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

I saw this superb documentary at the Santa Barbara Int'l Film Festival. It is extremely absorbing and very well crafted, drawing you into the life and career of Harry Nilsson, one of the most overlooked musical talents of the 1960's and 70's. While I was familiar with his better known compositions ("One is the Loneliest Number", "Without You"), I learned about this man's brilliant writing and beautiful singing. If you love music, you'll find plenty to draw you in to his world, which unfortunately spiraled out of control as his success increased and his past haunted him. However sad, he nonetheless was completely devoted to his family and you will find yourself so glad to have met this man. The profile is effectively told through Nilsson's own words and those of his friends and colleagues (a virtual Who's Who of Rock)who loved and respected him. Don't miss this!

Well I know his songs but had never heard of this singer/songwriter's name. This documentary was a revelation for me and if you give it 2hrs of your time it will be for you too. The number of high profile contributors is evidence itself of the scope of influence of Harry Nilsson. But a man who is hardly known outside of the music industry and his close circle of friends and collaborators. Using archive footage, recordings and recollections from the great and good this extra long portrait is long overdue and rightly deserved. I now know why Harry was often known as America's unknown 'Beatle' and like many other rock stars self destructive, very much in the same vein of Elvis, Cash and to some degree Lennon himself.

I just happened on this incredible documentary on Netflix. I always loved Harry Nilsson's music but I never knew anything about him. This documentary is really an extensive work of art, compiling all the film footage about Harry and the people who knew him best. Particularly interesting was the recording studio footage and old movies of him performing. For all the music he wrote and performed and for all the famous musicians that he ran with, I just don't ever remember hearing about him, (in the tabloids and the like) only his music. Who knew he lived life on the edge? Too bad this documentary didn't get much publicity, as it is truly excellent. Most of the people that can remember his music will truly never know who is the guy behind all those wonderful songs with that melancholy melodious voice. Thank you for showing some of us who Harry Nilsson was, the guy behind Everybody's Talking but not about Harry.

For those of us alive at the time, it was impossible to not have heard of Harry Nilsson and to have been appreciative of a song or two. "Without You" has always been one of my favorites, but beyond that I was in the dark. This movie shines light on the body of work that somehow I missed with so much incredible music being made at the same time.

It is a whimsical but honest look at one of the all-time great raconteurs, a fellow traveler with a coterie of out-sized personalities who largely burned brightly but briefly. Watching how his unlimited talents were gradually eroded away with self-indulgence is a tragicomic spectacle, leaving behind a wake of stories of a life lived at extremes.

Watch it. It will be time well spent.

Sony Pictures Classics, I'm looking at you! Sony's got the rights to Harry records -- you need to distribute the film and you'll get radically increased sales of his back catalog! Anyhow, this is a great study of a fascinating musician, woefully underknown, full of great stories, greater music, and it could have been 3 hours longer and I'd have loved it even more. Saw it at the American Cinemateque Mods & Rockers Festival at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, where it played to a packed house. They were turning people away at the door! I went to many of the Mods & Rockers festival films, and let me assure you that no other film came even close to selling out, let alone turning people away. See it in the theatre, buy the DVD, and make sure some slow-on-the-uptake company [*cough SONY cough*] picks it up ASAP!