Angel of Sadness

Welcome to Sarah's Musical Corner where I can shove my personal musical preferences in your face but also give you the opportunity to do the same. 

I've always loved the music of Harry Nilsson.  Maybe it's his gorgeous three and a half octave vocal range or his natural improvisational lyrical talent or his unique writing... or maybe his words just strike a nerve.  Whatever it is, Nilsson had it in abundance and squandered it with careless abandon. 

I'm not a big follower of jazz even though I recognize the skill inherent to that genre. If I had to attempt the impossible --- classifying Nilsson --- unlike John Lennon who called him a rocker, I'd have to put him in the jazz category.  

This isn't meant to be biographical - you can read a book ("Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter" by Alyn Shipton)  or just visit Wiki.  This is mostly about my impressions.

While Nilsson wrote and sang about a myriad of subjects, from the mundane to the esoteric, I will always see him as a messenger of sadness who expressed his anguish with the voice of an angel.  

But Harry was no angel or if he was, he was one possessed by demons and the demons succeeded in turning his potential into a liability.

Nilsson was also enigmatic with a career filled with irony.
Fred Neil was a folk singer in the Greenwich Village circuit His bluesy "That's the Other Side to this Live" was recorded by the Jefferson Airplane and Peter, Paul and Mary.  Neil wrote a song called "Everybody's Talking" which was recorded, with ho-hum results, by an almost unknown artist (on his third album, "Aerial Ballet" -- his first two albums, "Spotlight on Nilsson" and "Pandemonium Shadow Show" also having met only borderline success)  who went by the name Nilsson.  Shortly after, the producers of an upcoming film titled, "Midnight Cowboy" used the song as a filler or place-holder while they decided on what song to replace it with from entries which included ones by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. In the end, the producers decided Neil's song was as good as any.  The release of the film propelled Nilsson's cover into the stratosphere and ignited Nilsson's musical career.  That was the first irony -that his first success was with someone else's song. 

This song also made his previous albums more salable. 

Arguably Nilsson's greatest success was also a cover song written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of the wonderful Welsh group Badfinger. The song was "Without You."  
Badfinger did very fine job with their song:

but Nilsson's cover was as if he injected steroids into it:

So Nilsson's two greatest successes were with someone else's songs.

Conversely, (another irony) is that of all the songs he'd written, the most successful was released by someone else:

While Nilsson's own, and superior, version languished.

Nilsson, after his rise following his first sucess with "Everybody's Talking" only got better until his second success with "Without You" which was featured on his 1971 album, "Nilsson Schmilsson."   From this point on, it was all downhill.   Those demons that possessed Harry Nilsson led him on a path of hedonism and self-destruction.  His ultra-excessive cigarette habit, his constantly and continually indulged alcohol, heroin and cocaine use eroded his ability to produce great music and finally even helped destroy his unique singing talent (he also permanently damaged a vocal cord in 1974 while recording an album produced by John Lennon during which he and Lennon got into competitive screaming).  
Nilsson never, ever, performed before a live audience.  One of the remarkable testaments to his talent was that he achieved success without performing or touring.  But in September 1992, Ringo Starr convinced him to perform "Without You" on stage at Caesar's Palace. Nilsson's voice had really deteriorated by then, so Todd Rundgren helped fill in the high notes.  A few months later, February 1993, Nilsson had a massive heart attack which was the start of a downhill slide towards his death less than a year later, in January 1994.

To me, Nilsson's greatest songs were those inspired by the tragic elements of his life, such his father's abandonment of him as a child, his failed relationships and his insecurities.

Here are what I consider among his best:

This last song isn't sad at all.  it's been mentioned that Good Old Desk (GOD) was Nilsson's search for spiritual meaning.  

One other thing.... Nilsson was a master, maybe the master of over-dubbing.  One critic praised his album "Nilsson Sings Newman" but took him to task for not crediting his amazing background singers -- unaware that all the background singers were Nilsson himself.  

Thanks a lot! I have enjoyed his songs ever since I first watched Midnight Cowboy and wondered who was singing Everybody's Talkin'. There's a very intense demo of Without you on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4NO9ojQxWA) that makes every listener believe him...

"One other thing.... Nilsson was a master, maybe the master of over-dubbing.  One critic praised his album "Nilsson Sings Newman" but took him to task for not crediting his amazing background singers -- unaware that all the background singers were Nilsson himself."

One possible reason, of many, I'm sure, that he never toured.

I nearly wore out my copy of Nilsson Schmilsson in the 70s.  For some reason your spectacular posting reminded me of another not-so-well-know musician of that same era, Shawn Phillips.  I'm not implying any similarities in music or lifestyle between the two ... my brain jumps to wild associations sometimes.  Well, maybe they are similar musicians in that I nearly wore out albums from both of them.

Another incredible voice.

what the heck

what does this say 2 comments

"Everybody's Talking" had the same path to fame as another song, "One Tin Soldier" by The Original Caste, which was featured as the title song to the classic independent movie "Billy Jack".  I never knew that Nilsson never toured--that's a difficult way to fame for a musician, and no back up singers makes it even harder.  Thanks for the education, Sarah, I learn a lot from you.

So sad.....

Thanks for stopping by.  Yeah, Nilsson marched to his own drummer.  

At least he left a legacy.  Some go on forever, like Paul McCartney; others crash and burn, like Schmilsson (which, oddly, is how he often referred to himself).

hi

I've always enjoyed his variety of styles and the mental imagery he creates with songs like The Moonbeam Song . Yeah, Nilsson Schmilsson is a good album.

So sad :.(

Moonbeam is one of those songs you listen to at night with your eyes closed so you can feel yourself floating off into some dream world. 

Personally, I prefer his Pandemonium Shadow Show album, but the difference is negligible. 

Nilsson's clever tribute to the Beatles (John Lennon called him the 5th Beatle)

good stuff

Thanks for the shout out to Badfinger, a personal favorite of mine. Without You is the killer song of all time. 

great corner !

A very good documentary 

https://youtu.be/Je8g10Q3-gY