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(light airy music)

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(upbeat music)

- Oh, beautiful.

(bright lively music)

(audience applauding) (upbeat music)

- Thank you.

25 years ago, I had the good fortune

of playing a character

in a film called "Midnight Cowboy."

(audience applauding)

- I was rehearsing this speech here yesterday.

And I came in here today,

and just found out that the wonderful,

lovely, talented man who sang,

"Everybody's Talking, in that movie,

Harry Nilsson died today.

And it would seem weird

not to have an appropriate moment for him.

He was a great artist.

(audience applauding) (somber music)

♪ Everybody's talking at me ♪

♪ I don't hear a word they're saying ♪

♪ Only the echoes of my mind ♪

- Most of the time when I mention him people go, "Who?"

- When you say, Harry Nilsson,

everybody says, "No, Harry Nilsson?"

Either they get it right away, or they have no idea.

♪ Me and my arrow ♪

♪ Straighter than narrow ♪

- He brought originality to the...

I mean, no copying anybody.

- He was the closest thing to an American

version of the Beatles.

♪ I can't live ♪

♪ If living is without you ♪

- Beautiful, beautiful voice.

Soft, velvety.

- And you'd have your headphones on

and that voice would come through.

You almost couldn't play,

'cause it was so beautiful, seriously, beautiful.

- To me he was always like a fallen angel.

So there was this weird combination

of something heavenly and beatific about him,

and then just dirt (laughs)

and darkness.

♪ One ♪

♪ Is the loneliest number ♪

♪ That you'll ever do ♪

- Harry would turn up at your door,

at four o'clock in the morning,

and you kinda knew that the next three days

of your life were gonna be an adventure.

- I defer, Harry.

Man, I don't know how far you want me to go with this!

♪ You put de lime in de coconut, you drank 'em bot' up ♪

♪ Put de lime in de coconut, you drank 'em bot' up ♪

- Harry was a big bunny with really sharp teeth.

- Just the sweetest wonderful guy

that could be the nastiest son of bitch in two seconds

right after that.

- He was his own worst enemy.

I mean, just the drink and the drugs alone.

- He spent most of his life in pursuit of a good time

and he caught it,

and it caught him in the end.

(upbeat music)

(somber music)

- [Harry] I was born Harry Edward Nilsson the third,

on father's day, 1941.

(bouncy music)

♪ Well, in 1941 a happy father had a son ♪

♪ And by 1944, the father walks right out the door ♪

♪ And in '45, the mom and son were still alive ♪

♪ But who could tell in '46 if the two were to survive ♪

- It seems to me that it's pretty clear,

that Harry was profoundly disturbed

by the fact that he was abandoned by his father.

- To not have had all the conversations,

with a father that one would want

creates quite a longing heart,

and he had that.

Harry who I think really fought for legitimacy in many ways,

fought hard for.

(gentle music)

- [Harry] My mother and I lived in an upstairs apartment

with six rooms.

We lived with my grandmother, my grandfather,

two uncles, my sister when she was born.

That's the way we live.

Crowded, but busy enough not to get bored.

(light playful music)

- [Narrator] I think my mother was always sort of like,

she wasn't a stage mother or anything

but I think she herself

wanted to be a chauvinist at one time.

I think that's sort of rubbed off on me.

And when I was a little child,

they used to put me on the piano

and have me sing songs to the adults, you know.

- [Harry] I used to lay in bed when I was about 10 or 11,

in the solitude of the small, dark room in Brooklyn.

If I wasn't counting to a million

or or to infinity,

I would put a pillow over my head,

and put on a show for an invisible audience.

And now presenting, me,

doing my impression of the great Al Jolson.

And then I would mime Al Jolson,

Mammy, how I love you, now I love you

Let me ask you, Harry Nilsson, can you do James Cagney?

You dirty rat.

(indistinct) I have been Crosby

But it's amazing.

How about this guy?

(gentle upbeat music)

- One time Harry and I were both in New York

at the same time,

and he called me and asked me

if I'd like to go out

and see where he was born.

It was a highly charged emotional event for both of us.

That limousine took us out to Brooklyn.

He couldn't give the directions,

but he knew them when he got to the intersections.

And we got lower and lower through more bridges

and tunnels and dank alleys and back streets and garbage.

And finally, we got to a place with a city brick wall

and, a sign that said, "Starve a rat.

Cover your garbage."

He was shaking and weeping in the car,

because this was where he came from.

It was obvious this was a very big reconciliation for Harry,

something that he had been shelving for so long.

It was the very thing that drove him a sense of poverty.

- They had financial troubles,

that had serious repercussions.

When he was a kid,

he had to eat dog food at one point.

That's all I could afford.

- I know it was difficult for him.

I mean, his mom was an alcoholic.

She ultimately got sober

and very fascinating woman.

When you met her, you can see where Harry came from,

'cause she was like a bigger version

of Harry in a lot of ways,

that same kind of outwardness and interest.

- She did pretty much whatever she had to do to survive.

She took whateverjob she had to,

she lived where she had to.

She even had to write some checks,

that didn't always find their way

to the bank and get paid.

- But at one point they needed to rent money,

and he held up a liquor store.

I don't know if you know that story or not?

For $17, and, give me $17, you know.

He was forced to do a lot of things as a young man,

that made him I suppose, stronger.

And then we come just made him stronger,

and more self-reliant and more confident.

♪ The years went passing quickly ♪

♪ But not fast enough for him ♪

♪ So he closed his eyes till '55 ♪

♪ Then he opened them up again ♪

♪ Then when he looked around he saw a clown ♪

♪ And the clown seemed very gay ♪

♪ And he said ♪

♪ I'd like to join that circus clown and run away ♪

- My dad was like probably the only real father figure

he had, you know, 'cause he spent a few years with us

and my dad was just a regular

you know, regular dad, you know?

And it was like a stable kind of thing

in his life, you know?

And he always had fond memories of that.

- [Harry] It was 1957.

It was June, a hot June.

I lost my job as a caddy,

because of a fight

pushing and shoving, nothing bad,

but enough for the Caddy Master to fire me.

When I went home that night,

I told my aunt and uncle what had happened.

And during dinner, my uncle said,

"Skeeter, I don't know how to say this gracefully,

but I don't think we can afford you."

I didn't hesitate.

I simply said, "You won't have to worry about me any more."

I left the house feeling like Holden Caulfield,

half sad, half scared, half itching to get on the road

and start an adventure across country,

which would last me a lifetime.

I was 15.

♪ Well, he followed every railroad track ♪

♪ And every highway sign ♪

♪ And he had a girl in each new town ♪

♪ And the towns he left behind ♪

♪ And the open road was the only road he knew ♪

♪ But the color of his dream ♪

♪ Was slowly turning into blue ♪

(gentle music)

- [Randy] I moved to California,

to East LA, great improvement.

And then my best friend at the time,

we were like the poor man's Everly brothers.

We had an old tape recorder,

and we used to sing Everly type tunes.

Then we found out we were making up lyrics,

then we started adding changing melodies.

So we find out though that,

now we're writing tunes, you know.

(upbeat music)

- [Harry] I just turned 18,

and I was a dropout.

I worked at the Paramount Theatre

in Los Angeles for three years, as assistant manager.

Anyway, the cashiers were going to work for banks

and I figured since I was their boss,

and I could reconcile books,

so I went and made an application.

(light airy music)

I wasn't actually a banker.

I used to run a computer center

where 132 people were working on

what we laughingly called the swing shift, you know.

And then I supervised the handling

of about 200 million a night in cheques.

(lively upbeat music)

I'd get off work around one o'clock in the morning,

and go to the bar.

They're open until two in Los Angeles.

And drink very quickly.

I'd write songs all night.

In the daytime I'd hustle the songs.

and then go to work at the bank.

I didn't stay up every other night for seven years

but I did stay up a lot of nights.

- My partner and I were in the office

one particular day,

and Harry came in and he said,

"What are you guys doing in here?"

And I said, "Oh, we're writing

and we schmooze for a little bit."

I said, "What are you doing?'

He says, "I'm a singer,

and I'm a song writer."

And I said, "Oh great, play something,

sing one of your tunes."

♪ It's just no good anymore ♪

♪ When you walk through the door of an empty room ♪

♪ And then you go inside ♪

♪ And set a table for one ♪

♪ It's no fun when you spend a day without her ♪

♪ Do, do, do, do, do, do ♪

- I looked at my partner,

and he looked at me

and we both understood

that we were not supposed to respond the way we felt,

because if we did, we would leap up in the air

and give him the world to sign with our publishing company.

So he finished his tunes

and I said, "Gee, that's great Harry."

And I said, "Would you be interested

in a publishing arrangement?"

And he said, "Oh yeah, man, that'd be great."

I believe we paid him $50 a week,

to write for our publishing firm.

And that was heavy bread for us.

♪ Can't go on without her ♪

♪ Do, do, do, do, do,do ♪

♪ There's no song without her ♪

(crowd screaming) (bright upbeat music)

♪ Get out those disco bonnets ♪

♪ Here comes the plane with the Beatles on it ♪

♪ Look at John, Paul, George and Ringo ♪

♪ One of them's taken but three are single ♪

♪ Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar ♪

♪ All for music ♪

- [Harry] I was still working at the bank.

I hated the Beatles,

because I thought, they're beating me to the punch.

And then it was that moment when you said,

you're either with them or against them.

I decided to go for the latter

and I said "Yeah, they really are that good."

- We'd be arguing about The Beatles,

and he'd say, "The Beatles are the only band.

There's only one band.

That's the Beatles.

No one else matters."

- [Harry] See, I just assumed

that people would discover you.

That they would spot in you the talent that I knew I had.

- [Jimmy] I used to do demos, and did jingles,

and hung around with people who were in the business.

You meet one, he introduces you to a friend

who knows a songwriter,

and then knows a producer.

And then the ultimate test is when you say,

"Can I play you this?"

(bright music)

- The Monkees were recording an album called "Headquarters."

And it was the first album

that we had been allowed to choose all our own material

and record everything ourselves.

