment of commercialism in favour of artistic pleasure was on display. In a session conducted by Derek Taylor, he performed a collection of pop hits by Berlin, Kalmar, and Ruby. This artistic venture did not do well financially. The session was shot and broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom as a television special.

The Nilsson family resurfaced in California, and when John Lennon returned to Nilsson after his separation from Yoko Ono, the two musicians revived their earlier friendship. Lennon was determined on recording Nilsson's next album, much to Nilsson's delight. However, their time together in California became more popular for heavy drinkers than for musical collaboration. The two Ringo Starr brothers were ejected from the Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood for inebriated heckling of the Smothers Brothers, triggering a wide-publicized event.

To make it worse, Nilsson suffered a vocal cord rupture during the recording of the album, attended by Lennon, McCartney, Danny Kortchmar, and other musicians, but he hid it in the hopes that Lennon would call a halt to production. Pussy Cats was the resultant album. Lennon, Nilsson, and Ringo Starr were rented together for the first time in an attempt to clear up, and then Lennon, Nilsson, and Starr left for New York. RCA Records considered ending Nilsson's contract after the relative failure of his previous two albums. Lennon and Starr accompanied Nilsson to talks, and they were both told RCA that Lennon and Starr would want to sign with them once their Apple Records with EMI came to an end in 1975, but that would not be concerned if Nilsson were no longer associated with the brand. RCA took the hint and re-signed Nilsson (adding a reward clause to each new album that was released), but neither Lennon nor Starr signed with RCA.

In 1973, Nilsson appeared in "Son of Dracula," a film with Ringo that featured many of his songs as well as a new cut, "Daybreak." Richard Perry's sequel to The Beatles was released in 1974.

By his next appearance, Duit on Mon Dei (1975), Nilsson's voice had mostly recovered, but neither Sandman nor its sequel,...That's the Way It Is, were met with great success. And finally, Nilsson recorded what he later found to be his favorite album, Knnillsson (1977). With his voice clear again and his songs exploring musical territory as reminiscent of Harry or The Point, Nilsson's Dreams were promising that Knnillssonn would be a comeback album. RCA seemed to comply, promising Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. The death of Elvis Presley causedRCA to disregard all except meeting demand for Presley's back catalog, which was never fulfilled. This, as well as RCA's announcing a Nilsson Greatest Hits collection without consulting him, caused Nilsson to leave the company.

The ROR ("Ringo or Robin") design firm owned by Starr and interior designer Robin Cruikshank's 1970s London home, at 9 Curzon Place in Mayfair, was a two-bedroom apartment decorated by Nilsson's 1970s London home. Nilsson spent many years in the apartment, which was located near Apple Records, the Playboy Club, the Tramp nightclub, and the homes of friends and business associates. While he was away, Nilsson's work and passions brought him to the United States for long stretches, and while he was absent, he lent his support to many musician acquaintances. During one of his absences, Cass Elliot, a member of The Mamas & the Papas, and a few members of her tour group stayed at the apartment when she opened solo at The London Palladium, headlining with her torch songs and "Don't Call Me Mama Anymore." Elliot was discovered in one of the bedrooms on July 29, 1974, after a tumultuous display with encores.

Keith Moon, a Who drummer, returned to the apartment after a night out and died at 32 years old from a prescription anti-alcohol drug overdose. Nilsson, who was distraught over the death of another friend in his apartment and having no need for the house, sold it to Moon's bandmate Pete Townshend and consolidated his life in Los Angeles.

After leaving RCA Victor, Nilsson's musical output was patchy. Zapata, he wrote a musical with Perry Botkin Jr. and libretto by Allan Katz, which was produced and directed by longtime friend Bert Convy. The display was held at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, but there has never been another production. He wrote all the songs for Robert Altman's movie-musical Popeye (1980), the score of which received unfavorable feedback. Several songs that were representative of Nilsson's famed Point era, such as "Everything Is Food" and "Sweethaven," were among Nilsson's Popeye compositions. In the film Punch-Drunk Love, the song "He Needs Me" was released years later. Flash Harry, Nilsson's co-produced album, was released in the United Kingdom but not in the United States. From this point forward, Nilsson began to see himself as a "retired musician."

The death of John Lennon on December 8, 1980, devastated Nilsson. He joined the Coalition to Avoid Gun Violence (Crime Against Gun Control) and defiantly left his desire for anonymity to appear at gun control rallies. He began to perform at Beatlefest conventions and would appear with the Beatlefest house band "Liverpool" to perform either some of his own songs or "Give Peace a Chance."

Nilsson began recording regularly in the mid to late 1980s after a long absence from the studio. The majority of these recordings were paid for films or television shows. Several notable exceptions were his contributions to a Yoko Ono Lennon tribute album, Every Man Has a Woman (1984) (Polydor); another was a front of Hal Willner's 1988 tribute album Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Nilsson performed his royal duties from the song to the Alliance to Stop Gun Violence.

In 1985, Nilsson founded Hawkeye, a production company that was employed by various film, television, and multimedia projects with which he was interested. Terry Southern, a satirist, and screenwriter, was one of the principals. They collaborated on a number of screenplays, including Obits (a Citizen Kane-style story about a journalist investigating an obituary note) and The Telephone, a film about an unemployed actor.

The Telephone was about the only Hawkeye project to make it to the big screen. It had been planned with Robin Williams in mind, but it wasn't successful; comedian-actress Whoopi Goldberg then committed to the venture, but Southern's friend Rip Torn directed it, but the execution was tense. Torn battled with Goldberg, who interfered with the script and frequently digressed from the script during recording, and Torn was forced to plead with her to perform takes that related to the screenplay. Torn, Southern, and Nilsson produced their own version of the film, but it was overshadowed by the studio's 'official' version, and this version premiered to poor reviews in late January 1988. According to reports, the initiative had some success when it was repurposed as a theater piece in Germany.

Hawkeye discovered himself and Nilsson discovered himself in a difficult financial situation after it was discovered that his financial advisor, Cindy Sims, 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 was detained for less than two years before her 1994 release and was not obligated to pay restitution.

The Disney album For Our Children, a collection of children's songs performed by celebrities, was sold at the Shandaliza Recording Studio in Los Angeles in 1991. He also did a cover of "How About You" in 1991. The Fisher King's soundtrack is included in Terry Gilliam's film The Fisher King's. He wrote and performed the title song for the film Me Myself & I in 1992.

When he joined Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band on stage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nilsson sang "Without You" with Todd Rundgren handling the high notes, he made his last concert appearance on September 1, 1992. An emotional Starr embraced Nilsson on stage afterward. Papa's Got a Brown New Robe, Mark Hudson's last album, was not announced, but several demos from the album were later made available on promotional CDs and online, as well as in-stores.

Nilsson, who was born with congenital heart disease, sustained a heart attack on February 14, 1993. After surviving, he started pressuring RCA Records to release a boxed-set retrospective of his career and resurrecting recording in the hopes of completing one last track. He completed the album's vocal tracks with guitarist Mark Hudson, who stuck to the recordings of the recording. At the age of 52, Nilsson died of heart disease in his Agoura Hills, California home. The 2-disc CD anthology on which he worked with RCA, Personal Best, was published in 1995. Losst and Founnd's final album was eventually released on November 22, 2019. In the Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California, Nilsson is interred.

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