Nilsson - C or D?

Listening to "The Point" is probably the best introduction you could possibly have to this guy.

WHOA. Before opening this thread I ordered a copy of Son of Schmilsson this morning.

Listening to "The Point" is probably the best introduction you could possibly have to this guy.

Debatable

Well I think it's got the best concentration of amazing songs, and it's a really good one for showing off his vocal arrangements. "Son of Schmilsson" is pretty damn fine as well. <3 <3 <3 "The Most Beautiful World In The World". Really does dip into Beatles-level pop at a few points on that album.

It's a broad church

also just saw the doc. too much decline, not enough prime.

loved the sight of Otto Preminger in a blue hippie suit on Playboy After Dark, tho

yeah the doc tried a little too hard to cram everything into its chosen narrative and didnt really attempt to understand his music particularly past THIS GUY IS GREAT but it was p cool just for the presence of the man if nothing else

lol at everyone being all WHEN HARRY SHOWED UP AT YR DOOR U KNEW U WERE GONNA DO TONS OF DRUGS FOR DAYS ON END and then none of them actually telling the stories abt it smh

Just Say No to Harry, kids

xpost
Yeah, there were lots of moments of "Things were really crazy back then, kids", wink wink.

Also, what was the deal with dude with rainbow beard? That was probably more crazy than anything that happened in the 70s.

it was a Hudson, right?

lol at everyone being all WHEN HARRY SHOWED UP AT YR DOOR U KNEW U WERE GONNA DO TONS OF DRUGS FOR DAYS ON END and then none of them actually telling the stories abt it smh

found it really frustrating they'd spend so much time on vague shit like this when, whenever they did flesh out an anecdote, like the letter he wrote his infant son or how he won over his last wife with fruit, the details were amazing.

just gonna link to the review i wrote, since i think otherwise i'll wind up regurgitating the whole thing anyway

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/film/who-harry-nilsson-and-why-everybody-talkin-about-him

other ppl's drug stories are boring. also I think Robin Williams was being honest saying he couldn't remember most of it.

other ppl's drug stories are boring.

not as boring as repeated references to untold ones!

the flowers and melons story was p incredible

yeah picking up a 19-yo in an ice cream parlor doesnt usu work out in the long term

just give that bitch melons, melons man im tellin u

Rainbow Beard was the weirdest facial hair I've ever seen.

Agree w most ppl above, too many talking heads, too vague. I think most music docs these days make those mistakes. Even the "in depth" album-based ones are basically a series of people saying "This song is soooo good!". Mostly, I would rather have a complete compilation of archival videos. I guess this is where bootleggers step in to do the artist justice...

rainbow beard was jarringly nagl

I think the only song we heard all the way thru (in two pieces) was "Everybody's Talkin"

Have to say him marrying a nice Irish girl and having lots and lots of happy-looking kids was a good way to end a potentially really depressing life story.

if only he had made it past age 52 tho, eh

kids stay away from robin williams and youll lead a long healthy life

at least it's easier now to stay away from Lennon.

C or D: tracing a musician's downfall thru going from being John's pal to Ringo's.

lol

I did like the part of the doc where Harry describes writing "One" around a phone's busy signal.

someone seriously needs to release decent copies of those BBC specials.

the clips on youtube are amazing.

think i'm gonna watch this doc tonight since it seems to have shown up on netflix streaming.

wd've liked more Popeye music and less about the drug party on Malta

I want to see "Son of Drac"! Wtf was that? EVeryone in the docu was saying how bad it was but the footage of Harry in a vampire suit just chilling and singing Harry songs suggested it is fucking awesome.

lol at the cover Netflix has for "The Point"

http://cdn-8.nflximg.com/en_US/boxshots/gsd/60036028.jpg

ha!
i'm about halfway through the doc -- interesting stuff w/ some great footage, even if it's not the greatest filmmaking of all time. bbc stuff looks rad. you can grab it (audio/video) here: http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2007/12/bbc.html
for a guy who didn't play live, looks like he was perfectly capable of being a great performer.

and, if you must, from the same blog: http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2006/12/son-of-dracula-movie-1974.html

I want to see "Son of Drac"! Wtf was that? EVeryone in the docu was saying how bad it was but the footage of Harry in a vampire suit just chilling and singing Harry songs suggested it is fucking awesome.

― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Sunday, December 5, 2010 3:02 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^

everybody otm

Everybody's OTMin'

lol the point is a teen-made realist drama from an impoverished mtl neighbourhood

So The Point on Netflix is the original film right? It just has the wrong picture? I was worried that it was some weird remake, but now I'm going to try renting it.

Adam Bruneau OTM re LOTTERY SONG upthread, outstanding song

OOOO LOO LOO LOO LOO LOO; OOO LOO LOO LOO LOO LOO

I found VDP and Jimmy Webb's stuff very affecting. And I admired how negatively the guy was portrayed for so much of it. But yes, it did sort of beg for a slightly more in depth discussion of his music.

Re. the decline years...the footage of him recording in '75 or so with the full bar and deli buffet in the studio, catching cigarettes thrown into his mouth and so forth, made me sad I never got around to writing a proposed piece for Stylus on his post-Pussycats records. Nobody declined like Harry Nilsson.

When rainbow beard told his funeral story, and said George Harrison told him his favorite Nilsson song was "Fuck you," I think that was actually Harrison just saying "fuck you" to rainbow beard. I mean, you know, not really, but in the best world, that's what happened.

I didn't know who rainbow beard was and was frustrated throughout the movie. Then I saw him on the VH1 or whatever reality show about Rock Camp.

rainbow beard is p unsettling

Who the hell *is* rainbow beard, Mr. Selzer? others amy also answer.
Not only was his beard/clashing purple velvet suit combo appalling, he just generally seemed like an unpleasant guy.

when i watched this i thought: that guy must get beat up every day of his life.

I think about this docu all the time, tho, just for the Nilsson facts. The story about him robbing a liquor store as a kid!

Personally, I am fond of the clip showing Harry catching a cigarette in his mouth and him lighting it without missing a beat during the Duit on Mon Dei sessions.