Nilsson - C or D?

The rainbow beard bloke, wasn't he Sharon Osbourne's helper on X-Factor?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8CL23Xl5yo

would shoot ball with

yeah that was interesting -- got the feeling that van dyke really believed that nilsson's gift was as a musician, not as a lobbyist. which is probably otm. webb not even being able to discuss harry's voice problems was a little strange, just since webb seemed so even-keeled throughout the rest of the interviews, but i guess it was a big deal to him.
--tylerw

Watched it again w my wife last night -- and I think that's right. First time around, I was struck by the fact that he seemed like a dick for most of the first half -- firing his producer from his first few records by telegram, dumping his wife and kid and generally carrying on like an asshole. Watching a second time I was struck by what a shitty childhood he had and how it clearly haunted him until he died -- at least until his third wife straightened him out a bit. I thought her point that he lived as if he knew it wouldn't be for very long was interesting.

The first son's scenes were heartbreaking though. After Harry walked out on him just like the damage his father gave him...then to find happiness with a new family and for the first son to experience that.

yeah sort of rough when one of his daughters was like "i didn't even know [the previous family] existed"

i couldnt quite parse the particularities of the 'abandonment' - its seemed like he just got divorced from the 1st kids mom - they were all he abandoned us but then there was tons of stories of them hanging out at seemingly all ages - seemed like he was more generally absent and neglectful than left one day to by cigarettes on the bad dad scale

kinda imagine it was more like he disappeared from his first family's life in the 70s, and maybe reconnected with the son in the 80s, though, yeah not entirely clear in the doc.

i'm torn between being glad there's a harry nilsson doc and disappointed that now someone who can actually tell his story coherently probably won't bother

It seemed pretty clear to me that he left the first wife and never saw the first son again really until the first son was an adult, when they hung out for 1 weekend. I don't remember any stories of them hanging out at all ages.

no one's written a bio, have they?

The first son's scenes were heartbreaking though. After Harry walked out on him just like the damage his father gave him...then to find happiness with a new family and for the first son to experience that.

see also: harry's good friend john lennon.

no one's written a bio, have they?

I've been trying to get my friend, who's a writer and the biggest Nilsson fan I know, to do this, but so far efforts have proved futile.

My sort of hope is that Curtis Armstrong (of Revenge of the Nerds/"Booger" fame), who has sort of emerged as the world's leading Nilssonologist with his liner notes and so forth, will write a proper bio.

wait waht

lol that's weird. why wasn't booger interviewed for the doc?!

fuck a bio i want booger to make biopic

Owen Wilson as Nilsson

booger can at least play old Nilsson in the hospital

Whoa, Curtis Armstrong is on some odd obssessing deal. My dad happens to know him because of their shared interest in all things involving Sherlock Holmes!

lol that's weird. why wasn't booger interviewed for the doc?!
--tylerw

Dunno. He is thanked in the credits tho.

"Who Done It?" is weird and wonderful.

this was pretty good, usual failings of low-budget rock docs aside

Owen Wilson as Nilsson

― assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, January 7, 2011 6:33 PM (2 months ago)

C'mon, Owen can't sing. Glen Hansard might be good fit, that is, if he could stop trying so hard to impress.

btw does anyone know what the deal is with this Midnight Cowboy song that Joni apparently wrote for the movie?

this was pretty good, usual failings of low-budget rock docs aside
Yeah, I don't think it failed on that much. For an obsessive like myself, there was a lot to chew on there.

btw does anyone know what the deal is with this Midnight Cowboy song that Joni apparently wrote for the movie?

Not totally sure. Thing is, I'm not sure she "wrote it for the movie" as Dylan's song is "Lay Lady Lay" which, IIRC, he had written well before Midnight Cowboy.

i think they asked dylan to write a song for the movie and he said yes, but he took to long to deliver "lay lady lay" to the filmmakers. or something. dunno about joni's song.

has the doc been shown in US cinemas or was it on TV?

it's on netflix watch instantly...

ah is that free? (netflix virgin here)

I rented a DVD. and yeah I don't think it failed that much it's just like... eh y'know ooh more talking heads and photo-montages! which is what most rock docs are composed of, especially when the subject is dead.

netflix instant is free ... if you have a netflix subscription.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dswVK5si45M&feature=related

"someday in combat it might save your life"

Got the doc dvd in my latest batch of Borders clearance stuff. Finished w/the film a little while ago, haven't dug into the xtras yet, but noticed some missing things:

-His apprenticeship w/Spector. Admittedly Phil probably wasn't available, and perhaps the filmmakers felt the craziness quota was already filled.

-The late 70s records were only briefly touched upon. There's a good story about he tried to appease RCA w/That's The Way It Is and when it failed Harry sort of got his shit together and made Knnillsson only to see it more or less go OOP right away when Elvis died and RCA switched all their plants over to pressing Elvis albums and singles. That action became a severe bone of contention between them and helped finish Harry off at the label.

-No mention of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (aside from "Best Friend" soundtracking the Ringo montage).

But on the whole I guess it was okay, despite the flaws (the death thing was seriously WTF? Almost like the filmmakers figured the viewer already knew the real story). Seemed like a long ep of "Behind The Music" or (better still) "American Masters"--not necessarily something you'd shell 10 bucks for to see at a theatre.

Would love to see a comp of those BBC specials with those album ads thrown in in the extras. And it was cool to hear one of the Popeye demos on the soundtrack (how great is that segment of Van Dyke where he just plays the song on the piano?).

The whole Mark Hudson discussion reminded me of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngIxuGOVGeQ

hahahahaha

for the love of Harry says the Skidoo! dvd is coming (for real this time) in July. And amazon has it.

OK, so Bob Stanley had a screening of the documentary in Camden on Sat'day afternon and three men and a dog (possibly Arrow) showed up, eventually they let me and few other people (i.e. like proper Harry Nilsson fans) in for nothing. Of course if it had been about Nick Drake or Jeff Buckley or someone they'd have been queues round the block. Re: the film, felt sad for Rick Jarrard that Harry dumped him, but more fool Harry because he did his best work with Jarrard + George Tipton IMO.

Hey, in one of the deleted scenes, they actually explain Rainbow Beard's significance to the story-he produced Harry's last sessions at his home studio. There's pix too, AND RAINBOW BEARD LOOKED LIKE A REGULAR OLD ROCKER DUDE. WHAT POSSESSED HIM SINCE THEN TO GO FULL RAINBOW?

-His apprenticeship w/Spector.

yeah I thought this was a weird omission too. I wouldn't expect them to get Spector on film or anything, but to not even mention it seemed sort of odd.

wow where was this Bob Stanley screening? is it out on DVD yet? was it on telly in the States?

(xp) Talking of weird omissions, the fact that Harry's mother was a songwriter too would seem worthy of comment - after all, he did cover two of her songs on his albums!

woah, totally - didn't know that. Would have helped smooth over the film's transition from poverished gutter kid to writer of Stephen Foster melodies.

Indeed, she wrote, or at least partly wrote, "Little Cowboy" and "Marchin' Down Broadway" (latter seem obvious once you know)

you know I really don't get Nilsson - everyone says he's such a genius. To me every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb

This is only a problem if it makes you feel inferior somehow. If not, there are 90-bajillion other things to listen to.

every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb
exactly! sort of!

You gotta find the shit with the dopest arrangements. I suggest reviewing the soundtrack to "The Point" on headphones.

He has the most beautiful voice. He's like the male Karen Carpenter.

whole bbc doc is on youtube

here's part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaHWCPFP04o