I don't remember what happened behind the scenes,

but this kid showed up, named Harry Nilsson,

with a song called "Cuddly Toy."

♪ You're not the only cuddly toy ♪

♪ That was every enjoyed by any boy ♪

♪ You're not the only choo-choo train ♪

♪ That was left out in the rain ♪

♪ The day after Santa came ♪

♪ You're not the only cherry delight ♪

♪ That was left in the night ♪

♪ And gave up without a fight ♪

♪ You're not the only cuddly toy ♪

♪ That was ever enjoyed ♪

♪ By any boy ♪

- When Davy Jones said he would record "Cuddly Toy,"

the music publisher that was there,

Lester Sill was the guy's name.

He says, we walked outside in the parking lot

and Lester said, "You can quit the bank."

(laughs)

♪ La, la, La, la, La, la, La, la, La, la, La, la ♪

- [Presenter] Ladies and gentlemen, in the center ring,

presenting Nilsson and his Shandimanium Shadow Po!

(laughs)

(lively upbeat music)

- It was difficult to find the right niche.

It wasn't until he went over to RCA

and got with Rick Jarrard.

I think that Rick Jarrard,

really played a very important part in his success.

- I felt that Harry had incredible potential,

that Harry could be a monster artist.

And frankly, I was probably the only one

that really believed that,

because he was so different.

(bright lively music)

♪ I'm leaving here this morning ♪

♪ But I don't know where I've been ♪

♪ I'm going home to take my bath ♪

♪ But I'll be back again ♪

♪ Yeah, I'm leaving here this morning ♪

♪ With a smile upon my face ♪

♪ I'm beginning to think ♪

♪ There's hope for the human race ♪

- The thing about Harry

that makes people feel good,

it's his singing.

His singing voice is very, very, very good singer.

- He's the best singer of our generation.

I mean, Harry's the best singer.

♪ Yeah, I'm leaving here this morning ♪

♪ With my eyes upon wide ♪

♪ With my eyes upon wide ♪

♪ Doo-whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo ♪

♪ whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo, whoa-doh-doh ♪

♪ Doo-whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo, whack-a-doo ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

(gentle music)

- There's always been an American music,

a guy with a beautiful voice

that the people loved McCartney had it.

It's a voice that people loved,

and Harry had one too.

- I would say it was a medical instrument, his voice,

because it would heal you.

You felt an overwhelming wave

of warmth from that voice.

♪ We spent ♪

♪ Hours ♪

♪ I sent flowers ♪

♪ We could be happy alone in a tent ♪

♪ Think of the money we'd save on rent ♪

♪ Years ago I knew a man ♪

♪ He was my mother's biggest fan ♪

♪ We used to walk beside the sea ♪

♪ And he'd tell me how life would be ♪

♪ When I grew up to be a man ♪

- Well, I think we were at least up to eight-track

by then, if not 16-track,

and he could overdub himself.

And he was so good at that.

Sang wonderful harmony lines off the top of his head.

- His voice blended great with himself,

and it just helped open up

a whole new area for us to explore.

A particular record was released,

with a lot of these over-dubs,

and a critic in reviewing the album said,

"It was a wonderful album and I love the music,

but Nilsson should have credited the background singers.

They were so great."

Not realizing the background singers were Nilsson!

(playful upbeat music)

- I remember at the time saying,

"Harry, be careful crossing the street.

Be careful just walking around,

'cause this is gonna be a big career

and we need you around."

(upbeat music)

(gentle music)

- Derek Taylor was the publicist for the Beatles.

And Derek was one of these guys,

he was very dashing,

like at Earl Flint.

I always saw Derek as Earl Flint.

And again, very, very bright, bright, witty, sophisticated.

- We were in Safeway car park on the Brea,

and I went to do some shopping

and I came out and Derek said,

"I've just just heard this incredible man singing

a song called "1941."

And he was just called Nilsson.

The next thing I knew Derek had got a dozen albums

and he sent them to everybody he knew,

including George and John and Paul

and, people in England.

Not because he represented Harry,

but just because he loved him.

- [Harry] So one day I was early,

this was five in the morning,

I got a phone call and there's this voice long distance,

Hello, hello, who is it?

"This is John."

"John who?"

It's John Lennon."

"Is this really John?"

And he says, "Yeah, I just wanted to say,

you're fantastic, man.

I been listening to you all weekend,

it's great, great, you're just fantastic."

The following Monday,

I got a phone call from Paul, "How are you?

Just calling to say you're fantastic,

you know, you're great.

I really love what you did on all that stuff, you know,

Derek played it for us, and I hope to see you soon."

Cluck.

The next Monday morning I got up, combed my hair,

five o'clock in the morning waiting for a call from Ringo.

There was no call.

(gentle serene music)

But he ended up being our best man at our wedding,

so that's okay.

- Now I would like to spend a few minutes

and talk about song construction,

which is one of the most important parts of songwriting

for any of those aspiring songwriters in the audience,

I have a few comments to make.

First of all, in construction,

I might say that you have to get to know your song.

You gotta take it apart, put it back together again,

keep it clean 'cause someday in combat

it might save your life.

And that's the risk.

(audience laughing)

- There's kind of this Stephen Foster

element to what he wrote

that was a really sweetened, sentimental.

And I think that

he balanced that out

with an edge.

- I've always thought of him as a musical poet.

And his rhyme schemes,

and his words were just out of the ordinary.

- His range of writing is very broad.

If you look at all the songs he's written,

he's written all kinds of songs, you know.

The things that he picked to write about at that time,

with subjects that most people was just writing about love.

It was almost till post-war all the writing

It was all love songs.

But Harry was pushing out alone.

♪ Sit beside the breakfast table ♪

♪ Think about your troubles ♪

♪ Pour yourself a cup of tea ♪

♪ Then think about the bubbles ♪

♪ You can take your teardrops ♪

♪ And drop them in a teacup ♪

♪ Take them down to the riverside ♪

♪ And throw them over the side ♪

♪ To be swept up by a current ♪

♪ Then taken to the ocean ♪

♪ To be eaten by some fishes ♪

- Melodically, he had a very experimental melodies,

that went from very low to very high.

It was an experimental mellitus.

- He had a gift for melody,

which is a rare

inexplicable

sort of talent to have.

I mean, people like McCartney has it,

Schubert had it, Elton John has it.

Harry had that gift.

♪ Listen to the wailing of the willow ♪

♪ Listen to me crying on my pillow ♪

♪ Crying for I know my love has gone from me ♪

- [Harry] I thought this was gonna be really easy,

'cause I just walked out of the bank,

and walked into the recording business

and suddenly I was getting phone calls

from Otto Preminger and John Lennon.

And it was just, well, that all there is to it?

Nothing to it, fantastic, I think I'll stay.

(laughs)

- He gained a lot of confidence from that first album,

a lot of confidence.

Because I think he finally realized what he could do,

and what he could be as an artist,

and still remaining honest and true to himself.

- There was always a whimsical quality to Harry,

but the thing that I loved most is the sweetness.

It was the sweetness and joy

and the sense of the world and nature,

I mean like when he writes about his desk.

You know, he brings things to life.

It had that sense of whatever he touched

or wrote about suddenly sparkled.

♪ Now my old desk never needs a rest ♪

♪ And I've never once heard it cry ♪

♪ I've never seen it tease ♪

♪ It's always there to please me from nine to five ♪

♪ Such a comfort to know ♪

♪ It's dependable and slow ♪

♪ But it's always there ♪

♪ Well, it's the one friend I've got ♪

♪ A giant of our times ♪

♪ My good old desk ♪

♪ Ooh, wah-wah, wah-wah Wah-wah-wah-wah. ♪

I just made that up.

(crowd laughing)

- "Good old desk" was G-O-D.

That was Harry's way of talking about God.

He had a lot of conflicts about all of that business

and so he wrote a song called "Good Old Desk."

And that's the way his mind worked.

And I loved that.

I thought that was just so original.

(light playful music)

- [Richard] I was dialing a telephone,

I got a busy signal and it was going beep, beep, beep, beep.

♪ One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do ♪

- [Richard] I just let it stay busy,

and just wrote it on the phone

while I was listening to this busy signal, you know.

(laughs)

♪ It's the loneliest number since the number one ♪

(light playful music)

♪ One is the loneliest number ♪

♪ One is the loneliest number ♪

♪ One is the loneliest number ♪

♪ That you'll ever do ♪

- When I heard it I thought,

this is one of the great Nilsson songs.

And later on, obviously, it became a huge hit.

So, but not by Harry, unfortunately.

But it still helped to build his credibility,

and that Nilsson mystique.

- He just came on the scene, you know,

blasted onto the scene

and he just started influencing people.

I'm sure he influenced the Beatles

as much as the Beatles influenced him.

(camera shutter clicking)

- [Randy] Well, everybody's records influence all the minds,

you know, at once.

Everything influences everything.

Nilsson is my favorite group.

♪ Dreams are nothing more than wishes ♪

♪ And a wish is just a dream you wish to come true ♪

- The Beatles endorsed Harry.

They called him their favorite group.

Harry was their favorite group.

(laughs)

I think he was quite pleased about that.

(laughs)

- They, you know, pronounced him to the world

and said, "Listen to this man."

And we did.

- I remember That's one of the first times

I've ever seen him kind of patting himself on the back,

and tooting his own horn.

He said, "You know, they think I'm like the fifth Beatle."

- [Harry] I got a phone call,

and it was from Derek Taylor.

And, Derek said, "Harry,

the lads, the boys, would like you to come over

and join them at a session,

they're recording at Abbey Road."

I thought, Jesus, this is about as good as it gets.

(light playful music)

The first night in London,

I spent at John Lennon's house.

He gives me like a hug,

and he smiled and he put me at ease instantly.

So, for some reason I thought I could say anything

in front of this man

and it would be okay.

That night we spent the entire night

with a little help from our friends,

talking, just sitting and talking,

all night, till dawn,

till seven or eight o'clock in the morning.

And John and I are on, and on, and on

about marriage, life, death, divorce, women,

what's it all about?

What are we doing?

- I think that Harry had an incredible respect for John.

He was like a fan, you know.

