MUSIC
BEYOND THE ‘FRIDGE
Cool New Harry Nilsson Collection Connects the Dots Between His Fans
BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH
B
ORN OF THE PANDEMIC, HARRY & Me: Memories of Harry Nilsson is a thoroughly enjoyable love letter to legendary singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. For the uninitiated, Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who reached a creative and commercial peak in the early 1970s. His top 10 hits “Without You,” “Coconut” and “Everybody’s Talkin,’” are prime examples of his genre-defying canon of material. Nilsson’s style spanned rock, soul, Great American Songbook-style pop and world music, often produced with groundbreaking studio experimentation. The reclusive artist was averse to live performances and excessive promotion, thus his recordings succeeded on their own merits, through endorsements from his fans and peers. Pop groups of the era, including The Monkees and Three Dog Night, scored massive hits with his songs and The Beatles often referred to him as their favorite American singer-songwriter. On the 50th anniversary the enigmatic performer’s seventh album Nilsson Schmilsson, veteran authors David Roberts and Neil Watson recently spoke with INsite about the new book, Nilsson’s many fans and that lucky kitchen appliance on the cover. An incredible spirit of community runs throughout the project. David Roberts: Our expectations were that it would be a fun thing to work on, but it exceeded everything because the fan base of Harry Nilsson is just the most amazing bunch of people. We’ve had contributions from literally everyone - from a 93-year-old nun in California to a 16-year-old schoolgirl in England. They’re an amazing bunch. I’ve worked on a few music books before but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fan base as fascinating as the people who contributed to this one.
It’s not just a standard biography - anyone can do one of those. For this one, you’ve included the real voices of the fans. Of course, some of them are quite famous, including Harry’s old pal Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. Neil Watson: That’s right. I think for me, the point at which I thought, ‘Oh, now this is really becoming exciting,’ was when I got my first contribution for the book, from Micky Dolenz. That’s what initially spurred me on about doing it, actually. His quote was the first celebrity that I had success with. From then on, many other cool and well-known people came on board, like Randy Newman and Marc Cohn. Yet you placed everyone on equal status. Watson: Exactly. If it was Nilsson’s teacher or someone who was a fan or a well-known musician who’d worked with him, they were all given the exact same status. I mean, we didn’t get Paul McCartney in the end, though I did try. But if we had gotten him, it would’ve said simply, ‘Paul McCartney, Musician.’ I think it really worked to have everybody on the same terms - with the one common denominator being their love of Harry Nilsson. Roberts: Neil was already a fan but I really grew to love his music. I found out so much about the man as a comedian, poet and a loving father. He liked a bit of fun. But the friends that he drew to him - it wasn’t just a coincidence that some of his best friends were people like John Lennon and Ringo Starr. Some of the stories are quite riotous. So all of that combined, contributed to a great story. Harry & Me contains many laugh-out-loud comedic moments. Roberts: I’m glad you picked up on that because that was our feeling. The publisher said to us, ‘How do we describe it to the designer?’ We said to him, ‘Think Monty Python.’ Because there are, as you see, lots of connections. Harry was friends with various members of the Pythons. I think that is the sense that comes through. There are some hilarious stories. Harry’s own experience of comedy was so formed by Monty Python - but much earlier than that with Laurel and Hardy. There’s a lovely story, actually, where as a fan, young Harry, I don’t quite know how old he was, but I think he was in his teens, managed to get the telephone number of Stan Laurel and rang him up. Watson: He’s just got this wild and wacky sense of humor which hopefully, we’ve portrayed. Even with the cover. Yes, tell us about the significance of the refrigerator on the cover. Watson: We were thinking about what type of cover to do. I thought, my goodness me, right
PG 6 • November 2021 • insiteatlanta.com
across where I live, in the next house, is the pavement on the street. There was an a very, very fantastic artist called Alison old couple walking by just at the moment Stockmarr. I’ve known her for a while. She when I said a few expletives as the door had does these fantastic pieces of art where she broken off. This poor couple, they were sort cuts out little, tiny things and puts them of feeling sorry for me, picking up all these pieces off the street and carrying them ‘round onto books or record sleeves. They’re just to the garage studio. We set it back up but we fantastic. When I went and asked if she’d weren’t able to fix the door back on. So in the be interested in doing the cover, she said picture, actually photographed yes, straight away. But she by Alison’s husband - you can’t didn’t know anything about him at all. So David and I had OUR EXPECTATIONS see it, thank goodness - but a meeting with her and almost WERE THAT IT I’m actually crouched down straightaway, she got it. She WOULD BE A FUN behind the door with my underneath it, holding got who Harry Nilsson was, THING TO WORK ON, fingers it in place. That became the what he stood for and what BUT IT EXCEEDED photograph that was used for he was all about. We were the cover. Then Allison cut out talking about the fact that it EVERYTHING of little tiny pictures of is going to be coming out, BECAUSE THE FAN loads things that related to Harry more or less, in time with the BASE OF HARRY or the songs. So you have 50th anniversary of Harry’s most commercially successful NILSSON IS JUST Laurel and Hardy and the lime album Nilsson Schmilsson, THE MOST AMAZING in the coconut. The rug is an to his Pussycats album. which came out on the first of BUNCH OF PEOPLE. homage All these tiny little clues that November 1971. Allison picked up on, from what Roberts: [The record cover we had told her about Harry. I’m delighted is] a black and white picture of Nilsson in a with it. For me, it is a real piece of art. bathrobe standing in front of his fridge. Well, we call it fridge. I think you call it refrigerator. So what became of the ‘fridge? Obviously Watson: Alison said, ‘How about if we get you preserved it in some sort of shrine to a ‘fridge and use that as a sort of centerpiece Harry, right? for the front cover?’ The next problem was, Watson: Well, we didn’t have the proper how do we get one that looks similar to the space for it, so I’m afraid I had to take it to one that Harry used on the album? But we the rubbish dump. It’s gone to ‘fridge heaven. did find one for sale in a town about 50 miles from where I live. I think the guy wanted 30 But now it’s immortal. or 40 pounds for it. On the day I was due to Watson: Yeah it lived to tell another tale, go pick it up, he’d obviously checked it out to didn’t it? If we hadn’t bought it, I suppose the make sure it worked. He phoned me up, just guy who used to own it would’ve just plugged as I was leaving to get it. ‘I’m really sorry. I’ve just checked it out and it doesn’t work.’ I said, it in one day, realized it didn’t work and taken it to the dump as well. But we got some ‘It doesn’t matter. I still want it!’ So he was mileage out of it, that’s for sure. probably thinking it’s his lucky day because he’s selling a ‘fridge that doesn’t even work, Harry & Me: Memories of Harry Nilsson right? I turned up at his house, picked it up - by the fans and musicians that loved him and put it in the back of my car. I took it to the most is available for pre-order from most Alison’s house where she’s got a garage that she’d turned into a makeshift studio. As I took major retailers and via This Day In Music Books, thisdayinmusicbooks.com. Note: the it out of my car, I must’ve taken it out the wrong way and it fell. The door fell backwards first 1,000 copies include Harry On Harry, a limited-edition CD featuring rare Harry and it broke off. So I ended up with this Nilsson interview recordings from the ‘60s, ‘fridge with a door that had fallen off. All the ‘70s and ‘80s. pieces that were inside had fallen out onto
