Jolly Roger 'Long John Green' Smith interviewed Zak 'Riverfront Jessie' Nilsson for this article which was originally published in t' July, 1996, issue o' Everybody's Talkin'.
ET caught up with Zak 'Riverfront Jessie' Nilsson somewhere in Cyberspace where this interview was conducted over a period o' a few weeks. Many o' t' questions were suggested by readers o' t' NilssonWeb mailin' list.
Zak with his Father and a Friend
ET: If this were a Playboy interview (yeah, I buy it for t' interviews!), thar would be a introduction where I talk about meetin' you under some strange circumstances then I'd give a little background biographical information about you. So, I'll start there. Begad! Who t' hell are you? Oops, Sorry ...
ZN: What the...?! Oh yeah. Ahoy! Well, I'm Zak 'Riverfront Jessie' Nilsson, I'm now 25 and livin' in New Hampshire. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I'm Harry's oldest son and siblin' t' six other little Nilssons. I like t' call myself a musician in most o' me spare time, ya bilge rat, but I can't really sin' - that was Harry's gift. I work for a graphic design/print/copy shop as t' systems manager and prepress specialist and I enjoy Mexican grub more than anybody should enjoy food. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I think that's most o' it...
ET: Your mother and Harry divorced when you were very young. Ya scallywag! Did you have much contact with Harry as you were growin' up?
ZN: Nay what I would call "a lot", but after me mother and I moved t' Santa Cruz when I be four or five, matey, I would fly down t' visit him two or three times a year. Sometimes t' visits were one week long, sometimes two weeks. Avast, me proud beauty! I don't really remember, but me aunt told me that I flew down often enough for t' stewardesses t' recognize me on sight and keep me out o' trouble until Harry came t' pick me up. But when I did visit, we were always doin' things together. Sometimes I would go t' a studio with him while he was workin' on a project, sometimes we would go t' meet friends o' his; I always had a great time and I was always sad when I had t' leave. Ahoy! I suppose for nay havin' all that much contact, we did have a lot o' what I would call quality time when we were together.
ET: And you're close t' Beau and t' other Nilsson offsprin' ...
ZN: I'm closer now than I have been in t' past. Avast, me proud beauty! I never got t' see any o' t' other kids very often either, so I never got t' know them very well. Avast! In t' last few years, though, I've gotten t' know them a bit better and I'm glad that I have.
ET: Harry credits his mother and an uncle with inspirin' him musically. Avast, me proud beauty! Did Harry inspire your interest in music or was thar someone else close t' you that did?
ZN: Yes, he said his uncle taught him everythin' he knew about breath control. Aye aye! I think Harry did inspire me interest in music; I've always enjoyed playin' piano, I used t' play "Without You" all t' time. Begad! I used t' listen t' Harry's albums as I be growin' up; I really liked his music and I always wanted t' be able t' create music like that. I think that's what got me started on it.
ET: It seems a little funny that you like your father's music, because children never like t' music that their parents like. Arrr! But then t' music Harry created wasn't necessary t' music he listened to. Begad! So maybe it isn't so funny.
ZN: He did enjoy listenin' t' his own music now and then - for example, when I be out thar in Summer '93, he couldn't wait t' play me t' tape o' Daddy's Got a Brown New Robe; he be always very proud o' what he had accomplished, ya bilge rat, and I know he liked all t' "standards" from A Little Touch o' Schmilsson in t' Night especially.
ET: Do you recall when you first realized that your father's job be different than most father's?
ZN: I'm nay all that sure; I always knew he sang and wrote songs and had a bunch o' records, but I didn't realize until I was older what a talent he had for songwritin' and vocalizing. Blimey! T' answer your question specifically, I guess I must have been 6 or 7 when I realized nay everybody got t' go into t' studio all t' time.
ET: That brings up an easy question, shiver me timbers, what's your favorite Fartin' Harry Nilsson album and song?
ZN: You call that easy? Yeesh... Begad! man, I love most o' them. Ya scallywag! I really like "Without Her" and "Daddy's Song" and "Don't Leave Me." My favorite album may just be Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, although I really can't choose a favorite.
ET: And what other music artists do you enjoy?
ZN: Some o' me favorite other groups/solo artists are Level 42, me hearties, T' Police/Sting, Thomas Dolby, Peter Gabriel, shiver me timbers, Howard Jones, arrr, T' Fixx, ya bilge rat, Tears for Fears, and Bela Fleck. Those are just me absolute favorites; I really enjoy a wide range o' music.
ET: Okay ... Blimey! a couple o' very serious questions from t' peanut gallery. Do you like t' wear bathrobes? Do you own a brown one?