And John loved him too,

so it was a good kind of combination, I think.

- He said that he and John were a lot alike,

that they'd had similar childhoods.

And, I wasn't surprised by that.

'Cause, you know, it was clear that John had a lot of anger.

He didn't hide that.

Harry hid it, but John didn't.

So, I thought that was very interesting.

- Harry, after he went over to England,

and was with The Beatles,

or with John.

And I really don't know which, he changed.

He changed and became somebody else that I no longer knew.

(gentle music)

♪ The willow weeps ♪

♪ And having wept can weep no more ♪

♪ But still it cries for me ♪

♪ It cries in sympathy ♪

♪ It knows that you are gone ♪

♪ Don't leave me, baby ♪

- Out of the blue, I got a telegram that said,

"I'm finding another producer."

And, basically, that was the end

of Harry's and my relationship.

And that's a pretty stunning statement to make,

and I hesitated to say it,

but facts are facts and that's what happened.

I never saw Harry again after that telegram,

never spoke to him, never saw him.

Not out of malice from my point,

we just never ran into each other or anything.

I think if I did I would have said,

"What was that all about?"

♪ Whoa, whoa ♪

♪ Don't leave me, baby ♪

♪ Things are gonna work out fine ♪

♪ Don't leave me, baby ♪

♪ Think I'm going outta my mind ♪

♪ Don't leave me, baby ♪

♪ Don't leave me behind ♪

(upbeat music)

- Harry told me that for many years

he thought his father had died in World War II.

His father was a CB in World War II.

- Then in the late 1960s,

Harry found out.

He found out not only at his father was alive,

but then he had remarried and had a family.

- When he was about 27 years old,

he found out his father was living in Florida.

He went to visit him.

You know, I think that must've been very hard on him.

- He didn't say a lot about it, you know.

He didn't say that it was emotional or was, you know.

I saw the picture of his dad

and he didn't even really look that much alike.

So when I asked him about it,

he just kinda like fluffed it off.

He said, "Yeah, it's interesting," you know,

but he didn't extrapolated on it at all.

So I think and by what he didn't say,

I felt that it was painful for him, you know?

And he wasn't gonna talk about it,

he wouldn't go on about it at all.

And he met him, that was that.

- Where is that Joe Buck? - Where is that Joe Buck?

- Where is that Joe Buck?

- Where is that Joe Buck?

Look at this crap.

- Yeah, where is that Joe buck?

- Your due here at four o'clock.

- You know what you can do with them dishes.

(light airy music)

And if you ain't mad enough to do it for your self,

I'd be happy to oblige.

(light airy music)

I really would.

(light airy music)

♪ Everybody's talking at me ♪

♪ I don't hear a word they're saying ♪

♪ Only the echoes of my mind ♪

- it was impossible not to be aware

of Harry after "Midnight Cowboy,"

because that song just went everywhere.

- Oh, yeah, yeah, I mean I was a big Nilsson fan.

I mean, ever since "Midnight Cowboy."

I mean, how could...

(laughs)

His most famous song and he didn't write it.

I love the irony of that

and he would have appreciated that.

♪ I'm going where the sun keeps shining ♪

♪ Through the pouring rain ♪

- He was a brilliant interpreter.

So he could take that Fred Neil song

and make it his own.

- "Everybody's Talking" was not written

for "Midnight Cowboy."

"Everybody's Talking" it was Harry's single,

and it had been out before the film.

- [Harry] I was approached by Jerry Hellman

and John Schlesinger,

and asked if I'd be interested

in writing a song for "Midnight Cowboy" title song.

They showed me four reels of uncut material,

and I thought, what?

(laughs)

This could be the best movie ever made.

This is incredible!

He said, "You bet, you bet."

- He wrote, "I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City."

They also went to Bob Dylan,

asked him to write a song.

I understand that one was "Lay, Lady, Lay"

that Dylan wrote.

And they also went to Joni Mitchell,

and asked her to write a song.

All of them wrote songs for the film

and submitted it to the producers.

And they listened to all the songs.

And after hearing all this-

- [Jimmy] They decided to stick with "Everybody's Talking"

which they have been using as a temporary track

until they found a song for it.

And they just got used to it.

So used to it that they didn't want to drop it

and they left it in.

Thank you very much.

- "Midnight Cowboy" won the Oscar

for the Best Picture of the year.

At the same time,

Harry won the Grammy,

for the Best Contemporary Vocal Performance.

♪ Everybody's talking at me ♪

♪ Can't hear a word they're saying ♪

♪ Only the echoes of my mind ♪

♪ I won't let you leave ♪

♪ My love behind ♪

♪ No, I won't let you leave ♪

♪ Ohhh, ahhh ♪

♪ I won't let you leave ♪

- Hello - Hi, is this Harry?

- [Harry] Yes.

- [Woman] Hi, I was gonna ask you something.

- [Harry] Well, why didn't you?

- [Woman] When are you gonna have a concert?

- [Harry] Oh, I don't do concert,

that's for other people who wanna do that.

- [Woman] You're not gonna have a concert ever?

- [Harry] No.

(light playful music)

- You know many, many people are curious

why Harry never performed live,

didn't make touring a part of his career.

Didn't go on the road and all of those issues.

And there are many, many, many answers

which are interesting and valid.

- He just couldn't do it.

I don't know it was fear of flying or fear of falling,

or I don't know what it was.

- Harry was athletic,

trim, cheerful,

fun to be around,

but Harry was the most insecure person I've ever known.

He just didn't have any self-esteem.

(light playful music)

So I think that would have to have been part

of the reason.

- He was quite shy

and I don't think he believed,

that anyone would particularly wanna see him on stage.

- He said, I just don't want

to have to be on,

at eight o'clock at night.

And he was a lot like that, you know.

He answered to no man, no man.

- He was terrified.

And,

I don't remember exactly why,

but he was terrified

to do a live performance.

- And he'd mentioned that when he started,

he was in the late 50s

and he was doing I think a duo with another guy,

Everly brothers songs,

and they got up to perform that they are nervous.

He was nervous for whatever reason, it was horrible.

It didn't work,

and I laughed.

And,

kind of really scarred him.

That probably was one of those things

where he didn't wanna get burned twice.

- If the way to become a rock star was to make an album,

and then go and promote the album,

and then go out on tour,

Harry figured, "I'm gonna do it another way.

I'm gonna find a way to do it.

You don't have to go on tour."

Part of it was about just proving

that you didn't have to do it.

- There are very few guys

that have had the success that he had without doing that,

and he almost pulled it off.

Well, he did pull it off.

We're sitting here doing this documentary.

I mean (laughs).

♪ When he was young, he sang in the band ♪

♪ And his fans all looked the same ♪

♪ And the fans he had were younger than he ♪

♪ And they loved to scream his name ♪

♪ They'd leave at the end of the third show ♪

♪ Go home to talk of the fun ♪

♪ Well, isn't nice the parents would say ♪

♪ Well isn't nice you've got someone ♪

♪ Someone to idolize ♪

♪ He must look twice his size ♪

♪ I think it's great you're going through a phase ♪

- Harry was offered a BBC special,

to be produced by Stanley Dorfman

who was doing the in concert series.

And in concert means, in concert.

That means there would be an audience,

but Harry didn't do audiences.

- And I said, he could do it,

and he wants it.

This is BBC, it's not like American television.

You literally can have the freedom of the studio.

Once he realized he could come and play,

have more of less control of what he wanted to do,

he said, "Yeah, why not?"

♪ Laa, la, la, la ♪

♪ Oh, ra, ra, ra, ra, rah ♪

♪ Ra, da, da, da rah, da, da, dah ♪

♪ Da, da, doh,da da, doh, doh, da, dum ♪

- We went into a studio,

one afternoon we made up a show

with Harry at the piano.

He'd do a song and say,

"Well, what should we do now?"

Then he said, "Well, let's do three Harrys."

♪ Come on, baby ♪

♪ Let the good times roll ♪

♪ Come on, baby ♪

♪ Let me thrill your soul ♪

♪ Yeah, come on baby ♪

♪ Let the good times roll ♪

♪ Roll all night long ♪

♪ Come on, baby ♪

♪ Yes, this is real ♪

♪ Come on, baby ♪

♪ Show me how you feel ♪

♪ Yeah, come on, baby ♪

♪ Let the good times roll ♪

♪ Roll all night long. ♪

- It was extremely creative from Harry's point of view.

Because he was having fun

and that's the only way he'd do television.

♪ Roll on, roll on, roll on, roll on ♪

(upbeat piano music)

(clapping)

- [Presenter] Thank you listener,

now enjoy some Randy Newman.

♪ It's so hard ♪

♪ It's so hard ♪

♪ It's so hard ♪

♪ Living without you ♪

- He actually reached over and grabbed my wrist

and he said, "I want you to hear something.'

And I went, well, I'm gonna hear some,

wanna hear some Harry Nelson.

And he took me in,

started playing endless, endless Randy Newman songs.

I mean, he was so enamored with Randy Newman,

and that's all he would talk about.

Listen to this, listen to this.

- He loved to do things differently.

He just couldn't go in

and do the same thing over and over again.

That would have been very safe, very easy,

but it wouldn't have satisfied him.

- The notion of Harry doing a whole album of Randy Newman

is...

I'm sure unnerving to the people

at the label who are waiting

for the whole...

The new Harry album,

with all of his new songs.

So he took some turns

that were obviously Harry turns,

not, you know, career oriented.

Having said that, there was no better consistently

great composer at that time than Randy Newman,

I think he was just writing immense stuff.

And Harry realized that

and wanted to be the guy to showcase.

- He was unlike most other writers that I knew.

In that he had

an open mind

and he was generous with praise

and really enthusiastic about stuff that he like.

♪ Sooooo ♪

♪ Dee-dee-dee-dee, dee-dee-dee-dee ♪

- It's a pretty big honor for me.

You know, milestone in my life in some ways.

- [Harry] Okay, that's enough for Randy Newman.

Tonight lets see,

I think I'll tell stories about marriage.

