Documentary: Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?*

Just watched this on Netflix. Incredible story.

Does anyone know where to find this version of 1941 where it's just Harry on the acoustic guitar? It sent chills up my spine. So much better than the released version. IMO.

 

Yeah, a few months ago a friend and I watched the DVD. The film is very well done.


Nilsson's story is so compelling but bittersweet...










(not sure where the acoustic "1941" came from)

 

It's from the first BBC television special. No official release, unfortunately.

 

I was there at the Grammy Museum screening & was amazed to hear Harry never toured. Perhaps, had he, he might still be alive. It seemed as if he had a whole bunch of down - non productive - time on his hands.

 

Hulu comes to the rescue, once again!:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/264096/who-is-harry-nilsson-and-why-is-everybody-talkin-about-him

 

Thanks for the heads-up. Watched it last night and though it was great. I've been a longtime Nilsson fan and loved seeing Harry up close. What a story his life was.

 

I have this on DVD. Great program.

 

Just got it today in Australia and will watch it this weekend !

 

I saw it too, and I gotta say this is a work of love.

Rarely have I seen such a good, heartwarming documentary about a musician (and I've seen a lot), that doesn't fall into hagiography territory.
I gotta say, I saw it not long after seeing Scorsese's doc about George Harrison, and I thought Who Is Harry Nilsson was the better film.
Better than Scorsese is quite a compliment coming from me.

 

...and yet another bump for Harry. Don't know if anyone else found it but here's Pt. 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cefnRiGfSZ0

This doc. also looks cool.

 

Harry deserves all the bumps you can give him. I'm glad someone found Part 1 again. It would be a great extra on the Criterion release of "Who Is...And Why Is"

 

I noticed there are two versions of this; any concensus on which is better?

 

Available with netflix too. A fine, fine movie.

I don't know a thing about different versions, but I'd like to.

 

Great movie! Sad, though...

 

Interesting documentary, and obviously a must for fans. Not very coherent in terms of tying his discography to his life, or in tracing his artistic arc after a certain point. The ultimate failure is that you already need to be convinced of his "genius" going in...But assuredly interesting and a must for fans.

 

This was a really good documentary. I should probably watch it again soon.

 

Love this film. A documentary that stays with you for a long time. And that's coming from someone who knew practically nothing about Nilsson before watching it.

 

Yeah, I don't think you have to know a lot about him or his music to love the film.

I knew his hits, a few other deep cuts, and certainly that incredible voice he had, but there was a LOT of music in the film I was totally unfamiliar with.

 

I've loved Harry for years, and I still think I've been underrating him. He is a supreme artist: a great songwriter with an even greater voice. He also seems like a man "out of time", like he was meant to be a 20s/30s songwriter but a weird cosmic anomaly happened and he ended up in the 60s/70s instead. IMHO, his best albums were those that were completely oblivious to the trends of the day.

 

I saw this last year or so on BBC4. I missed the first 10 mins or so, so had no idea what it was for a little while.

Quite interesting and once again added to my opinion that Lennon was a dick.

 

I watched the fabulous documentary "Who is Harry Nilsson and Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him" when it came out on DVD in 2010. Last night I watched it again via Netflix streaming service.

I recall that the sequence about him winning the 1972 Grammy for "Without You" included a wonderful photo of all the Grammy winners that year. They were all posed onstage holding their awards. Harry was just one among the many winners, but he looked very pleased. I think the film had a cropped, close-up of Nilsson with his award and then slowly panned out to show the entire group of winners, which was sharp and in color. It really emphasized what a high point Nilsson's career had reached at that Point (pun intended!). During last night's viewing I just saw a grainy black and white shot of him with his Grammy during that sequence -- no color photo with all the Grammy winners.

I also recall a story about Harry borrowing one of his friend's cars and driving it across the country. He eventually paid to have it shipped back to the owner but it was in far worse condition. This was an anecdote recounted by one of his friends. That story wasn't in the documentary I viewed last night, either.

Am I getting "Who's Harry Nilsson and Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him" mixed up with some other Nilsson project?

 

Is airing tonight on AXS TV at 9pm et.[just a heads up for anyone like me who hasn't seen it yet].

 

I just rented it and watched. I read the book first which is one of the better bios in the music genre. Very well written and thoroughly researched.
Nilsson's story is enthralling at first and then becomes heartbreakingly tragic. The guy was a real genius. Some refer to him as a rock artist. He clearly transcended
genre. He also had one of the most stunning voices until he committed vocal suicide and finally--just when he apparently was struggling to "come back", had a beautiful wife and gorgeous kids
(blond Corrs?!) --the family he so desperately wanted--he leaves us all. The irony is his biggest hit was written (and well recorded) by one of the only immensely talented Bands that
could rival Harry for sheer heart rending tragedy.

 

I read that they had no idea Harry had recorded it until he called them in to hear it,; supposedly, they were so awestruck they could barely find words.
Got to be an odd feeling--on the one hand, knowing you'll probably make money when it becomes a hit, but on the other hand, hearing how he took the song in a different direction. They had to still have an affinity for the way they recorded it.

 

Ringo Starr write tribute songs to him and Van Dyke Parks talks about him... love love love. He must have been an extremely cool guy to be around.