Harry Nilsson's finest (half) hour on film. Taped for England's BBC in 1971, this simple and effective set of performances has everything you could ask for when seeing the rarely seen Nilsson live - solo piano & acoustic renditions, tasteful effects, plenty of close ups, (then) unreleased music and even live overdubbing (both audio & video). Special thanks to our friend Patrick from Germany who supplied us with this excellent - now complete - 34 minute video. This live studio performance finds Harry delivering slower, more somber renditions of some of his best material up until 1971. His quietly moving take of "Life Line" is simply heartbreaking. Harry also performs as a live trio with himself on "Walk Right Back" and "Coconut," where he uses lip syncing gorillas for visuals (a nod to Ernie). He also introduces two videos from The Point! ("Think About Your Troubles" and "Are You Sleeping"). That Citizen Kane rafters clip rimshot is priceless. His second show for the BBC was just as cool, but there just isn't a more visually pleasing representation of Harry Nilsson at work than The Music Of Nilsson. Download the .avi video file and/or Chick's MP3s of the show (minus the two Point! audio/video files) HERE.
Mr. Richland's Favorite Song/One (3:47)
Gotta Get Up (2:41)
Walk Right Back/Cathy's Clown/Let The Good Times Roll (4:09)
Life Line (4:30)
Joy (3:32)
Without Her (2:08)
Coconut (4:30)
1941 (3:33)
NEW BBC VIDEO: The BBC is still sitting on the tapes, as evidenced by this official video of Harry singing "1941" (from The Music Of Nilsson, but retitled for a more current broadcast). Crystal clear image and sound, and a joy to watch. Despite the annoying not-quite factoids. This is surely Nilsson's warmest reading of "1941," and it says a lot about his above-average abilities as a live interpreter. Something Harry's fans have rarely experienced.
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11 comments:
this is un-freaking-believable!! thank you, Willard & Patrick! my hat's off to you both..
spectacular performance, flawless music, great visuals & sounds pretty great for being so rare...
WOW!!!
This is amazing stuff!
Yes, thank you so much for this and the rest of the content here.
Trever
surely the BBC must still have the masters for this? Why won't they release it on dvd? or repeat it on BBC4 sometime, they repeat everyone elses performances from around this time!!! I've only got a ropey quality dvd of this, i want quality sound! With a bonus LP of it too! Lets hold Johnathon Ross hostage until they release it!
I was worried this site was gone, or that I couldn't access it anymore.
This is definitely my favorite site in the world... This BBC special is INCREDIBLE. Nilsson was such a rare and under-appreciated artist.
Thank you for all these rarities!
Peace, Paul.
Thanks for coming back and thanks for commenting.
The last time it was aired was shortly after Harry's Death with an intro by Derek Taylor.
I am somewhat surpized to see here and elsewhere the reference to the "lip-synching gorillas" without acknowledgement of their obvious root in Ernie Kovacs' "Nairobi Trio."
Just as we see Harry doing a Stan Laurel head-scratch at the end of the "Walk Right Back" medley, we see with the gorillas another nod to a comedian Harry appreciated.
This is wonderful! I can't believe I waited so long to watch it. I agree with Matt...the BBC specials should be on DVD!
Thanks Willard. I find it inutterably
poignant to look at all the early pics of Harry with all that promise and potential. Thanks for the life-work, Harry.
The sound of joy. Harry, your music and voice are a lovely presence in my memories... Thank you...
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