♪ Life isn't easy when two are divided ♪

♪ When one has decided to bring down the curtain ♪

♪ And one thing's for certain ♪

♪ There's nothing to keep them together ♪

- Most people don't know it,

but in 1964, Harry got married for the first time.

The marriage didn't last very long,

and there were no children in the marriage.

- Her name was Sandy,

and I said, "What was that like?"

He said, "I just did that to get out of the war."

And now he obviously, you know, I mean, she was a nice girl.

She had a son

and, you know, I don't know what happened,

but that's how he would meet.

"I just married her to get out of the war."

(laughs)

So, I guess that was another painful thing.

He just had a way of doing that.

If it was painful to him

or he didn't wanna talk about it,

he'd have one-liners that would dismiss it, subject closed.

♪ Love when it started was easy to measure ♪

♪ Each day was a pleasure ♪

♪ Each night an adventure ♪

♪ Each morning was something ♪

♪ That had to be shared together ♪

♪ Love when it's growing is full of surprises ♪

♪ Its temperature rises from higher to higher ♪

♪ That turns into fire that has to be shared together ♪

- Harry got married for a second time

New Year's Eve of 1969, in Vegas, when he married Diane.

Harry and Diane did have a child, a child named Zak.

Zachary Nine, N-I-N-E, Nilsson.

♪ Little fellow you're so tired ♪

♪ You can hardly lift your head ♪

♪ But you wanna hear a story ♪

♪ Before you go to bed ♪

♪ So if you'll be quiet ♪

♪ And listen patiently ♪

♪ I'll sing you a song ♪

♪ That my mother sang to me ♪

- And he was absolutely thrilled.

It was great.

And he was just a typical new father and he was, you know,

he's got a boy and you know, it's wonderful.

It's wonderful to see him enjoy that,

have that in his life.

- My dad wrote this thing on a piece of paper

from when I was a baby.

It was just a note to me,

even though I couldn't read

or I wasn't old enough to understand it or anything.

He wrote this note

which basically told me how much he loved me,

and,

reading it now,

it just makes me realize that he really did.

Dear Zak, I stood over you

and watched you sleep for 30 minutes this morning.

Someday, you'll know how I feel

as I write these words.

You're beautiful.

You moved your toes and feet proportionally

to the noise I made.

You on top of blanket,

an orange blanket with yellow daisies.

And your pacifier was an inch from your mouth.

It had obviously been released with sleep.

I love you, Big Daddy Schmilsson.

So, you know, to write something like that,

obviously there's something there.

(gentle somber music)

- I don't think Harry was ready to be a father.

I think he liked the idea,

but the reality of parenting

was just too much for him.

He didn't have the time,

or the capacity to do that.

And he just mostly was absent.

Part of him wanted to be a parent,

part of him wanted to be a partner and married,

but most of him didn't wanna be.

You know, he wanted to be out carousing with his buddies,

drinking tequila every night.

He didn't wanna be in a relationship.

(gentle somber music)

- We were riding back together from New York

on train out to the Island, you know.

And he very solemnly said, "You know, we're breaking up."

You know, I said, "Jesus Skeeter.

And he says, "Yeah."

And you know, I asked, "What happened?"

You know, he said,

"We just tried very hard to love each other."

That's what he said.

- There's the 1941 thing, almost mirrored his own life.

And it's...

I'm pretty sure that's not how he intended it to be,

(laughs)

but it did, you know.

In 1941, a happy father had a son,

in 1944, his father walked right out the door.

And that's almost exactly what happened,

except in the '70s.

(laughs)

(gentle sultry music)

- Now you tell me, is this a story

or is this a story?

- Yeah dad sure, it's an okay story.

It's sorta- - Okay, are you kidding me?

Just, okay.

Come on, it's more than- - Oh, it's good,

I like the kid OBO and his dog.

I think he's a great looking dog.

- Great looking.

Oh, sure.

I get it.

Use the imagination.

The view from the mind's eye,

you've got a creative little head

on your shoulders there, son.

Harry was an idea man.

He was an idea man.

He was just everything...

was an immediate...

I mean, you know absolutely remarkable.

♪ Me and my arrow ♪

♪ Straighter than narrow ♪

♪ Wherever we go, everyone knows ♪

♪ It's me and my arrow ♪

- [Harry] Well, it's just an idea I had one night,

I think it was on some kind of weirdness.

- The more you walk around thinking about the idea,

the more permutations grow out of it, you know.

I just realized it was the world's longest pun

and then I realized God, point of sale,

point of view for the wall, you know, and all those things.

"The point" is one of those examples

that it just shows you that Harry is unique into himself.

It was an incredible concept

that he made into a musical,

at a time when musicals

couldn't have been more off the charts.

- He wrote all the songs for that,

and it's a great children's animation.

It's like one of the first children's animations I saw

that was very kinda lyrical and very funny

and in a way kind of dark,

but you know, great songs.

♪ This is the town and these are the people ♪

♪ This is the town where the people all stay ♪

♪ This is the town and these are the people ♪

♪ That's the way they wanted it ♪

♪ That's the way it's going to stay ♪

- Mostly, it was philosophical in attitude.

Everybody had a point to philosophical point

and pointed the support of that.

In fact, even the people were pointed.

People who pointed clocks, pointed cars

point these houses, et cetera.

And there's a little kid who was born

into the society with a round head.

And so how he's ostracized

and kicked out and beat up and all,

but the kid proves he has a point

without having a point.

Harry loved those philosophical turns and twists.

- He has a point there (laughs).

(upbeat music)

- He called me up one morning

and he said, "I got to come over and talk to you."

So, he came over to my house in Laurel Canyon,

and asked me if I'd like to produce him.

I said, "I would love to, under one condition,

that he had to trust me and let me call the shots,"

which he agreed to.

- One more, put it away. - Put it away.

- Let's nail this mother to the wall.

- Richard's a great producer, really talented guy.

And again, a tough guy in his own way.

But you needed a tough guy to deal with Harry.

Harry could run over people.

And a lot of people he did run over.

And so he needed a counterweight and Richard was that.

- Harry, don't smoke those.

(all laughing)

- Oh, come on, Mom!

I stayed home yesterday.

- When you walked into the studio,

Richard was in charge and it was wonderful.

- You know, there's like several good takes

and it's the kind of thing

where there's a great second verse,

it can be used as the first verse of, you know?

- He had the brightness to handpick musicians

and then allow them to feel at least they were free,

but you were being wonderfully,

gently maneuvered by Richard, you see.

And then there was Harry,

who also, you know, knew exactly what he wanted.

- I felt that Harry could be my Beatles,

and he, in turn,

I suppose felt that I could be his George Martin.

Which I think we did a pretty good job of accomplishing

on the Nilsson Schmilsson album.

That was the goal,

to make as close to a Beatles quality album as possible.

♪ farther and farther ♪

♪ And farther and farther ♪

♪ And farther and farther ♪

♪ And farther and farther ♪

- The first song we did was "Gotta get up."

Which is the first song song on the album.

And like right from that opening

the way the piano starts,

you could sense that this was gonna be something special.

(upbeat piano music)

♪ Gotta get up, gotta get out ♪

♪ Gotta get home before the morning comes ♪

♪ What if I'm late, gotta big date ♪

♪ Gotta get home before the sun comes up ♪

♪ Up and away, got a big day ♪

♪ Sorry can't stay, I gotta run, run yeah ♪

♪ Gotta get home, pick up the phone ♪

♪ I gotta let the people know I'm gonna be late ♪

- In some ways he could be completely normal.

And other times he could be totally eccentric.

So, once he knew how to roll with the punches,

it kinda made life interesting in the studio.

(upbeat guitar music)

♪ Brother bought a coconut ♪

♪ He bought it for a dime ♪

♪ His sister had another one ♪

♪ She paid it for the lime ♪

♪ She put the lime in the coconut ♪

♪ She drank them both up ♪

♪ She put the lime in the coconut. ♪

- He played it for me the first time on guitar

and he just sang it, it was like straight through,

no changes at all.

♪ Put the lime in the coconut ♪

♪ You drink them both up ♪

♪ Put the lime in the coconut ♪

♪ You drink them both up ♪

♪ Put a lime in the coconut ♪

♪ And drink them both together ♪

♪ Put the lime in the coconut ♪

♪ Then you feel better ♪

- [Richard] I thought to myself,

this song really has the potential

to be like a little animated cartoon.

There's like at least three different characters

in the song I can think of.

So, I said, "Why don't you use different voices?

Think of the doctor like this.

Now let me get this straight,

you put the lime in the coconut.

♪ Now let me get this straight ♪

♪ Put the lime in the coconut ♪

♪ You drank them both up ♪

- He responded to it immediately

and then you get this marvelous theatrical performance

that has made that song a classic.

♪ Your belly ache ♪

♪ You say, yaa-ahh, ain't there nothing I can take ♪

♪ I say, yaa-ahh, to relieve this bellyache ♪

♪ I say, yaa-ahh, ain't there nothing I can take ♪

♪ I say, yaa-ahh, ain't there nothing I can take ♪

- [Richard] About halfway through the album

we had a difference of opinion,

that didn't sort of settle itself easily.

So, like two proper gentlemen,

we decided to have a meeting

over high tea at the Dorchester Hotel,

to discuss what we were gonna do.

I said, "Harry, you do remember

that when you came to me

and asked me to produce you,

I asked you my only condition

was that I would have control,

creative control."

He looks me dead in the face and said,

"Well, I lied."

(laughs)

And then, with that, we both looked at our watch

and realized that we were late for the session,

that he was supposed to do his vocal on "Without You."

Without another word,

we jumped into a taxi, ran down to the studio.

He went right out and sang the vocal

that you hear on the record.

♪ No, I can't forget this evening ♪

♪ Or your face as you were leaving ♪

♪ But I guess that's just the way the story goes ♪

♪ You always smile ♪

- That was an extraordinary day.

I mean, because also when Harry would go for the high notes,

it was like a trapeze artist, you know,

you knew he could fall

and he kept you on the edge of your seat,

then he will be there.

