Nilsson Schmilsson, what in the holy fuck???

[EasyGo]

The Nilsson song 'Without You' - for many years I seriously thought that was the band Air Supply. It's spooky how similar AS sounds to that song!

My favorite Nilsson moment is him singing the tune 'Everybody's Talkin,' the theme from 'Midnight Cowboy.' Fuck yeah. The falsetto part on 'I won't let you lee - heeaave' is fucking incredible. What voice and breath control. That shit is solid gold rock n roll.

[xonlocust]

The Nilsson song 'Without You' - for many years I seriously thought that was the band Air Supply. It's spooky how similar AS sounds to that song!

the way i originally got turned onto Nilsson was from Bobby Conn's Llovesongs EP. he does without you and it's just amazing - then i looked at the credits and saw it was nilsson and had to track it down. what's even better is the cover for Llovesongs vinyl edition. i tried for about 20 mins for find a pic of it somewhere to no avail - but it's basically the same as the Nilsson record - with him standing in a bathrobe in front of the fridge - except on bobby conn's version, his dick is hanging out - it;s pretty hilarious. that bobby conn is funny. every other detail is exactly the same. as an aside, that llovesongs EP is awesome.

[joeysimms]

"Without You" was in my Mom's 45 collection, so that was an early early favorite. I have his first record, Pandemonium Aerial Ballet ( songs from pand. shadow show but remixed), The Point!, That's the Way Things Are, and A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night.

Awesome singer, really inspiring.

[JGriffin]

>>>>talking of Lennon,didn't they knock around together during his lost weekend?>>>>

Lennon produced Nilsson's "Pussy Cats" record during this period. (which partly explains Klaus Voorman and Ringo Starr's appearances on the record.)

[soundguy]

Wow! Dave, thanks for reminding me about this album. I must have listed to this one and Son of Schmilsson somewhere between 3 or 4 million times when they came out.

IIRC, the bass on Jump Into the Fire was played by Klaus Voorman, bassist extraordinaire and The Beatles' Revolver cover artist.

dude, its cool that he played it, but JEEEEEEEEESUS, who recorded it???? That bass sound is just ridiculous.

Jeff, I didnt get that rundgren record, I really ought to. I live in NYC, one of the worst cities on earth for record shopping. I think there is some law here where like, if its 12" and round, it cant cost less than $15. I should try to find that though, if it sucks Im gonna come after you though...

Im glad I got that bit of advice before I had to shell out $35.

dave

[Rodgre]

Didn't something bizzare happen to Nilssons body in an earthquake??, or did i dream that?...don't think so!..i suppose there's ways off finding out these things on the net.

And that double tracked vocal of his, it was so tight it sounds like one voice, now that is impressive!!

Al

"Marianne Faithfull
20th Century Blues
Marianne FaithfullDuring her tour to promote her album Twentieth Century Blues, Marianne Faithfull performed Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me".

Before singing the song, she told a tall tale. She said that Harry died having root canal work after his "teeth fucked up, which is the first thing that happens when you stop drinking and taking drugs"; then, right before the Northridge Earthquake hit, his body was moved to an L.A. funeral parlor, where he "fell down a crack in a chasm so deep he was never seen again. True story."

Of course, there is no truth to her story."

Roger

[rhythm ranch]

IIRC, the bass on Jump Into the Fire was played by Klaus Voorman, bassist extraordinaire and The Beatles' Revolver cover artist.

dude, its cool that he played it, but JEEEEEEEEESUS, who recorded it???? That bass sound is just ridiculous.

Don't know about the engineer, but I'm pretty sure Richard Perry was the producer.

[gandhabba]

I almost can't believe no one has yet mentioned Nilsson's The Point in this thread !

[Rodgre]

"Without You" was in my Mom's 45 collection, so that was an early early favorite. I have his first record, Pandemonium Aerial Ballet ( songs from pand. shadow show but remixed), The Point!, That's the Way Things Are, and A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night.

Awesome singer, really inspiring.

someone has!

me and my arrow,
Roger

[todd]

IIRC, the bass on Jump Into the Fire was played by Klaus Voorman, bassist extraordinaire and The Beatles' Revolver cover artist.

actually, klaus voorman played rhythm guitar on the track. bass was played by herbie flowers, although klaus did play bass on alot of the record. he also played on two of my favorite records of all time: yoko's "plastic ono band", and plastic ono band's "fly". and for all the assholes out there that don't get it, no, i'm not joking in the least.

The Nilsson song 'Without You' - for many years I seriously thought that was the band Air Supply. It's spooky how similar AS sounds to that song!

actually, that is a badfinger song. they recorded and released it the year before "schmilsson" on their album "no dice".

sorry to hijack the thread, just wanted to get the correct info out there and throw in a few opinions of my own. thanks for starting this one dave! and yes, the bass on "jump into the fire" is the best bass track ever!

thanks,
todd

[todd]

to follow up, i've done some searching and it seems that the belief that air supply wrote and performed "without you" is a wide spread misconception.
they never even recorded the song from what i can find in their discography! yet i've found lyrics for it crediting air supply as the writers on "fan" type sites. just another example of how credible the internet can be sometimes, i mean...look at this messageboard! just kidding guys .

thanks,
todd

[endofanera]

actually, that is a badfinger song. they recorded and released it the year before "schmilsson" on their album "no dice".

Thanks for clearing that up. Nilsson made the recording of it that everyone in the world heard, but I always preferred the Badfinger version. Dunno why.

[Rodgre]

actually, that is a badfinger song. they recorded and released it the year before "schmilsson" on their album "no dice".

Thanks for clearing that up. Nilsson made the recording of it that everyone in the world heard, but I always preferred the Badfinger version. Dunno why.

You mean Mariah Carey didn't ink that jam?!

I've been hearing people talk about Nilsson Schmilsson for a couple of years, and i have yet to really listen to it. I'm off to Goodwill! (the same Goodwill I picked up the first Emmit Rhodes LP for $.50! Now there's another great thread in the making!)

By the way, I'm a big Badfinger fan as well, but I've always preferred Harry's version of that tune. What a great heartwrencher....you know, until Mariah killed it for us.

Roger

[joeysimms]

(the same Goodwill I picked up the first Emmit Rhodes LP for $.50! Now there's another great thread in the making!)

The last time I was at the goodwill, I picked up a black label Atlantic Ray Charles LP, in very playable condition!

Time before that, I found about 10 original Peggy Lee capitol releases, in mint condition, and, a mint box set of Beethoven symphony's. Yee ha!

[kaliyuga]

My favorite Nilsson moment is him singing the tune 'Everybody's Talkin,' the theme from 'Midnight Cowboy.' Fuck yeah. The falsetto part on 'I won't let you lee - heeaave' is fucking incredible. What voice and breath control. That shit is solid gold rock n roll.

Jesus, that's a good song! Nilsson could definitely croon with the best of 'em, especially around "Son of Schmilsson" times when he started to get a bit more umm . . . unhinged. Even better though is the man who penned that tune, Fred Neil. Man, this guy was amazing - a reclusive, self-described "family man" who lived in Florida, swimming and "talking to dolphins" - incredible voice, simple, beautiful songs. He was an occasional collaborator and permanent influence on many artists during the sixties and early seventies, including Dylan, Stills, shit even Roy Orbison covered one of his songs! Roy fuckin' Orbison! I've got a vinyl copy of his self-titled 1967 release and it's one of my prized possessions. Check him out if you get a chance.

Jason