the Nilsson thread
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There's probably a thread dedicated to Harry Nilsson somewhere in the 33 pages that make up this 'Band On The Run' section... but I could not find it. So I thought it was worth creating one. I'm a huge fan of his, and often have thoughts and questions related to the music, life and times of Nilsson. hopefully some of you may also. first up... please have a look at this Nilsson medley vid. around 1:30, Harry begins the second verse of Walk Right Back, and the 3rd Harry begins singing a verse in the background which I am not familiar with. Can any of you shed some light on the lyrics here?
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Well, Moonbeam and Me and my arrow.
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Now we're talking. Me and My Arrow is a total hit, Nilsson producing Nilsson. I love the electro ticka ticka ticka ticka behind the beat. always wondered, is that a keyboard?
so anyone know that lyric in Walk Right Back? is it something Nilsson made up? -
----e---------------------- ----B--1------------1---- ----G-----3------------3-- ----D---------2---------- ----A-3------------------ ----E-------------3------- Great riff, great song.
you drink em both up! -
I've always been a big fan as well. EVERYBODY'S TALKIN' AT ME remains one of my all-time fave songs to sing and play on guitar. That gorgeous melody and those incredibly poignant lyrics grab me everytime I hear it!!!
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Claudia611:
I've always been a big fan as well. EVERYBODY'S TALKIN' AT ME remains one of my all-time fave songs to sing and play on guitar. That gorgeous melody and those incredibly poignant lyrics grab me everytime I hear it!!!
: yeah that's a great tune and he sung it extraordinarily well. with all his great music that's still probably my fav. his voice was just so good. He could accent and add feeling to certain words, right? each word sung with precision. it would be nice to be a great singer
he took home the grammy for that one, and also made it onto the Forest Gump soundtrack. which I own for some reason... 
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You are right, kapoo. He had a real depth to him that was conveyed through his unique singing inflections, which were very moving...especially in the song EVERYBODY'S TALKIN'! Had to have a listen.....ENJOY!
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Poor bloke he was a nice fella George had some special moments with him
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nowords:
Poor bloke he was a nice fella George had some special moments with him
you know, I have never been able to find much detail on the Nilsson/Harrison (or Harrysong as Nilsson coined him) collaboration on 'You're Breaking My Heart', or on them hanging out apart from that session. Do you know of any good stories there? would love to hear. Here's one I read a while ago, pertaining to Harry and producer Richard Perry during the Son of Schmilsson sessions. These guys never cease to crack me up: At the end of the Son of Schmilsson album Richard Perry says "Goodbye, Harry" to which Harry replies, "See ya next album, Richard." According to Nilsson expert, Curtis Armstrong, this was something of an inside joke: during the "I'd Rather Be Dead" sessions Harry and Richard brought in the Stepney and Pinner Choir #6, a group of senior citizens, to sing on the track. The day turned into something of a party for everyone. At one point, Harry and Richard were up in the booth listening to a playback with Klaus Voormann when they heard a weird sound on the recording. They played it back over and over trying to determine what it was. Finally, Voormann, who Harry claimed has ears like no one else on earth, said it sounded to him like a wooden leg creaking. This put Harry and Richard into a bit of a bind, as they were a little embarrassed about asking a roomful of pensioners if any of them had a wooden leg. But there seemed to be little choice as the clock was ticking on the session which had already gone on for hours. Richard, very apologetically, asked if there was anyone in the room with a wooden leg. "I 'ave!" said one. So they asked him to please try and keep still while the tape was rolling. At the end of the session, as the Choir were headed out for the bus and saying their goodbyes, the fellow with the wooden leg tipped his cap to Harry and Richard and said, "Well, see ya next album!" "Songs come differently each time, each album is unique. In Africa, the year before last, I wrote the Schmilsson album in a month and a half. I was never that prolific before and probably never will be again. There was no telephone going off. There were elephants outside. I took out a notebook and a pen and wow! all of a sudden I started writing lyrics and melodies without being near a piano or guitar or anything." -- Harry
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kapoo:
okay so I was just told that the vampire album picture from Son of Schmilsson was taken at George Harrison's house! that's pretty sweet. here's another Nilsson vid, when he was on Playboy After Dark. I think it's pretty funny how at around the 3:15 mark he bullshits Hef about the GOD anagram in Good Old Desk.. I think Hef buys it which sort of makes it awkward
after drink drink I always break glass
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was listening to Mucho Mungo/Mt. Elga and I really love the bass line. it's got the whole feel of the song down right from the first beat. I believe that was Klaus, sweet work there Klaus. And Ringo on drums! wonder why John opted not to sing on it with Harry? go PussyCats
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I'm a huge fan of Harry's. I love his version of "Mother Nature's Son" (a rare example of a Beatles cover I actually like), but there are so many of his songs which deserve a wider audience than they currently get, like "Mournin' Glory Story" and "Rainmaker", as well as his album full of Randy Newman covers, or "A Little Schmilsson In The Night" where Harry covers some of the greatest songwriters of the 30s/40s. He has a phenomenal voice and there's nothing of his which isn't worth checking out. Strangely enough, perhaps my least favourite album of mine is "Pussy Cats", the one produced by John Lennon. His voice really doesn't sound as good as it used to at that point.