♪ I can't live ♪

♪ If living is without you ♪

♪ I can't live ♪

♪ I can't give any more ♪

- And it's like one of those anthemic things

and people say,

♪ Can't live if living is without you ♪

Is a great, great performance,

just a great old time, nail that song.

- We weren't thinking, Oh, Grammy, here we come.

But we thought it'd be nice.

And while we were in Japan,

the nominations had come out

and Album of the Year, Record of the Year,

Best Male Vocal Performance, Best Engineered Record.

I mean, whatever category it could have been nominated,

it was nominated.

(bright upbeat music)

He was thrilled.

All of his dreams had come true.

You know, he wanted to have a huge success.

He had it.

After the Nilsson Schmilsson album

I think he was arguably the finest

white male singer on the planet.

- Nilsson Schmilsson is a masterpiece,

and he was pretty crazy.

But, Richard had some control over the situation

and that album came out beautifully.

It was really post Nilsson Schmilsson

that the troubles set in,

because he didn't want Richard Perry in there.

He didn't want anybody telling him what to do.

He was going through a bad period in life,

and rather than using that to, you know,

in a way inspire him,

or try to be creative with your pain,

he just let it start the downward spiral

that ultimately destroyed him.

♪ Down to the bottom ♪

♪ To the bottom of a hole ♪

♪ I'm going down ♪

♪ Going down ♪

- I don't think Harry handled success well.

I think that

the more successful he became,

the more he drank.

- He didn't really feel that he deserved the applaud

and the accreditation he was getting.

And became an alcoholic really just a sort of retreat,

as a sort of hideaway from that.

- That was a difficulty.

And he knew his mom had the drinking problem,

runs in the family.

Our grandfather drank Charlie Martin, you know,

and his mother did.

Runs in the family.

And my mother did told him, you watch it, you watch it.

This runs in our family.

And he said, "I know, I know, I know, I know, I know."

- It was frustrating,

because I didn't have enough of a power

in the relationship to say stop.

You know, but I wish I had.

- I don't think Harry expected to live very long.

Both his parents died in their 50s.

So, you know, that somehow becomes a factor

in how people look at life.

- I think that it's really hard to say

that you're a bright man,

and just to drink that much or to smoke that much

and not address that you're being self-destructive.

- It was one of those things

where he just went like 500 miles an hour until he stopped,

you know, whereas most people just kinda cruise

and speed up and slow down and speed up.

And then you kinda peter off,

and eventually you park.

(laughs)

But he was just,

Boom!

♪ I'm going down ♪

♪ Long ago ♪

♪ Far away ♪

- [Harry] Excuse me.

(Harry laughs)

- It's not as prerogative to be indulgent to himself.

He owes it to everyone else to be indulged into himself.

And if it's at the cost of what he thinks

is what the public might think

it might result in this tough luck.

(upbeat music)

- We were best pals.

You know, we hung out together all the time.

We traveled together.

We had a blast.

We partied together.

I mean, there wasn't anything we didn't do together.

And worked together.

And I was looking at a lifetime of hits.

You know, I mean, you know,

with the different things that he could do with his voice.

I mean,

just when you...

I mean there was no limitation

as to what, you know, we were capable of.

I mean, Nilsson Schmilsson was like, the warm up.

- But the second one was Son of Schmilsson,

and I think the cracks had already started

to appear by that time.

- He had just separated

and was going through a divorce with his first wife, Diane.

And it hit him really hard.

- He nurtured it like a serpent to his breast.

He hated it.

I'm sure he took it as...

If he was a good Catholic boy

which I think he essentially was.

He

took it as a failure,

that he ended in a divorce.

And it shows in his material,

the songs that he would sing.

(upbeat music)

♪ You're breaking my heart ♪

♪ You're tearing it apart ♪

♪ So fuck you ♪

- Having a hit single

was and still is the greatest promotional vehicle

to selling an album.

And when you're more than capable of churning out material

that had vast commercial potential,

and at the same time was loaded

with artistic integrity.

What does he come up with

as the strongest single possibility?

You're breaking my heart, you're tearing it apart.

I won't give you the punch line.

You know the song.

♪ But fuck you ♪

♪ You're breaking my heart ♪

♪ You're tearing it apart ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh ♪

- Everybody knows the word.

It's hypocrisy at its greatest,

and it's such a great way to send it up, you know?

You're breaking my heart, so (beep) you, you know.

And what do you say?

You're breaking my heart, darn it?

That's what he offered as the best,

you know, I mean, that was his love song to his ex-wife.

♪ There's no-one to blame ♪

♪ So fuck you ♪

(upbeat music)

- He would show up to the studio,

with a half a bottle of cognac.

The first half had already been consumed that afternoon.

He would no longer allow my input into the songs.

I mean, he would just like come up with a song,

and I'd say, "Well, can we talk about this?"

"No.

That's the song.

That's the vocal."

And that's why you've got

an album that still has some lovely moments in it,

but I mean, there's no

real depth or stature to it

anywhere near what the Schmilsson album was.

And I was expecting it to be the next level.

♪ Oh, I'd rather be dead, ♪

♪ I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ Than wet my bed ♪

- [Richard] I did everything I could

as more as his friend

than anything trying to explain to him,

why are you doing this?

You know, it could be so much better

than what we're doing.

♪ Than wet my bed ♪

- It just, you know he was determined

to do things the way he wanted to on that album.

♪ Oh, it's nice to be alive ♪

♪ But when the dream comes true ♪

♪ You'll be better off dead ♪

♪ It could happen to you ♪

♪ Oh, I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ Than wet my bed ♪

- [Harry] Once again.

♪ I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ I'd rather be dead ♪

♪ Than wet than wet my bed ♪

- [Harry] All right, give yourselves a big hand.

(crowd applauding)

(gentle upbeat music)

♪ Down ♪

♪ Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now ♪

- He told me that he felt it was important for his career,

that he does an album of standards.

Now, I love standards

and I knew that he could perform them magnificently.

But I said, now is not the time.

What you really need in your career

is to recapture, truly recapture,

where we left off with Nilsson SchNilsson.

To just write the best songs of your career,

And we really like roll up our sleeves

and just make a killer record.

No, I have to do this standards album.

I said, well, good luck.

♪ I'm so afraid of darkness ♪

♪ And down here ♪

♪ It's just like night time ♪

♪ Oobelie, oobeliy, oogolie, oogolie ♪

- I never stopped loving the guy.

And he, me, I know that for a fact.

And so, you know,

what's missing here, you know,

why is this such a sad ending

to what could be a tremendous story?

And it's because,

my way of interpreting it Harry at that point

in his life developed a death wish,

and he was successful.

It took him 20 years,

but he carried it out.

(gentle upbeat music)

(light airy music)

- [Harry] I figured my voice was probably at its purest

and best at that moment,

even though I was smoking

and drinking during all the nastiness.

I figured this is the time

to really capture my voice on tape.

♪ The bells are ringing ♪

♪ For me and my girl ♪

♪ The birds are singing ♪

♪ For me and my girl ♪

- He got Derek Taylor to produce the album,

got Gordon Jenkins who had been Frank Sinatra's

a ranger to arrange it.

And for the orchestra,

they got the London Philharmonic

and they went into the studio,

and recorded these wonderful songs

as only Harry could perform them.

- I think of all the work that he did.

He loved that album

more than anything else that he did.

'Cause those tunes meant a lot to him.

And he could sing them.

- If you listen to

"A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night,"

and you listened to the way he sung those standards

long before this current lemming like rush of pop artists

for the standard repertoire,

Harry was singing those songs

and singing them,

with great class and great dignity

and singing them on a level

with a Sinatra, in his own way.

- That was one of the greatest make-out albums ever made.

♪ Jealousy ♪

Probably still works too.

♪ Woman needs man ♪

♪ And man must have his mate ♪

♪ That, no one can deny ♪

♪ It's still the same old story ♪

♪ A fight for love and glory ♪

♪ A case of do or die ♪

♪ The world will always welcome lovers ♪

♪ As time ♪

♪ Goes by ♪

- If you were in a jam,

at three o'clock in the morning

and there was one person that you could call for help,

who would it be?

- Dana Maddick, it's like having Nilsson.

I think I could always call Harry,

night and day and he would come and save you.

I'm very lucky with friends like that.

(bright upbeat music)

♪ People, let me tell you about my best friend ♪

♪ He's a warm-hearted person who'll love me to the end ♪

♪ People let me tell you about my best friend ♪

♪ He's a one boy, cuddly toy ♪

♪ My up, my down, my pride and joy ♪

♪ People, let me tell you about him, he's so much fun ♪

♪ Whether we're talking man to man ♪

♪ Or whether we're talking son to son ♪

♪ 'Cause he's my best friend ♪

- I think that Harry's friendship with John,

was also very, very close,

but I don't think it was as intimate

as his relationship with Ringo Starr.

- When Ringo Starr would give Harry Nelson a present

for Christmas, then Harry Nelson's present

for Ringo Starr's Christmas was twice as big.

I mean, they just kind of like, it was obscene.

- They loved hanging out.

They loved being together.

And they just loved anything else.

And you know, there was a time

when everybody was getting crazy,

they love getting crazy together, you know.

They could just go on and on and on.

And the two other more like an act, you know,

they weren't kind of Laurel and Hardy.

- We went to Ringo's house once

and they had a password,

and Harry would say the password at the gate.

It was something really strange

and I don't remember what it was,

but Ringo knew who it was

and let him in, you know,

it was that sort of thing.

It's like the secret password for the clubhouse.

- I know it's impossible.

In other words, expects to call me king,

but I would give anything to be more.

- It's not impossible for you to be made human.

- Ringo was the producer

and star or co star of this rock and road "Dracula" movie.

(bright lively music)

Probably one of the worst movies ever made.

It's was a great line.

Some movies are released, others escape.

(laughs)

This one escaped.

♪ Here comes the daylight, it's making me sad ♪

♪ Here comes the sunlight, making me sad ♪

♪ Had a good time last night, best I ever had ♪

♪ Here come the sunshine that's making me sad ♪

♪ So sad, so sad, so sad, so sad ♪

- I don't remember if anybody directed it or not,

if they directed it.

And, you know, again, it was a situation

where there was really nobody

kind of driving the train anymore.

