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

Great news!

Wonder if the DVD will include a broadcast-quality version of "Did Somebody Drop His Mouse?" as a bonus feature. It's an engaging, extensive view of Harry in action making his greatest record IMO, Son Of Schmilsson.

 

Thanks for the update

Looking forward to watching this.

 

+1

 

That would be cool. I've never heard of it.
SOS is definitely his best 70's album for me.

 

Yeesh, finally. i've been chomping at the bit for years on this one!

 

Fabulous news. I'm just wild about Harry, as the song goes. Been waiting forever, and he deserves to be rediscovered more than anyone I can think of. Wonder if it will just play in art-film houses, though, for a limited run.

 

I'm still surprised that the Scott Walker documentary (also from 2006) got a distributor before this did. Very glad this is being released, though. Will buy a copy as soon as it's out. Looking forward to seeing it.

Long live Harry!

 

Sounds like a great Christmas present to me.

 

The Scott Walker doc had backing from Bowie as exec producer, which is probably why it found distribution.

 

I hope it's a lot better than the Scott Walker doc...

 

Impossible. The Scott Walker doc is excellent.

 

One could sure do worse than pick up this Australian 3-cd release.
One of my treasured possessions.

http://www.amazon.com/Legendary-Harry-Nilsson/dp/B000051XPY

 

His original RCA vinyl sells like crazy in my store.
I have as hard a time keeping him in stock as I do T. Rex or the Velvet Underground.
Go figure!

 

What's to figure? He's better than either T Rex or Velvet Underground. A lot of his catalog isn't currently in print on CD in the U.S. Not surprising at all...

 

Great singer/songwriter, with a wide vocal range. He also had a great sense of humor that could be found in a lot of his lyrics, upon closer examination. As popular as he got, he was extremely overlooked.
Hey, in the early seventies, a friend of mine said he past the Hollywood Paladium where Harry Nillson's name was gracing the Marquee, did he ever perform live?

 

Generally not, but I read that he performed live in Central Park with John Lennon once, I think after John had produced Nilsson's Pussycats album, or when they were hanging out during John's "Lost Weekend" period.

 

If you say so. I thought it was a major disappointment. Starts with the premise "Scott Walker is a genius" (not backed up in the documentary, though I know the music and the public story, so I can overlook that) and then proceeds to flit around the edges without ever really providing much insight into the most interesting story, which is why he seemed to go off the rails.

The much heralded participation by Walker did not, in my opinion, result in a very big payoff.

 

Any new Nilsson is good Nilsson. About time. RCA, or whoever owns them now, should be ashamed of themselves for the way they've treated his work.

He was one of the greats. Absolutely unique.

 

AGreed on the doc and especially on that album.

 

Not exactly...there was some kind of March Of Dimes event,held in Central Park.John & Harry were there,on the stage.John said a few words to the crowd,I don't Harry said anything.But they were just THERE,they didn't perform.(There is a few minutes of film footage,both silent Super8mm & raw news footage.--It MAY be on YouTube...)

 

Sounds to me like you were hoping for a more tabloid approach. Me, I want analysis of the message in the music, which the Walker doc delivers in spades.

That's also what I would want in the Nilsson doc--his music as the real focus, not the "lost weekend" schtoff that is already well covered in lots of Lennon bios.

 

I wish those Nilsson rarities include his version of Margo Guryan's composition "Think Of Rain."

Regarding the Nilsson documenary, I am looking forward to get a copy of this on DVD or Blu-ray.

 

If I want to know about the message in the music, I'll listen to the music. I can figure out the messages myself. I don't need someone telling me how brilliant the songs are. I want to know more about Walker the man, the motivations behind his career decisions, or at least about his creative process. I got precious little info of this type.

 

I've never even heard of that film before. What was it made for? Promotion?