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Soundtrack of My Life (March 3): "Don't Ask a Drowning Man..."

Harry Hottake: John Lennon legit fucked up Harry Nilsson's voice. But being a good friend of Nilsson's, Lennon tricked RCA into paying for it.

I was inspired to see the doc "Who is Harry Nilsson and Why Is Everyone Talking About Him?" after being earwormed back into Nilsson by Natasha Lyonne's hypnotic "Russian Doll" on Netflix. How can you not hear the jangly "Gotta Get Up," episode after episode and not get hooked? And once you do, you dig into Nilsson's life and find some strange contours. A man of remarkable melodic and singing talents, Harry was someone the Beatles saw, in their later days, as a rival.

Lyonne chose this song specifically to anchor the show because "Gotta Get Up" packed a "guttural punch" that other candidates just didn't possess, she said. Part of the genius in picking that song is the eerie parallel between Nadia's repeated struggle to leave her own party, and Nilsson's actual life. It wants to face the day anew, yet bristles with agitation and a bit of world-weariness.

Fame did Harry no favors -- nor did his refusal to tour, leaving him with a lot of free time to party (including with the aforementioned Lennon, with whom Nilsson evidently locked into a negative spiral of debauchery in the mid-1970s).

It would be easy to see Nilsson's life as a tragedy, or at least as a series of missed opportunities -- but he left a remarkable body of work, and -- at least from what the documentary shows -- a large and loving brood. ("Think About Your Troubles"), ("All My Life"),("Going Down"), ("Lean on Me"), ("The Moonbeam Song"), ("The Beehive State").

Top Artists

#ArtistTracks Played
#1
Harry Nilsson
146
#2
Quicksilver Messenger Service
32
#3
The Beach Boys
26
#4
Buddy Holly
25
#5
Vatican Shadow
23
#6
Die Antwoord
20
#7
Roxy Music
16
#8
The Everly Brothers
14
#9
Dolly Parton
8
#10
Neil Young
8


Top Albums

#NameArtist
#1
Nilsson Schmilsson
Harry Nilsson
#2
Harry
Harry Nilsson
#3
Aerial Ballet
Harry Nilsson
#4
Nilsson Sings Newman
Harry Nilsson
#5
Greatest Hits
Buddy Holly
#6
Happy Trails
Quicksilver Messenger Service
#7
20 Greatest Hits
The Everly Brothers
#8
Death is Unity With God
Vatican Shadow
#9
Country Life
Roxy Music
#10
Remember Your Black Day
Vatican Shadow


Top Tracks

#SongArtistTimes Played
#1
Gotta Get Up
Harry Nilsson
9
#2
Moonbeam Song
Harry Nilsson
8
#3
The Beehive State
Harry Nilsson
8
#4
One
Harry Nilsson
7
#5
Wrong Side of The Tracks
Guy Clark
5



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