History Music / HarryNilsson

His fame reached a peak in the early [[TheSeventies 1970s]]; as time went on, Nilsson's continuing drug and alcohol abuse took a toll on both his voice and career; his career as a recording artist ended with the release of his last album in 1980. His untimely death of heart failure in 1994 occurred just as he was aiming for a musical comeback.

When a relative newcomer during the late [[TheSixties 1960s]], Nilsson earned the admiration of Music/TheBeatles (Music/RingoStarr eventually became his [[HeterosexualLifePartners heterosexual life partner]]), which needless to say did [[ColbertBump wonders for Nilsson's own notability]]. His big commercial break came when his cover of "Everybody's Talkin'" (originally written by Fred Neil) was featured in the film ''Film/MidnightCowboy'', earning him a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in the process. He would win the same award again a few years later for his performance of what has now become a pop standard; "Without You" (written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger).

* Music/TheBeatles: A presence in Nilsson's career dating all the way back to 1964, when he wrote and recorded a tribute song to them called "Stand Up and Holler" (credited to the non-existent Foto-Fi Four when it was released). ''Pandemonium Shadow Show'' featured his version of "You Can't Do That" that skillfully wove in lines from other Beatles songs, plus a cover of "She's Leaving Home". This attracted attention from The Beatles themselves, most famously when Lennon and [=McCartney=] cited Nilsson as their "favorite band" in the press conference announcing the formation of Apple Records. He covered "Mother Nature's Son" on ''Harry'' (the original may well have been influenced by Nilsson in the first place), and did a version of "Blackbird" around the same time that wouldn't be released for several decades. He hung out with Ringo and John constantly in the early 1970s. Ringo played drums on a few Nilsson sessions. John produced ''Pussy Cats''. Harry starred in the Apple Films production ''Son of Dracula''. He covered George's "That Is All". John's murder led Harry to become a gun control advocate, and he made a few appearances at Beatles fan conventions in the 1980s.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Music/RingoStarr. Ringo still refrains from answering questions about Harry... for perspective, he doesn't have anywhere near the same trouble talking about [[Music/GeorgeHarrison George]] or [[Music/JohnLennon John]].

** The bouncy and wholesome-sounding "Cuddly Toy" was an obvious choice for Davy Jones to sing when TheMonkees covered it. As for the lyrics, they're vague enough to be interpreted in different ways (some quite sinister), but they're plainly about some sort of unwholesome sexual encounter.

* AlbumIntroTrack: ''Pandemonium Shadow Show'' opens with Nilsson attempting a circus ringmaster-type introduction. ''Aerial Ballet'' has him doing a tap-dancing routine. ''Duit on Mon Dei'' starts off with a rough demo version of "Jesus Christ You're Tall", which he recorded a finished version of on the next album, ''Sandman''. ''Flash Harry'' opens with a song ''about'' Nilsson, written and performed by [[MontyPython Eric Idle]].

'''Harry Edward Nilsson III''' (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as simply Nilsson, was an American [[SingerSongwriter singer/songwriter]] with a versatile voice that boasted multiple octaves in its prime. An idiosyncratic, savvy composer with a unique flair for CloudCuckooland-ishness, his career saw him going from clean-cut baroque pop prodigy to scruffy, carousing pop-rocker. Rather uniquely for the period, he was a ReclusiveArtist who seldom, if ever, performed live, his career sustained by little else than his recorded output.

Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as simply Nilsson, was an American [[SingerSongwriter singer/songwriter]] with a versatile voice that boasted multiple octaves in its prime. An idiosyncratic, savvy composer with a unique flair for CloudCuckooland-ishness, his career saw him going from clean-cut baroque pop prodigy to scruffy, carousing pop-rocker. Rather uniquely for the period, he was a ReclusiveArtist who seldom, if ever, performed live, his career sustained by little else than his recorded output.

