Richard Perry, producer of Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson has died. Perry died at age 82 on December 24, 2024.
Richard Perry Has Died
Richard Perry, producer of Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson has died. Perry died at age 82 on December 24, 2024.
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The video was posted on X (Twitter) but later superceded by a longer TV commercial without Nilsson's song.
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."
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]
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.
By Curtis Armstrong and Diane Nilsson
Originally Published in Everybody's Talkin' Spring 1997
"Duit On Mon Dei" is a phrase which has intrigued Harry Nilsson fans for some time. Duit on Mon Dei is the name Harry gave to the album he had originally titled God's Greatest Hits.
Curtis:
Through one of those bizarre coincidences that seem to happen fairly frequently with this crowd, last weekend I discovered what I would like to think is an answer to the "Duit On Mon Dei" question. It's my theory that the phrase is a corruption of the Latin "Dieu Et Mon Droit," which translates as "God and My Right." Maxim Newmark's Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases reports that this was the motto of the Royal Arms of England, first assumed by Richard the First.
But, the weird part is this ... last Saturday I met an old and valued pal (not a Nilsson fan) in one of the legendary bars in these parts, Bob Burns (as in the "Bard of the North Country"). There is English and Scottish memorabilia festooning the place and, among the bric-a-brac, I spied my friend Dan taking nourishment at the big curved bar. He had been there for some time apparently and hailed me with much warmth and hilarity. He then pointed to a mounted coat-of-arms on the wall behind me. "Don't you love that motto?" he said. "Do it on Monday." I looked and sure enough, there was the phrase: "Dieu Et Mon Droit". Then I remembered hearing that Harry's mom lived in Santa Monica, which is where Bob Burns is located. I imagined Harry at that big curved bar back in the seventies, tossing back a few quick ones, and saying to a friend, "Don't you love that motto...?"
Diane Nilsson became aware of Curtis's musings on the topic and responded with:
Diane:
In response to questions a few weeks ago regarding "Duit On Mon Dei" and where it may have come from ...
Harry and I spent quite a few fun-filled days hanging out at the Apple offices on Saville Row in London in the fall of 1968. Most of the time we were visiting with Derek Taylor in the Apple press office. Derek handled all press/publicity issues for Apple and the Beatles - so it was a very busy place. Derek's office was full of secretaries and aides who were constantly fielding phone calls and it seemed that there were a million things going at once.
Amid this chaos, Derek put together a monthly in-house newsletter detailing Apple/Beatles doings.
The physical design of the newsletter is a copy and parody of position papers put out by the British government, called white papers. The insignia at the top of the white paper shows a lion and a unicorn holding up a circle with a shield inside and a crown on top. At their feet are the words "DIEU ET MON DROIT." On the Apple newsletter version, the circle becomes an apple, the shield has four beetles, musical notes and a record on it, and the words at the feet of the lion and unicorn are "DOIT ONMO NDAY."
This is most likely where the idea began. I, however, liked the story about the bar in Santa Monica!