Everybody’s Talkin’: About Harry Nilsson

Harry Nilsson is my favorite singer of all time. He was also a great piano player and brilliant all around musician. But his VOICE, and amazing vocal abilities, I think, are unequaled. Harry was a troubled, perhaps devilish guy with the absolute voice of an angel. This documentary is a must see!

About Who is Harry Nilsson (and Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)

From the December 14, 2005 Press Release from The Lippin Group, the producers:

On the heels of their Grammy nomination for Beautiful Dreamer: The Story of Brian Wilson and Smile, LSL production announced today they are in production on Who is Harry Nilsson (and Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?), a feature documentary on the brilliant, but eccentric, late singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson…”

[The film made its world premiere at the 2006 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.]

Nilsson was on top of the world in the early 70s. Courted by the elite of popular music and film (he became best friends with the Beatles and Ringo was his best man), he was riding the crest of a remarkable wave of success. Yet, in just a few short years his glorious voice would be in tatters, his health ruined and he would be without a record contract.

“…The film will feature interviews with many of Nilsson’s close friends and musical peers, including Micky Dolenz, Eric Idle, Randy Newman, Yoko Ono, The Smothers Brothers, Robin Williams, and Brian Wilson, among others. [The film also features] over 60 Nilsson songs, original recordings, never-before seen home movies and archival clips, unfinished documentary footage and rare performance clips to paint a fascinating portrait of this extraordinary artist.

“We are passionate about telling the real stories of legendary artists and their work,” said [co-producer David] Leaf. “Through our films we are committed to celebrating these remarkable performers’ legacies, while at the same time, putting their art into the context of their life and times. Harry was a musical genius and we are proud to bring his complicated, triumphant and tragic story to life.”

“Nilsson was blessed with astonishing talent, yet was a tortured soul,” said [writer-director-co-producer John] Scheinfeld. “the people who knew and loved Harry describe him as gregarious, shy, reclusive, wild, endlessly fun, a complete lunatic, a sonofabitch and a pussycat. He was also a party animal who could drink John Lennon and Keith Moon under the table, and yet was also a devoted husband and father. As I embarked on this project, I found he was all of these things and much more. He’s a fascinating, complex character that unfortunately left this world much too soon.”

Gifted with a remarkable three-and-a-half octave range, Nilsson won two Grammys and many Gold records, yet never cut his music to fit mainstream fashion. The public will recall “Everybody’s Talkin'” from the classic film, Midnight Cowboy…or as teenagers, fallen in love to “Without You”… or tapped their feet to the quirky and infectious “Coconut” (“Put de lime in de coconut and drink ’em both up…”)…or cranked up the speakers to the hair-raiding rocker, “Jump Into The Fire”…or sung along to the whimsical “Me and My Arrow” from Harry’s animated film, The Point!” They may even bask in a warm nostalgic glow every time they hear “Best Friend,” the theme song from the 60’s TV comedy, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. But few ever imagined that one man was responsible for these wildly disparate recordings.

Ultimately, the tantalizing question — Who is Harry Nilsson (and Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) — will be partially answered by Harry himself. Excerpts from his recently discovered oral autobiography will be seamlessly incorporated into the film, allowing Harry to tell his remarkable story in his own voice.

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More About the Enigmatic Harry Nilsson

As Richie Unterberger has pointed out in his article on Harry Nilsson for Allmusic.com, the irony of Harry Nilsson’s music legacy is that, although he was primarily identified as a singer-songwriter, his greatest successes came from covering the songs of other writers.

Even the #1 smash “Without You,” from his biggest selling album, 1971’s Nilsson Schmilsson, was written by his comtemporaries Pete Ham and Tom Evans from Badfinger (whose lives both ended tragically).

Nilsson is also closely identified with “Everybody’s Talkin’,” from the 1969 cult-classic movie Midnight Cowboy starring a young Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Nilsson’s recording of the song was also featured in the controversial 2007 feature film, Borat.

But “Everybody’s Talkin'” was written by another folksy singer-songwriter from the 60s, Fred Neil.

And he devoted an entire album to the songs of Randy Newman, 1969’s Nilsson Sings Newman.

Nilsson did write some enduring songs, no doubt; “Coconut” and “Jump Into The Fire” are rock classics, and “One” (“is the loneliest number”) helped make and sustain the successful career of Three Dog Night.

But among musicians, likely Harry Nilsson will always be first thought of as a SINGER. Possessing an enormous range, the texture and sweep of his voice are unmistakable and inimitable.

There’s a reason why so many sensational singers have covered “Without You” — including Air Supply, pop diva Mariah Carey and recently, even American Idol phenom Clay Aiken — Harry Nilsson was simply one of the greatest singers ever to appear on the pop music scene.

Everybody may be talking about his unpredictable antics, his cover song hits and his impressive peer group, but when it comes to naturally pure singers, throw Harry Nilsson into the conversation. Now you’re talkin’.

Nilsson won Grammy Awards (Best Contemporary Vocal Performance Male), for “Everybody’s Talkin'” in 1969 and again for “Without You” in 1972.