** He wrote and recorded an original Christmas song called "Give, Love, Joy" for the ''[[{{ComicStrip/Ziggy}} Ziggy's Gift]]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBLWCsI4ig8 TV special]] in 1982. Six years later he contributed a few brief cover versions of holiday standards to an [[http://www.nilssonschmilsson.com/page-the-presence-of-christmas-dove-cd.html audiobook anthology]] of various stories called ''[[PunBasedTitle The Presence of Christmas]]''. It's ultra-rare and those who've heard it don't have much good to say about it. One {{Creator/Amazon}} review calls it [[SoBadItsHorrible "so bad it's almost embarrassing".]]

* CreditsGag: The 1968 film ''Skidoo'' has Nilsson [[ListSong singing the entire end credits sequence]]: actors, crew members, and legal disclaimers. All of it. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4IMX26xF9Q Seriously.]]

* [[WhiteDwarfStarlet White Dwarf Star]]: The subject of "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song".

* LyricalDissonance: "Marchin' Down Broadway" is a super-cheery number about... celebrating America's victory over Japan in WorldWarII.

* TheBeatles: A presence in Nilsson's career dating all the way back to 1964, when he wrote and recorded a tribute song to them called "Stand Up and Holler" (credited to the non-existent Foto-Fi Four when it was released). ''Pandemonium Shadow Show'' featured his version of "You Can't Do That" that skillfully wove in lines from other Beatles songs, plus a cover of "She's Leaving Home". This attracted attention from The Beatles themselves, most famously when Lennon and [=McCartney=] cited Nilsson as their "favorite band" in the press conference announcing the formation of Apple Records. He covered "Mother Nature's Son" on ''Harry'' (the original may well have been influenced by Nilsson in the first place), and did a version of "Blackbird" around the same time that wouldn't be released for several decades. He hung out with Ringo and John constantly in the early 1970s. Ringo played drums on a few Nilsson sessions. John produced ''Pussy Cats''. Harry starred in the Apple Films production ''Son of Dracula''. He covered George's "That Is All". John's murder led Harry to become a gun control advocate, and he made a few appearances at Beatles fan conventions in the 1980s.

* PunBasedTitle: ''Duit on Mon Dei'' is a riff on the motto of the British Monarchy, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieu_et_mon_droit "Dieu et mon droit"]]. Apparently this began as an inside joke among TheBeatles during the Apple Corps era, then Ringo put it on the cover of his ''Ringo'' album.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: George Aliceson Tipton was Nilsson's arranger up until ''Nilsson Schmilsson'', when he abruptly quit after recordng just one song. More than just an arranger, though, Tipton was a musical mentor and cohort for Nilsson (more than one person has compared the Nilsson/Tipton partnership to George Martin and TheBeatles). Up to his death in 2016 Tipton steadfastly refused to discuss his work with Nilsson or why they split up. The best guess is that there was some dispute over credits and money, plus Nilsson's dissolute lifestyle making him harder to work with.

* ThisIsASong: "How to Write a Song"

* WeUsedToBeFriends: George Aliceson Tipton was Nilsson's arranger up until ''Nilsson Schmilsson'', when he abruptly quit after recordng just one song. More than just an arranger, though, Tipton was a musical mentor and cohort for Nilsson (more than one person has compared the Nilsson/Tipton partnership to George Martin and TheBeatles). To this day Tipton steadfastly refuses to discuss his work with Nilsson or why they split up. The best guess is that there was some dispute over credits and money, plus Nilsson's dissolute lifestyle making him harder to work with.

* NonActorVehicle: ''Son of Dracula''. The consensus is that Nilsson actually acquitted himself fairly well as an actor and is the ''only'' worthwhile thing in the whole movie.

** He wrote and recorded an original Christmas song called "Give, Love, Joy" for the ''[[{{ComicStrip/Ziggy}} Ziggy's Gift]]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBLWCsI4ig8 TV special]] in 1982. Six years later he contributed a few brief cover versions of holiday standards to an [[http://www.nilssonschmilsson.com/page-the-presence-of-christmas-dove-cd.html audiobook anthology]] of various stories called ''[[PunBasedTitle The Presence of Christmas]]''. It's ultra-rare and those who've heard it don't have much good to say about. One {{Creator/Amazon}} calls it [[SoBadItsHorrible "so bad it's almost embarrassing".]]

