Richard Perry, producer of Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson has died. Perry died at age 82 on December 24, 2024.
The Harry Nilsson Web Pages
Harry Nilsson News (2024-12-24)
Richard Perry Has Died
Harry Nilsson News (2024-09-21)
Harris/Waltz Advertisement Uses "Best Friend"
On September 19, 2024, the Kamala Harris presidential campaign released a video showing clips of rival Donald Trump praising Mark Robinson a gubernatorial candidate under scrutiny for posting inflammatory comments on a pornography website. Nilsson's "Best Friend" plays throughout the short video.
Best friends ❤️ pic.twitter.com/baS5sRfzIo
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 19, 2024
The video was posted on X (Twitter) but later superceded by a longer TV commercial without Nilsson's song.
Harry Nilsson News (2024-09-05)
Herbie Flowers - "Jump Into the Fire" Bass Player - Has Died
Herbie Flowers died on September 5, 2024, at the age of 86. Flowers was a member of several groups including Blue Mink, T. Rex, and Sky. As a session musician, he played bass guitar, double bass, and tuba on recordings for artists including Elton John, David Bowie, Lou Reed, David Essex, Al Kooper, Bryan Ferry, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Harry Nilsson.
Flowers played bass on Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson album and created the famous "detuning bass" part in "Jump into the Fire."
Harry Nilsson News (2023-09-05)
The Dream Weaver Has Died
Gary Wright died at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California, on September 4, 2023. Although best known for his solo hits "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive" - and having been born and raised in the US - Wright first caught the attention of music fans as a member of the British band Spooky Tooth in the late 1960s. Wright left the band in early 1970 to begin a career as a solo artist and session musician.
In 1971 Harry Nilsson recorded "Without You" which was destined to be his biggest hit. Rick Wakeman played the piano for an early take of the song, Nilsson and his producer, Richard Perry, decided that Wakeman's track was "too busy, too complex."
So we replaced Rick Wakeman with Gary Wright and he began, just like you hear on the record, very simple. It was just right![1]
- [1] Dan Matovina. Frances Glover Books (2000) "Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger"
Harry Nilsson News (2023-09-01)
The Lost Weekend: A Love Story Released on Home Video
A Blu-Ray of The Lost Weekend: A Love Story is being released in mid-October of 2023. It is currently available for pre-order from Amazon.com. The film is also available for purchase online through Amazon Prime.
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Perry Botkin
Perry Lafayette Botkin, Jr., was a successful songwriter, arranger, and publisher when Harry Nilsson met him around 1960. Botkin arranged music for several of Harry's songs and co-wrote songs with Nilsson.
Perry's father began playing bass guitar in high school in Richmond, Indiana. He switched to ukulele then banjo before picking up the guitar. As Bing Crosby's guitarist, he performed on Crosby's "Kraft Music Hall" radio show in the late 1930s and early 1940s.[1]
Perry Botkin's Father at the Chicagoland Music Festival in 1965[2]
The younger Perry Botkin was born on April 16, 1933 in New York City, New York.
Botkin studied music at the University of Indiana and the University of Southern California Los Angeles. [3]
While attending UCLA, the younger Botkin met Sally Bremer (who was attending Pepperdine College). Sally introduced "Bunny" (as Botkin was nicknamed) to another singer, Bert Convy. The three of them formed a vocal group called "The Cheers." When Botkin went into the service for two years, Gil Garfield (who was attending the University of Southern California) replaced Botkin in "The Cheers."[4]
In 1956, Perry appeared with his father in an episode of the TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet called "The Banjo Player."
"The Banjo Player" with Perry Botkin
The younger Botkin portrayed himself as "Bunny Botkin." [5]
In 1980, Zapata, a musical stage play written by Harry and Perry Botkin, opened at the Goodspeed Opera House in Chester, Connecticut, but failed to move on to Broadway.
Perry Botkin is probably best known as the composer of the theme for "The Young and the Restless." He has composed the score for many television shows and films. He has arranged music for dozens of artists including Jose Feliciano, Connie Stevens, Harpers Bizarre, Jennifer Warnes, and others.
Botkin experimented with electronic music and released a few self-produced CDs.
- [1] Los Angeles Evening Citizen News (Hollywood, California), Zuma Palmer (1946-05-02) "Guitarist Unsung But Important"
- [2] Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), THomas Fitzpatrick (1965-08-08) "Lively Festival Thrills Audience with Its Magic"
- [3] "Perry Botkin, Jr. Is Man with Beat" Biddeford-Saco Journal (Biddeford, Maine) (1965-10-30)
- [4] Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Leonard Mendlowitz (1955-11-29) "Cheers Sing Way to Fame"
- [5] "Television Log" The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) (1956-10-31)
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- 1974-01-31 - Harry Nilsson attends a party after Bob Dylan's Madison Square Garden concert.
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Welcome to the Harry Nilsson Web Pages
This site is dedicated to the music and memory of Harry Nilsson. From the late 1960s through the early '90s, Nilsson produced music that both challenged norms and celebrated the past - often within the same song.
On first listen, his early Pandemonium Shadow Show is just an appealing collection of bouncy pop songs, a product of the time when it was released. But, on closer listen songs like "1941" and "Without Her" feature poignant and wistful lyrics on top of their upbeat, pop melodies. To the listener in the late 1960s, the melodies and songs, such as “Freckles” sometimes invoked what would have seemed a nostalgic air, but they still sound fresh more than fifty years later.
Nilsson remained unconventional throughout his career. He never toured to support an album and he made few TV appearances. He released an album of songs which were all written by another songwriter. He recorded an album of standards in front of an orchestra. He followed up his best selling album and song with an album featuring a song pretty much guaranteed to surprise, if not offend, his new fans.
Harry ventured into movies and TV, creating a classic animated story (“The Point!”) and writing the music and songs for the once-panned, but now cult favorite, film Popeye starring Robin Williams.
In the last years of his life, after his friend John Lennon was shot and killed, Harry stepped back from music and, ironically perhaps, more into the public eye as the spokesperson for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence advocating for sensible gun laws in America.
A heart attack took Harry’s life in early 1994. Yet, his memory lives on in the hearts and minds of his friends, family, and fans. And his music lives on with Sony releasing a comprehensive collection of his works on CD and his music being featured prominently in TV and movies.