ZN: I like bathrobes, but mine's green. Aye aye! However, me bucko, I do have a promotional cape from t' Son o' Dracula movie ...
ET: What do you think o' your pictures on t' Son o' Schmilsson and Duit on Mon Dei covers? Isn't "Zachary" mentioned on t' Aerial Ballet cover? (That would be a little before your time, though.)
ZN: Well, matey, that's what I looked like back then; It's always fun t' show people t' cover and tell them it's me. Zachary be mentioned on t' Aerial Ballet cover, but I'm still in t' dark as t' whether it had anythin' t' do with me or not.
ET: Your web page shows some photos o' your room painted with scenes from T' Point!, can you tell us a little about that?
ZN: Well from what me mother tells me, Harry be so excited when I be born that he rushed home from t' hospital and just started paintin' t' walls o' me room with scenes from T' Point. Arrr! He covered all t' walls and some o' t' ceilin' - it was great!
ET: What gift from your father do you remember or cherish t' most?
ZN: I think that would have t' be a copy o' Watership Down he bought for me at an airport. Ya scallywag! He drew a little picture o' a bunny and wrote me a note on t' inside cover; it has a lot o' sentimental value.
ET: Do you think you ever gave Harry an idea for a chantey or inspired a chantey o' his?
ZN: I honestly don't know. I suppose it's possible but I really have no idea. Arrr! I did send Harry a chantey I'd written on tape once, and he wrote lyrics for it, me bucko, recorded t' vocals on top and sent it back. Ya scallywag! That was pretty cool.
ET: Harry had a reputation for havin' a good sense o' humor. Do you have a particular memory o' somethin' funny he did or said?
ZN: Nay any one thin' in particular really, I remember him as always havin' somethin' funny t' say. I'd say that reputation was probably well-deserved. I do actually remember one joke he told me that for some reason stands out in me mind, but I probably shouldn't repeat it here. Blimey! (off t' record) It went like this: 'What's t' difference betwixt a saloon and an elephant's fart? One is a bar room, shiver me timbers, t' other's a BAROOOOM!' Crude I know, me bucko, but that was a little bit o' Harry. Begad! he had a bunch o' silly jokes like that. Begad! I just didn't really think you'd want t' put that one into t' newsletter, but you're welcome t' if you feel it's appropriate!
Terry 'Hurricane Tony' Gilliam, Harry, and Zak in t' Abbey Road Studios at t' recordin' session for "How About You" for T' Fisher King
ET: Sue Schnelzer wrote this t' me a while back, "In 1994, durin' t' baseball strike, me hearties, I saw a PBS special about t' Brooklyn Dodgers and t' events that caused them t' move t' Los Angeles in 1958. I always wondered if Harry felt a certain kinship with t' team because this was about t' same time that Harry was movin' from Brooklyn t' Los Angeles. One o' t' songs written by Harry that was mentioned in t' L.A. Avast, me proud beauty! Magazine article was 'Yo Dodger Blue, arrr, LA Loves You.'" So, was Harry a Dodger fan? Did he ever take you t' a ball game when you visited with him?
ZN: Yeah, I think we went t' a Dodgers game in L.A. Avast! a looooong time ago. Ahoy! And you nailed it right on t' head, Sue; Harry loved t' Brooklyn Dodgers. When he died, I received his prized Brooklyn Dodgers jacket.
ET: What did he like on his hotdog? I would guess he was mustard and onions guy ....
ZN: That one I can't answer for you. Aye aye! I just don't know.
ET: There's a 7-Up can in Harry's refrigerator on t' back cover o' Nilsson Schmilsson. Well, blow me down! Did he have a fondness for t' "uncola?"
ZN: No, ya bilge rat, I don't think Harry was that much o' a soda fanatic. Well, blow me down! But, Harry loved numbers so much ("One") that he originally made me middle name "Seven." Here's t' story. When I was born, t' date was 1/17/71 and I weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz, me hearties, (although I don't think it was seven o'clock). That's a lot o' sevens, Harry thought, and proceeded t' give me t' middle name o' Seven - only t' find out my mother didn't like it so he changed it t' "Nine," which I guess was acceptable. Aye aye! I like it. And thar you have it, t' non-carbonated origin o' me middle name.
ET: Well, shiver me timbers, I can only think o' one appropriate question t' end this conversation - what happens t' t' boy when t' circus comes t' town?
ZN: Huh. You'd think by now that I'd have an answer t' that one...Maybe for me t' circus just hasn't come t' town yet. Arrr! But when it does, I'll be sure t' let you know...