** He wrote and recorded an original Christmas song called "Give, Love, Joy" for the [[{{ComicStrip/Ziggy}} ''Ziggy's Gift'']] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBLWCsI4ig8 TV special]] in 1982. Six years later he contributed a few brief cover versions of holiday standards to an [[http://www.nilssonschmilsson.com/page-the-presence-of-christmas-dove-cd.html audiobook anthology]] of various stories called ''[[PunBasedTitle The Presence of Christmas]]''. It's ultra-rare and those who've heard it don't have much good to say about. One {{Creator/Amazon}} calls it [[SoBadItsHorrible "so bad it's almost embarrassing".]]

** He wrote and recorded an original Christmas song called "Give, Love, Joy" for the [[ComicStrip/Ziggy ''Ziggy's Gift'']] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBLWCsI4ig8 TV special]] in 1982. Six years later he contributed a few brief cover versions of holiday standards to an [[http://www.nilssonschmilsson.com/page-the-presence-of-christmas-dove-cd.html audiobook anthology]] of various stories called [[PunBasedTitle ''The Presence of Christmas'']]. It's ultra-rare and those who've heard it say it's a bit disappointing. One of the reviews on {{Creator/Amazon}} says it's [[SoBadItsHorrible "so bad it's almost embarrassing".]]

'''Harry Edward Nilsson III''' (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as simply '''Nilsson''', was an American [[SingerSongwriter singer/songwriter]] with a versatile voice that boasted multiple octaves in its prime. An idiosyncratic, savvy composer with a unique flair for CloudCuckooland-ishness, his career saw him going from clean-cut baroque pop prodigy to scruffy, carousing pop-rocker. Rather uniquely for the period, he was a ReclusiveArtist who seldom, if ever, performed live, his career sustained by little else than his recorded output.

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Nilsson's death didn't get much notice beyond the standard celebrity obituaries in 1994[[note]]It didn't help that a 6.7 earthquake hit the LA area two days later, dominating news coverage. The joke among his friends was that it was actually Harry throwing a fit after learning there were no bars in Heaven.[[/note]]. Understandable, since he hadn't released an album in over 13 years. At that point he was mainly remembered for a handful of hits and as John Lennon's "Lost Weekend" drinking buddy. Since then a confluence of factors helped rejuvenate his reputation: several Nilsson songs featured prominently in movies, a small but enthusiastic fandom, websites devoted to his work, a well-executed remaster and reissue campaign by RCA, the acclaimed documentary ''Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?)'' and biography ''Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter'' by Alyn Shipton, plus the enduring popularity of ''WesternAnimation/ThePoint''.

** Even worse, his mother tried to protect his feelings by telling him that his father died heroically in World War II. After gaining notice as a singer, he learned that his dad was alive and well and was remarried with children.

!!"Put the tropes in the coconut and call me in the morning."

!!Tropes associated with Harry Nilsson:

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Nilsson's death didn't get much notice beyond the standard celebrity obituaries in 1994[[note]]It didn't help that a 6.7 earthquake hit the LA area two days later, dominating news coverage. The joke among his friends was that it was actually Harry throwing a fit after learning there were no bars in Heaven.[[/note]]. Understandable, since he hadn't released an album in over 13 years. At that point he was mainly remembered for a handful of hits and as John Lennon's "Lost Weekend" drinking buddy. Since then a confluence of factors helped rejuvenate his reputation: several Nilsson songs featured prominently in movies, a small but enthusiastic fandom, websites devoted to his work, a well-executed remaster and reissue campaign by RCA, the acclaimed documentary ''Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?)'' and biography ''Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter'' by Alyn Shipton, plus the enduring popularity of ''ThePoint''.

* PopStarComposer: Of ''ThePoint'' and ''Film/{{Popeye}}''.

* ''Pussy Cats'' [with JohnLennon] (1974)

* CoverAlbum: ''Nilsson Sings Newman''. ''...That's The Way It Is'' (all but two songs are covers), ''Pussy Cats'' (five of ten) and ''Pandemonium Shadow Show'' (six of twelve) come close.