"..Always looks you in the eye.
Everybody passing by will sigh...
...For Harry!"
Those were the opening lines of a little song composed in tribute to Harry Nilsson by his very good friend, and Monty Python star, Eric Idle. Having recorded it, with singer Charlie Dore, Eric sent it to Harry...only to have it used as the opening track...on Harry's next (and final) LP!
That album, 'Flash Harry' was released in 1980 - the same year, of course, as the last album from another of Harry's great friends, John Lennon...yet Harry was to outlive his Beatle-buddy by 14 years.
Despite that it was sixteen years ago today that Harry Nilsson passed away - his death virtually coinciding with the Northridge earthquake in LA (and I tried very hard not to mention Marianne Faithfull at this point...). That voice - that lent its youthful tenor to "Everybody's Talkin'", reached its mature peak in the Schmilsson era with "Without You", "Remember" and the wonderful, Gordon Jenkins arranged, "A Little Touch..." album of standards and then suffered the ravages of sharing Lennon's 'Lost Weekend' and never fully recovered - was silenced by a massive heart attack just as he finished work on a comeback recording...still (to the shame of his estate) unreleased and, largely, unheard.
Harry had recorded in the intervening years, of course...a Beatlefest single to raise funds for the 'Campaign to End Handgun Violence' in honour of John, a whole (unreleased) album of covers of songs by Yoko, three of which appeared on her "Every man Has a Woman..." album, various film themes and songs (including a new recording for 'The Fisher King"), contributions to various Disney compilations...quite a lot, in fact...but never a new, complete album.
Harry was never a 'fashionable' pop star...he'd have thought the very idea preposterous! Even the millions who, still today, hum along (out of tune?*) to his best known 'hits' don't, in the main, know who they are humming with! But those who DO know...and there are more than a few...are the most knowledgeable, loving fans on this earth! It was lonely, growing up a Nilsson fan in England and it was not until I discovered the internet that I was finally able to find all the others who felt like me! An internet group known, informally, as Nilssonweb centred on Roger Smith's wonderful Nilsson web pages (originally on jadebox.com but now at http://www.harrynilsson.com/ ) gradually grew to be the ultimate Harry resource. An email mailing list brought together fans who over the past 15 years have become friends and where all the stories you ever wanted to hear about Nilsson and his music spread and grew like a wildfire...until all the stories were told and the emails dwindled to a meagre trickle. But, by then, we had met anyway at 'Harryfests' - gatherings of fans at Harry Nilsson conventions in LA, Ohio, Florida and London (but none since 2002...come on, somebody!)
At Harryfest 2001 (which I helped organise at London's prestigious Hotel Russell) I finally met Roger, Ha
rry's son Zak, his discographer Andrea T Sheridan and, of course, the leading Nilsson scholar of our age, Curtis Armstrong (yes, he of 'Booger' and 'Moonlighting' fame), without whom so many of the wonderful re-releases and remasters of the last 2 decades would never have happened. When I went to LA later I was welcomed into Zak's home (where I even played Harry's own piano - see left!), Curtis took me for a ride in his car just to play me a new track he'd found in the vaults. Ted Parkinson came to my home, I spent a holiday in Yorkshire with Pam Murphy...and many others I met on Nilssonweb have become (or became...RIP Dzhimmm Painton) close friends although we've moved onto other forums these days (like Facebook).Others, like Rinus from Holland, I've now lost touch with...but I guess we'll all be spinning some Nilsson today and raising a glass or two in memory of the greatest voice of all.
Thank you, Harry!
My own Nilsson pages (including the fullest reviews of the albums etc you'll find) are found at www.marcharry.com/nilssonmenu.htm*************************************************************************************
* just a reference to a Harry song (an in-joke for a few readers!) 'They always hum along, out of tune" from 'I'll Take a Tango'
