by Harry Nilsson 1972 (An "X" Rated Song.)
Harry Nilsson 1941-1994
FROM the HARRY NILSSON OFFICIAL SITE
"Songs come differently each time, each album is unique. In Africa, the year before last, I wrote the Schmilsson album in a month and a half. I was never that prolific before and probably never will be again. There was no telephone going off. There were elephants outside. I took out a notebook and a pen and wow! all of a sudden I started writing lyrics and melodies without being near a piano or guitar or anything." -- Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson was born "Harry Edward Nilsson III" on June 15, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York. After dropping out of high school and moving to California, Nilsson lied about his lack of a high school diploma and was given a job working in a bank's computer section. While Nilsson worked nights at the bank, his interest in music grew. During the day he began writing songs, visiting music publishers, and singing on demo records.
After having songs recorded by Glen Campbell and the Monkees, Nilsson left the bank to work full-time as a songwriter and singer. Nilsson signed with RCA in 1967 and in October of that year released Pandemonium Shadow Show.
Nilsson's second RCA album, Aerial Ballet, included his recording of Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". Director John Schlesinger used Nilsson's recording of "Everybody's Talkin'" in Midnight Cowboy and the song became a hit - reaching number 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 and earning Nilsson a Grammy. Nilsson's success continued as Three Dog Night's recording of his song "One" reached number 5 on the charts and went on to sell more than a million copies.
Nilsson's 1971 album, Nilsson Schmilsson, became his best-selling album and "Without You", the album's first single, became a world-wide hit in 1972.
In 1974, Nilsson and John Lennon generated newspaper headlines by being thrown out of the Troubadour for heckling a Smothers Brothers performance. The same year, Lennon produced Nilsson's Pussy Cats album.
Nilsson's last album for RCA, Knnillssonn was released in July of 1977.
In 1980, Nilsson traveled to Malta where Robert Altman was filming Popeye starring Robin Williams. On location, Harry composed and recorded the music and songs for the film. The same year, Nilsson signed with Mercury Records and released his last album, Flash Harry. The album was only released in Europe.
After the murder of John Lennon in December of 1980, Nilsson devoted much of his time to campaigning for better gun laws. He also formed Hawkeye Entertainment which produced the film "The Telephone" starring Whoopi Goldberg and written by Nilsson and Terry Southern.
In early 1993, Nilsson suffered a major heart attack. Almost a year later, on January 15, 1994, Harry Nilsson died.
The "Son of Schmilsson" album was the first Harry Nilsson album I purchased, when I lived at home in 1972. The album contains the hit song "Remember (Christmas)". Other albums I and my brother purchased in 1972 included David Bowie and Elton John. My brother and I loved to put on "You're Breakin' My Heart" for friends, just to freak them out. I think I was doing this well into the 70s. Although Nilsson's previous album, "Nilsson Schmilsson" was a best seller, the followup was not that well known among my peers. Harry always wrote with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, and his tunes were catchy, and his lyrics sidesplittingly funny most of the time.
Daniel, my brother, and I first noticed the artist's work in the "Movie of the Week" "The Point" an animated film from 1971 written by Nilsson. That show contained the hit song "Me and My Arrow." Harry was pretty popular. He hung out with the Beatles. (I almost got to see him perform at Beatlefest in 1978 or 1979 but we missed the start time.) His music was used in the Oscar winning movie "Midnight Cowboy" directed by John Schlesinger. After purchasing "Son of Schmillson" we got "Pandemonium Shadow Show" and "Nilsson Schmilsson." I later bought almost everything he ever recorded. Sadly, a heart attack claimed the performer over a decade ago. But the music, as always, lives on, and I'm glad to share this personal favorite with my readers.
MFN 7/12/05
Lyrics from LyrixUs
"You're Breakin' My Heart"
Words and Music by Harry Nilsson (edited for content)
You’re breakin’ my heart
You’re tearing it apart so fu** you
All I want to do is have a good time now I’m blue
You won’t boogaloo,
Run down to Tramps, have a dance or two, ooohhh
You’re breakin’ my heart,
You’re tearing it apart but fu** you
You’re breakin’ my heart
You’re tearing it apart, boo-hoo
You stepped on my a**
You’re breakin’ my glasses too
You won’t drive my car, might be a star
I’ve had enough of you
I’m goin’ insane
There’s no one to blame so fu** you
Instrumental break #1
You can’t have your way
There’s nothing left to say
There’s nothing left to do, ooooohhh
You’re breakin’ my heart
You’re tearing it apart so fu** you
Instrumental break #2
You gotta have your way
There’s nothing left to say
There’s nothing left to do, ooooowww
You’re breakin’ my heart
You’re tearing it apart but I love you
Official Harry Nilsson Website
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