Everybody was in the cars, partying.

♪ Had a good time last night, just me and my friends ♪

♪ But here come the daylight and now it's the end ♪

♪ Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no ♪

- Ringo and Harry we're very good friends,

and they had fun together.

They knew how to go out and have fun.

(lively upbeat music)

- I was associated then with drinking and carousing.

Because I think Keith Moon's a friend

and Ringo's a friend and we have good times.

People assume you're raising hell

if you're having a good time.

But I promise you, folks we don't raise hell,

but we do have a good time.

And Harry didn't stop at alcohol (laughs).

And there were dealers all over the city

heading for Harry, I think,

helping him to spend his advances.

(laughs)

And, you know, Harry was like, he was going the full bore,

the full like rock and roll life.

♪ You can shake me up ♪

♪ Or I can bring you down ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

♪ We can make each other happy ♪

♪ Oh, we can make each other happy ♪

♪ We can make each other happy ♪

♪ We can make each other happy ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

- Harry would come around

and trouble would follow very shortly.

(laughs)

- Oh, dear (chuckles).

Well,

I got that call many times.

I got the call from Harry.

What are you doing?

- That was the call was a very bad thing.

- I always knew that when Harry calls,

I had to like look okay, what am I doing?

Okay, I'm ready to take the Harry trip, you know,

get on the Harry ride, you know,

because it's like a ride

where you have no idea where it's gonna go.

It's not on tracks.

- Harry he was a wonderful perpetrator,

and provocative of these things.

- We have lunch on a Tuesday

at like Martone, marquee.

Three days later,

I woke up in a massage parlor in Phoenix.

(laughs)

And I was like.

(laughs)

- Some of those Harry tales,

I'll have to be like shock therapy to remember them.

Oh, remember that?

Ah!

Whoo!

No, I mean, they're probably out there.

They're probably lodged somewhere in the cortex

but it'll take, you know...

Probably years from now I'll go, "Did I really?"

Yeah.

A weed whacker?

- It was fun,

because it's just you never knew

when you were gonna be coming home.

You know, when you left the house, you know,

that was the kind of a downside.

You say, hi honey,

I'm going out with Harry.

And, you know, my wife would go,

oh, no.

When are you coming home?

That's the first thing she would say.

(lively upbeat music)

- [Harry] Oh, Lord.

What is it, I'm full of it.

Good, tonight's right.

(lively upbeat music)

♪ We'll I've had my share of bad times ♪

♪ I've been shooting them up, drinking them down ♪

♪ Taking them pills, fooling around all my life ♪

- John was one of the kind.

I mean, there was just no one like him.

He was tough as nails.

He's just fearless and just said what he felt.

And that's something that he was always ahead.

He was always a couple of steps ahead of you.

- [Randy] I was just sort of hanging around

with Harry Nilsson and Nielsen and people in LA,

and just getting into trouble.

And every time we go out for the night,

I ended up in the paper.

I don't know what happened.

It just sort of happened,

that raising hell with Harry

became the catchphrase of the month.

- If he wants to go out to have a drink,

it's party time, he'll start it.

You'll get in trouble,

and he'll walk away scot-free but he started it.

(laughs)

- We're making our big comeback

and at the Troubadour here in Hollywood,

and major opening, I mean, the stars were out

to see the Smothers Brothers.

- [Dick] And I was counting on this as a big comeback

the Troubadour, all the people were invited,

the Smothers Brothers had been assassinated from television,

and here they are, they applauded like crazy, we walked on.

- And we start working and there's Harry.

Harry comes in with John Lennon.

And he told John Lennon, he said,

"You know, Tommy's not very good,

you know, heckling helps him."

So, these guys came in coked up and really cognacing.

Every single moment there was a silence,

there would be the most disgusting,

I mean really the worst heckling in the world.

- The Smothers Brothers were, of course, astounded

and blindsided and all of that.

And Harry and John were gonna help the show along,

and become part of the show.

That's what their idea was, four or five sheets to the wind.

- [John] I got drunk and shouted, you know.

It was the first night I had drank Brandy Alexanders,

which is brandy and milk, folks.

And I was with Harry Nilsson,

who didn't quite get as much coverage as me, the bum.

(laughs)

And he really encouraged me, you know.

I usually have somebody there who says,

"Okay, Lennon, shut up."

And I take it.

But I didn't have anyone around me to say shut up.

And and I just went on and on.

- Harry's goes, "Come on, lets say it some more."

And I turned and looked at Harry and said, "Please stop."

And he goes, "No, no the audience loves it,"

I said, "No they don't."

- I was really pissed at him.

Totally pissed at him.

Well, Dick and I have a very tight act

with great spaces in for timing,

and every one of them was wrecked.

- And next thing you know,

the manager came over and grabbed John by the collar.

All of a sudden, John went back to his little Teddy Boy days

and says, "Wait a minute you don't pull me."

And the next thing the table went flying.

- Fists were flying and people were stumbling around,

and people were, shut up, fuck you,

this constant thing. - They got thrown out.

- Finally they were thrown out.

It was just a disaster.

- [Bruce] When it's Errol Flynn, you know,

all them showbiz writers say,

those were the days when we had Sinatra

and Errol Flynn socking it to the people,

you know, the real men.

I do it and I'm a bum.

So it was a mistake,

but hell, you know, I'm human, you know.

- [Narrator] Hi ya, pussycat.

You say you opened up a bicycle wash

and the first six customers drowned.

And they pick you up in the Wax Museum

for trying to score with Marie Antoinette.

Is that what's got you down, pussycat?

- [Presenter] Well, rise up,

Get yourself Harry Nilsson's new album, Pussycats,

produced by John Lennon.

Nilsson's latest, Pussycats,

On RCA records and tapes.

Meow and purr.

- [Bruce] Some tracks are beautiful,

some tracks are a bit weird,

but Harry Nilsson and John Lennon together

is a pretty weird combination.

- To have John was like giving Harry

the best present he could have.

That almost made up for the fact that his father left him.

And, you know, there may be some of you out there, saying,

yeah, Webb's being the amateur psychiatrist now.

But I think that that almost made up for it,

because Harry really wanted to be one of the Beatles.

- Well, the relationship with John was...

Like, if you see the album, Pussycats,

have you ever seen the cover?

You know, they were like in each other's face.

This was like...

It was like a duel.

- They were a friendship made in hell,

as far as I'm concerned.

John had his troubles.

Harry had his troubles.

And they got together and really

that was when Harry totally blew his voice.

♪ Many rivers to cross ♪

♪ But I just can't seem to find ♪

♪ My way over ♪

- He and John Lennon were egging each other on,

as to who could scream the loudest

and scream the longest and put the most ragged,

actually self-destructive vocals on tape, as possible.

- It was this one-upmanship, friendly kind of thing,

but like,

♪ I can do anything ♪

♪ You can do better ♪

♪ No you can't, yes I can ♪

♪ No you can't, yes I can ♪

Aaaaah!

- I believe it was purposeful, not consciously,

but I believe that he was...

I can't believe that I'm getting into all this,

first of all.

I really...

I think he was for some very bizarre reason,

trying to self-destruct.

(upbeat rousing music)

♪ Well, I guess I'll have to try ♪

- He told me one time,

that there was blood on the microphone.

Harry told me, he said, there was blood on the microphone.

- I drove him to the hospital

and he had the throat thing,

in the polyps and all that stuff.

And he called me up and he says, "Get me out of here.

Bring me a bottle of brandy

and a pack of cigarettes into the hospital."

And I said, "Not the cigarettes."

(laughs)

But I brought a bottle of brandy,

and he walked out in the green robe.

He just couldn't be bothered, you know.

I never sensed

any kind of it's not really happening, kinda denial.

It was just, oh, fuck it, give me a cigarette.

That was his kinda attitude about everything.

(eerie dramatic music)

- I was horrified.

First of all I wanted to know if he was okay.

I was horrified

because, this very beautiful instrument which he had,

you know, you hold your breath for him suddenly

'cause you know, what happens now?

Will it ever be the same?

(eerie dramatic music)

- That was the saddest thing

that ever happened to me in my life,

was when I realized

that he was in that much trouble vocally,

and that he didn't know how to tell me.

And then he didn't want anyone to know.

And it's just hard for me to talk about it.

I just can't talk about.

(eerie dramatic music)

♪ Hey, baby ♪

♪ Do you come here often ♪

♪ What's your sign ♪

(lively upbeat music)

- Harry and Luna met in the most magical way.

- I used to ask for my mom

to tell me the story again and again.

- My mom who was born in Ireland,

she was born in Dublin, actually

was on a exchange program.

Work exchange program.

So she was living abroad in New York.

- She was 19

and, you know,

new to America,

this sweet Catholic school, Irish girl.

- A girlfriend and I were working for the summer.

We were students and we were working for the summer,

at Rumpelmayer's ice cream parlour.

And one evening, it was rather a quiet evening

and both of us were sort of leaning up against the wall,

and in walked Harry.

- [Harry] Sunday night, half drunk,

flask of brandy in one pocket,

a copy of US News in the other.

And as I walked to my hotel

I noticed Rumpelmayer's ice cream parlour.

And there was Una.

- Basically the first thing Harry ever said to me was,

"You've the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.

Will you marry me?"

Obviously, no one had ever said anything like that

to me before, but it was very special.

And, he said, "No, no really."

He said, "What can I do to prove my intent?"

And we said, "Well, we like flowers and we like melons."

Now you might think that's a very odd thing to say,

but perhaps I'd never really...

Well, I'd never eaten a honeydew melon.

(laughs)

- [Harry] Right, went to my hotel.

I showered, sobered, changed.

The melons were easy, Smiler's Delicatessen.

But the flowers, that's another question.

11pm on a Sunday night, August 12th, 1973.

Flowers at 11PM?

Hey, what about the docks, right.

So we actually found a florist,

and he was preparing for a funeral the next morning.

- The end of the evening,

when my friend and I were getting ready to leave,

the manager came over

and he said, "There's a man waiting for you

outside the kitchen."