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I definitely agree he was phenomonal, and I'd have to say I agree about PussyCats. It's amazing that record got released at all, with how bad Harry's voice sounded. the main reason you listen to Harry is for the vocals, and that was just taken out of the picture completely. I read a quote from Elton John who claimed to have dropped by the PC sessions and watched as Harry sang and spit blood due to hemoraging from coke intake. damn bro.. the Toot n a Snore recording is just an extension of that whole thing, shows you where John was with that as well. But in the end, what I like, is what you're left with is sort of a birdseye view of Harry and John's taste in music at the time, great musicians (Moon, Ringo, Klaus) and some oddball production from JL. Lennon doing Nilsson a solid at that point in his career. I mean did Lennon ever produce anyone other than himself, the Beatles and Nilsson? I don't have the link but I read about how John and Ringo talked RCA into renewing Harry's contract, I think in 1974? good dudes those ex-Beatles! I'll try to find that link, would fit nicely here...
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here's a blurb I just found at this site http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/harry_nilsson/biography.php 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 wouldn't be interested if Nilsson were no longer with the label. RCA took the hint and re-signed Nilsson (adding a completion bonus clause, to apply to each new album), but neither Lennon nor Starr switched to RCA. Lennon throwing his weight around
..on another note, while I was surfing the web I happened upon this site http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/ ..could be older news, not sure.. but man would I love to hear those tapes. anyone heard them? the sites not that great so here's the blurb of interest: Two reel to reel tapes of John Lennon and Harry Nilsson jamming on the oldies during the Pussy Cats sessions are currently up for auction at Bonhams in June. The auction house estimates the value of the tapes at $40,000-45,000 (...guess they're not used to hearing Lennon's live jams). The tapes feature Lennon on guitar & vocals, Nilsson on drums & vocals and Simon & Garfunkel, all rehearsing at the Record Plant in NYC for approximately 95 minutes. According to a source who has heard some of the tapes, Nilsson is heard saying "goodbye Paul" and "stick around Artie" at one point. The source goes on to say that both Lennon & Nilsson "have had too much to drink." Also confirmed is that the tapes are not the god-awful Toot And A Snore session tapes featuring Lennon, Paul McCartney, Nilsson and Stevie Wonder. -
Here's a photo I took of Harry playing drums with Liverpool, at a 1982 Beatlefest.
Here's his business card from the late 1980's. 
He was a cool guy and from what I understand, Ringo was there to help him financially when Harry's accountant cleaned him out. I still have the "Coalition to End Handgun Violence" items Harry personally gave to me. -
nice SillyLoveSongs! awesome pic, and amazing that you have his business card! that would be one of my most prized posessions. so cool you rubbed shoulders with such a character. so did he just give it to you so you had his phone number, in case you ever felt like calling him up to hang out (or make a movie)? there were some crazy goings on during his waning years. was it ever release how much money his personal assistant stole from him? I heard this person never disclosed the location of the money. what does that even mean, did she have it all in cash somewhere?! I would have thought the ycould track down a bank account. anyone have any details on the hiest or resolution? so did that pretty much bankrupt Hawkeye? I remember hearing about a movie he produced and co-wrote called the Telephone, with Whoopie Goldberg. I just cant bring myself to actually watch it
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Well thanks for making this dedicated Nilsson thread kapoo. Glad you like the pic and biz card - I'll dig out some more images along the way. We did exchange phone calls a few times and somewhere I have a message from him to me on a cassette. The last time I saw Harry was '89 I think. To be honest, I don't know many details of that whole mess which turned up in the early 1990's. I learned bits about it after Harry's passing. I felt so bad for Una and their kids. Oh yeah, 'Telephone.' I may have seen it but to be honest, I don't remember it. Sorry Whoopie. Harry had some fun stories but I can't really share them. No no no, well, no.
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man, I'm sure I'd be thoroughly entertained by your stories of Nilsson
I'm still loving that business card. so its 3:15am and I'm awake tending to my 1 month old son.. but I have Nilsson Schmilsson playing softly on the turn table right now. Just heard Down. That song is just the shot of pure energy I needed right about now. great brass arrangement on that. I love the phrase the horns repeat at the end. 
wa wana wa wa wana wa wa wana wa wa wana wa wawa wawa.. there's my scat rendition and another clever lyric from Harry. and what a vocal. down you got it goin going round you got it goin down goin down down down -
I wish I could tell you who the photographer of this fantastic photo is but unfortunately, I do not know off hand. One thing Harry had asked of me when he had learned that I was into photography, was to make some copies of his pictures. This is one of my favourites and it must have been a great moment to have been present. The photo was taken inside the offices of the Capitol Records tower, in Hollywood. It may have been 1973 when Harry joined Ringo on top of the tower in the promotional film for 'Only You.'
[Click for larger pic.[/color">](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/SillyLoveSongs/harryringo1.jpg]<span style=) -
thats a great pic! rock stars having a ball. Moon seems to have that expression on his face in a lot of the picturs I see, just rip roarin! I love their version of Only You. one of my fav all time tracks from Ringo. do you know the identity of the other two guys in the shot? I wonder if that pic was taken at the pre-party to the Only You video shoot? because Harry and Ringo look like they just might have been lit up in that video