(laughs)

And we were very excited

and we went outside and there was Harry,

leaning nonchalantly against a long limousine

and on the pavement beside him,

he had baskets

of flowers and melons and soft toys.

- [Harry] They were totally knocked out.

They hugged me and they hugged me.

It was the sweetest hug I've ever had.

♪ And I feel like it's gonna get a whole lot better ♪

♪ Better than the night before the night I met her ♪

♪ Feel like it's going to get a whole lot better ♪

♪ Better than the night before the night I met her ♪

(gentle serene music)

- [Harry] The day of the wedding

it was like hell day hangover.

The limo showed up.

Ringo gave me a toot for luck,

the limo driver gave me a gram for luck,

and even the father, the priest,

a priest of the church of God knows what,

shared another gram.

Now I was shaking so much I could barely stand.

So I said, to hell with it, you only marry thrice.

(gentle serene music)

- The wedding ceremony.

(laughs)

(breathes deeply)

(gentle serene music)

We were married in...

It was really a suite at the Marriott Hotel.

The wedding was organized very, very quickly.

- Van Dyke Parks brought a priest,

somebody else brought flowers

and somebody else hired an accordionist.

Ringo Starr was our best man.

And he was so funny.

He went to Tiffany's,

and took a tray of rings

because he didn't know our sizes

and he sort of held this tray of rings out for us to choose.

- [Harry] In two tries he found the right sizes.

Then it was my turn to place the beautiful golden circles

on the love of my life.

Ringo said, "Oh, look, he's shaking."

And he helped me steady my hands with Una,

and slip on the ring.

It was perfect.

(gentle serene music)

- In 1974, Harry renegotiated

his record deal with RCA records.

And at that time got what I understand

to be one of the biggest advances

in the history of the record business.

PS, he did it with the help of John Lennon.

- It was John and I with Harry,

and we marched into the president of RCA at that time.

- And Harry says,

"Do you know, look who's in your office?

It's John Lennon in this piece of shit

record company's office.

John Lennon is here!"

And John says, "Do you know who's stand...

This is Harry Nilsson, the greatest rock and roll singer!

And you're fucking him over."

- There's John giving a speech saying,

you're gonna lose one of the greatest voices of all time.

- You've got to re-sign this man.

You got to give him a record deal.

John was just going right for it.

He didn't care.

He believed in Harry that much.

- The contracts that had sat there unsigned by them,

for over a year, he signed and sent them

and Harry got his deal.

(lively upbeat music)

♪ Kojak, Kojak, Kojak, Columbo ♪

♪ Sell me an old one ♪

♪ Sell 'em some gumbo ♪

♪ Tell me a new one ♪

♪ At least once a night ♪

♪ Show me an old one ♪

♪ But don't turn out your love light ♪

(upbeat music)

(audience cheering) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

- Okay.

Relax.

One.

Two.

One, two, three,

four.

- Harry would go into a session

with a sheet of paper,

and 15 musicians,

and just one sheet of paper that he has, you know.

And we'd start, you know.

To us, I'm sure that he had it worked out in his brain,

but when it got to us, it was ideas.

(bright lively music)

- [Producer] One, two, three, four.

(bright lively music)

- When you get to a certain point

and you think, you know,

either, I can do this myself,

or I'm the only one that can do this.

And nobody else understands me,

and nobody else can see this.

Nobody else has the vision.

♪ God is not even with us ♪

♪ He said that God is really dead ♪

♪ He said, oh pal, that's a fact ♪

♪ You can't believe that magic act ♪

♪ I said I don't, and that was that ♪

- Harry had a full bar set up,

in the studio with, I mean, everything.

From Corn, beef bagels,

and

bottles of booze,

any drink you could possibly want.

- Chris, could I have some Scotch, some water, some matches,

and some heroin, please?

(laughs)

- There would be a lot of people around,

and it would be full on drug culture.

- Hi Harry, where's the shit, man?

- [Jimmy] And there would be a sort of a half-hearted

attempt at making a record going on, and a lot of confusion.

- The line between

you know, day and night and work and play,

it just disappeared entirely.

- Of course it was fun.

We were all in the bag and laughing and carrying on,

but it certainly was a silly way to make records.

- [Harry] Okay, all right.

(playful upbeat music)

That's certainly worth risking.

Let's go ahead.

We just ran out of tape anyway, beautiful.

- It was a very difficult time for him.

RCA was unhappy obviously,

and he wasn't happy.

You know, he was blaming them,

that they didn't know how to deal with his product.

And you know, and they were blaming him

at the albums they were making

and it got really uncomfortable

and they offered him money to buy him out.

It was a lot of money.

- I remember the day that Harry came over and said,

Hey, he was laughing.

He was saying, RCA, Victor just gave me $3 million.

I'm gonna retire,

I'm buying apartment buildings,

I'm doing this and I'm doing that.

And he was bragging about it

and pretending to be happy about it.

But the truth was,

he was distraught

because they had paid him off.

They had paid him off.

They wanted to get out from under the deal.

- I think he knew that,

you know, that his voice wasn't the same.

I think the rejection,

the failures were really hard on him, you know.

It was just...

It was kind of, he felt like a has been

in a lot of ways.

And so he turned his attention in other directions.

(upbeat rousing music)

- This was a wonderful opportunity,

that Harry grabbed, we all grabbed.

And Harry the score writer was as wonderful.

Writing all these wonderful songs

and with Van Dyke Parks to be his orchestrator

and co-writer, for this wonderful movie, "Popeye"

with Robin Williams and Robin's first film actually.

- Big connection in "Popeye."

Being in Malta, big connection.

Both of you, it's almost like being a veteran,

surviving "Popeye."

- schmilsson thought it's a good idea

to take all the musicians to Malta,

which isn't a crazy idea

'cause they just, you know,

they just took all the drugs

in the middle East with them, you know,

and became to have this huge party.

People were lucky to get out alive.

♪ In the morning air ♪

♪ There's so much to bear ♪

♪ Blow me down ♪

- I think the first song he ever played for

was, "Blow me down," you know.

And that was...

This is interesting.

♪ Blow me down ♪

- When you talking like that how do you go,

you know, it's like the blow me down.

It's that he would work with it

to try and, you know, give it a range.

You know, there will still be a character.

And that's what I remember, you know,

him trying to tweak it around the character

but he's still writing the songs.

♪ I am what I am ♪

♪ I do it for me ♪

♪ Believe it or not ♪

♪ It's a lovely day ♪

♪ It's a perfect day ♪

♪ Blow me down ♪

- Within the song are these wonderful references.

And I can't...

I know obviously they're still wonderful.

I've forgotten them,

but that's appropriate, isn't it?

We're talking Harry now in those times.

That it was like...

You know, was just very beautiful,

and I made a lot of that soundtrack is very elegant.

(playful piano music)

- John Lennon was killed last night.

The former Beatle, 40 years old, was shot to death

as he and his wife, Yoko Ono,

were walking through the great arched entry way

of the Dakota, the landmark apartment building

where they lived in New York.

(gentle poignant music)

- I was with Harry on the night that John was shot.

And, he was in the studio,

it was at Monday night

'cause we were all watching the football game,

and all of a sudden the flash came on the screen

that said, John Lennon had been shot.

And,

we all freaked.

- [Harry] And it was like,

what?

You know, and everything just stopped for a minute

and people just looked at each other and shook their heads.

And, I went in the bathroom

and just put a wet towel on my face

and just said, "Jesus Christ, not him."

- It devastated him,

because I don't think that Harry

felt that they'd had their last conversation.

- Well, it was so severe

that we didn't talk about it,

between us.

(gentle poignant music)

- I don't think he ever really dealt with it.

And right after that, he went in to major gun control.

He started throwing parties.

We'd all go to his house

and he had a little button with the gun

with the X through it,

and he started doing that

and it was all for John,

but I really sort of think,

it was sort of a ghost that stayed with him forever.

- My name is Harry Nilsson,

and I'm a national chairman of the end handgun violence week

which takes place between October 25th and October 31st.

If you'd like to help us end hand gun violence,

please write to 100 Maryland Avenue,

Northeast Washington, DC, 2002.

Too bad we have so many people dying every year

from handgun violence, thank you.

- The whole focus of his

being seemed to be about trying to get gun control laws.

- And Harry who was a very private person

and was rarely seen in public,

went public with this.

He went on television talking

about the importance of handgun control.

He formed an organization for handgun control.

He went to Washington and lobbied with lawmakers,

over hand gun control.

Not caring about the cost to his career.

- He'd given up song writing

and,

it's like phase on giving up painting.

You can't do that once you create it

you have to keep creating.

- I always really believed along with the other people

that Harry maybe wasn't choosing his battles wisely,

you know, that he should more, been more interested

in entertaining Perry, the entertainer,

Harry the raconteur, Harry the melodeon.

Instead of Harry the concerned citizen,

fighting tooth and nail

to get a political lobby for gun control.

- It was caring about the society itself too, you know?

So,

I think that was

a strong emotion in him,

than regretting

what he became or what he didn't become.

- Ultimately you might say it was

a disappointment really,

because, I don't think our laws have changed

a lot in terms of

the dangers we're exposed to.

♪ 'Cause nothing lasts forever ♪

♪ But I will always love you ♪

(bright upbeat music)

- You know the old cliche,

and most cliches are cliches 'cause they are true.

Behind every great man is a great woman.

- He was totally in love with Una,

and it was very touching, extremely touching.

- I know he was married twice before

and I don't even know their names.

I know nothing about that.

You know, it seemed like when he found her that was it.

♪ Lean on me ♪

♪ Lean on me ♪

♪ You're the wind ♪

♪ And I'm the sea ♪

♪ Oh, lean on me, ♪

- I found some sort of poem he wrote her,

in which he said, there have been of all the great loves

that have existed in history,

and he listed off a bunch of couples, maybe,

Romeo and Juliet and he said, Yoko and John, Harry and Una.

(laughs)

- And Una had such a calm aura about her,

she just...

Whatever he was doing crashing,

bang or anything, she just was there.

It's nice when somebody finds the ballast in their life

and I think Harry found it with Una.

- She was the anchor,

yeah, good old mom.

- And the other weird part about Harry,

as outrageous as he was, he loved his children.

You know, and all these kids.

And he was very much about that.

- When any of the children would walk into the room,

he was just...

He would light up.

- They were climbing all over him.

They were on his back,

they were on his head.

They were

adored,

cherished, treasured, pampered,

given every luxury imaginable

and every latitude, in terms of their behavior

I mean, he was absolutely one of the most doting,

loving dads I've ever seen.

- He was really hands-on, being careful, being caring

and, always talking about Una and his children.

- They were everything to him,

Una and the kids, it was kinda contradictory looking

'cause he was out a lot and he wasn't typical.

Certainly not that (laughs).

You can't see them fighting you know, that did not happen

in that regard, but it was all about them.

And without them I would shutter

to think what would have happened.

I couldn't possibly think.

♪ There's nothing left to say ♪

♪ I'll pack up my memories ♪

♪ Then I'll walk away ♪

- A lot of things went domino at the end there.

A very bad series of circumstances,

including,

a threat of bankruptcy

and lawsuits that might come from it.

Once again, back where he began.

- In the early '90s,

his business manager, who was his accountant,

who he had trusted implicitly,

and who had control over all of his money,

embezzled virtually all of his money.

- His financial world, which he was so proud of,

for his children and for his family, all fell apart.

And that was a cruel trick.

And that's what broke my heart for him, you know.

That shouldn't have happened,

shouldn't have happened to anybody,

shouldn't have happened to him.

- He got very caught up in trying to sell the house,

trying to get money.

He was selling off his library of music.

It was a point that really made me sad,

'cause he had all these CDs

that he was going around to ad agencies

trying to sell his songs for commercials to get some money.

- It was an incredible blow to him.

And I don't think he ever recovered.

A man wants to be a success,

he wants to be a good provider

and the things that he had worked for were gone.

So it was really, really hard.

(upbeat rousing music)

- The last thing he recorded that was ever released was,

"I love New York in June,

How about you" for Fisher King.

♪ I like New York in June ♪

♪ How about you ♪

- It's a beautiful story.

Well-written

and wonderfully directed

by Terry beautifully show, et cetera.

Harry had to be in this mix.

Romanticism, lyricism,

tunes, melody had to be there, had to be there.

Those heartstrings had to be pulled.

- It was back in 1991,

I had gotten a call from Harry

saying he was going to London to do The Fisher King.

And I asked him if I could go along with him.

I don't think he was expecting that,

but, he said, yes.

- It was a magical, magical day.

and with Harry

physically struggling, you know.

- His voice had gone by then.

I mean, it was...

But it was still quite wonderful

'cause he could always work it.

It was his great instrument.

and even his whistle was gone by then,

but he still whistled in the thing.

(light airy music)

- As soon as he sat down on his stool in the booth,

his headphones on

it was young Harry.

He was like his oldest son, you know,

his youngest son all wrapped up in mind.

It was just beautiful.

And the voice was absolutely appropriate for the piece.

- That would turn out to be not only the first

but the last time that we'd spend

a significant amount of time together.

Just the two of us.

I remember on the last night before I had to leave

we agreed to stay up all night in the hotel room,

talking about whatever, and we did.

Around four in the morning

he got too tired and he had to go to sleep.

So I left after that,

but that's a good memory for me.

♪ I like it ♪

♪ How about ♪

♪ You ♪

(upbeat music)

♪ Try, try, try ♪

♪ You're a winner if you ♪

♪ Try, try, try ♪

♪ Give it all you have ♪

- I never saw a nobler human being

than Harry Nielsen in the final couple of years of his life.

He was as happy and as brave and as confident

as any man I've ever seen,

as ill as he was, he pulled his family out of bankruptcy.

He pulled himself together.

He faced what he was facing,

with as much good humor as you could possibly imagine.

- This was 1993,

when my dad had a heart attack.

He'd felt these chest pains,

tried to ignore it like it was nothing.

Then he goes to the doctor

and the doctor says, "You've had this major heart attack.

What are you doing not calling an ambulance?"

- After that first heart attack I called him

and he said, I've had hangovers that were worse.

(laughs)

And it was a massive heart attack.

- He'd use a lot of it as a lesson.

Look, kids, this is what happens

if you're a rock and roller all your life.

And he blamed a lot of the health

he would express it to me, anyway,

that fast living is not the key to longevity.

- He just sort of told me, that's the odd thing about it.

And he just said, "Doug, you know,

they told me I got a year."

And I went, "What?"

He said, "Yeah." Just like that.

And that was that side of him I was talking about before.

That what was painful,

he wasn't going to let it out that way.

- I knew he was in bad shape.

I knew he was trying to get better.

I knew that he had to be connected

to machines every now and then, you know?

An oxygen tank.

I knew it wasn't good.

- You know, his hair was getting gray

and it was just this awful image.

And so I think I really hid from him

for the last few months.

So I don't have strong memories of it.

Except just, like...

Just fear, and just watching him sort of deteriorate,

which I couldn't handle, you know?

- After a while, they communicated to him

that it doesn't look good.

- So, my dad was able to use that opportunity

to tell all of us anything that was on his mind.

And we were able to tell my dad

anything that was on our minds,

on the days leading up towards the end.

♪ Take a look around ♪

♪ See what you have found ♪

♪ It's so easy if you try, try, try ♪

- He took it as far as this little heart could go,

nothing more to be asked.

That was good.

Very honorable man.

♪ Try ♪

♪ Try ♪

- He used to say, Oh, someday,

you'll be sitting with an interviewer

and you'll be saying, Oh, he was such a rogue.

And he did this and he did that.

He'd put on an Irish accent to mock me, you know,

but he always used to say,

it'll be okay, you'll be young, rich widow.

You'll be all right.

You know, and I used to say, well, that's all very well.

I said, but I'll never forgive you.

(laughs)

This is how we used to talk.

(laughs)

I'll never forgive you for dying on me.

(laughs)

So anyway, I guess we kept it as light as we could.

(bright energetic music)

♪ Turn on your radio, baby ♪

♪ Listen to my song ♪

- I remember, one night,

about a month before he died,

we went out on the street

and we walked about half a block

and there's Harry's car.

And we got in and he said,

I just want you to listen to this with me.

And he added two or three tapes.

He took them out and he put them in the sound system.

And we started listening to Harry songs,

and we must have listened for a couple of hours.

And he played one after the other, new ones, old ones.

Some that I'd heard before,

some that I knew had written

that hadn't gotten recorded,

that he'd wanted to record,

some that weren't finished.

So they were all, but they were all raw,

and tender and funny and vulnerable

and sweet and sour at the same time.

We got to the end,

and the last song played

and the tape player clicked,

and it was silent in the car.

And we looked around and Santa Monica was quiet.

It was just me and Harry in the car.

He said, well, he said, that's my life's work.

He said, thanks for listening.

And that's the last time I saw him.

♪ Turn on your radio, baby ♪

♪ Listen to my song ♪

♪ Turn on your night light baby, baby I'm gone ♪

- The last night of Harry's life

we'd had a very busy day,

and we went to bed

and we were watching a movie, "Enchanted April."

I wasn't able to stay awake

to the end of the movie and I said,

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry, I'm going to fall asleep."

And he said, I want you to know I love you sooooo much.

Making the so as long as he could.

And that's the last thing he ever said to me.

(light airy music)

♪ It's the perfect ♪

♪ Way ♪

♪ To end a perfect ♪

♪ Day ♪

- I just remember thinking, an earthquake.

(laughs) Like, what's going on?

You know.

Who designed this series of events?

- I was at a friend's house in Topanga Canyon

and it threw me half the way across the room.

And it was like Harry saying, hey.

(laughs)

I'm not going out like that.

You know, pay attention.

(ethereal music)

- Funeral was magnificent.

Everybody would came.

Lot of people came, tons of people came.

There was a feeling of

great sense at the same time stories.

Everybody started telling the stories.

- Stories I've never had.

Stories probably inappropriate for a 10 year old,

but everyone had a good story to tell about him.

- Throughout the day, including the service,

there were aftershocks and quite severe aftershocks.

So, we're sitting there and I thought,

well, that's really kind of fitting, you know,

'cause it was Harry, you know even now he's gone,

he still shaking stuff up, you know

'cause we're just sitting there

(laughs) casket would shake, you know.

Really surreal.

- There was a huge shake as they were, you know,

during the funeral.

And I said, Harry, just got

to heaven and found the bars closed.

(laughs)

- When we went to the actual grave site,

we're all standing around

and George Harrison is there looking quite sad.

And he looks at me and goes,

"You know my favorite Harry song?'

And I went, "It's tough to pick."

He goes, "Fuck you."

And I went, 'What, thinking that he was like...

And he goes, "No, fuck You.

Come on, let's sing it for Harry."

And around the grave, six of us went.

♪ You're breaking my heart ♪

♪ You're tearing it apart ♪

♪ So fuck you ♪

Looking at the casket.

And when we did that,

it was such a bittersweet sorrow.

But there was not a man or a woman around the casket

that didn't have that smile on their face,

that you said to me,

Whenever I say Harry Nilsson, people go,

Phew, Harry

And that smile, at that time,

was all around.

(light airy music)

(bright upbeat music)

♪ He's a pretty nifty guy ♪

♪ Always looks you in the eye ♪

♪ Everybody passing by will sigh for Harry ♪

- [Woman] Oh, Harry!

♪ I've known him for a little while ♪

♪ He always has a friendly smile ♪

♪ He doesn't give a damn ♪

♪ For what's in style, this Harry ♪

(light playful music)

♪ Come and share a joke or two ♪

♪ Come have a soke or two ♪

♪ You can have some Coca-Cola too with Harry ♪

(bright upbeat music)

- [Woman] Harry.

♪ Harry is there with you, with you ♪

♪ Come have it with you ♪

♪ You can share it too with you ♪

♪ And harry ♪

(bright upbeat music)

♪ Here is a little jungle song ♪

♪ A song Sacramento song ♪

♪ At least it didn't take us very long ♪

♪ Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry ♪

(bright upbeat music)