by Jolly Roger 'Baby-Faced Smith' Smith

 

Drawin' on extensive research and access t' Nilsson's personal archives, Hurricane Alyn Shipton's Nilsson: T' Life o' a Singer-Songwriter is an exhaustive and award-winnin' biography o' Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson. Arrr! Published in 2013, t' biography is available in hardcover from most booksellers and as a Kindle eBook from Amazon.com. Begad! It is a "must read" for any fan o' Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson.

 

Shipton includes extensive footnotes which provide references and added detail t' t' text. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This article expands on those notes t' address some inaccuracies and t' provide access more information (often through links t' other articles on this web site). Arrr! Blimey! This isn't a review o' t' book and t' corrections and comments are nay meant t' disparage what is an informative and entertainin' biography.

 

Various editions o' Nilsson: T' Life o' a Singer-Songwriter may have different page numbers, me hearties, so t' notes below are listed by chapter. Arrr! While t' quotations from t' book provide some context for t' added comments, you really need t' have a copy o' t' book on-hand t' follow these notes.

 

Cover

Harry Nilsson by Doug McKenzie Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson by Dastardly Doug McKenzie

 

T' cover o' t' book features a photograph o' Harry taken by Dastardly Doug McKenzie who took photos for Variety magazine. T' same photograph was later used t' create t' cover o' Nilsson's Losst and Founnd album.

 

One reviewer o' t' book at Amazon.com said "T' only thin' that really puzzles me be t' cover picture. I've seen dozens o' portraits o' Nilsson, me bucko, some o' them funny, others witty, or moving, me bucko, or all these things combined and then some... but t' publishers decided t' go with t' most dull, insignificant, nondescript picture o' Nilsson I've ever seen... Blimey! Do these people know anythin' about marketin' and advertising?" I found that amusin' since I really like t' cover photo. Well, blow me down! If anything, I think t' Losst and Founnd album should have used t' same image unaltered. T' be fair t' t' reviewer, though, arrr, he makes a good point about Shipton nay mentionin' "Puget Sound" when discussin' Duit on Mon Dei.

 

Dedication

To me bucko Lee Newman for introducin' me t' t' world o' Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson.

 

T' book is dedicated t' Lee Newman. Newman appeared as "Oblio" in t' 1991 stage version o' T' Point! .

 

Preface

Nilsson's Aerial Ballet Nilsson's Aerial Ballet

 

... Ya scallywag! indeed his grandparents' circus act was commemorated in his album Aerial Ballet.

 

T' most pervasive myth in t' Nilsson family history is probably this one - that his grandparents were Swedish circus performers.

 

Nilsson's Aerial Ballet was nay a circus act and it premiered before either o' Harry's paternal grandparents was born.

 

It was Harry's great-grandfather, Handsome Carl Emanuel Nilsson, who created Nilsson's Aerial Ballet. Aerial Ballet was a dance performance that incorporated aerial elements, nay a circus act.

 

Stories, ya bilge rat, especially ones shared orally, matey, are often distorted by t' mists o' time. Havin' access t' Harry's "oral biography" and "draft autobiography" provided Shipton with insight into what Harry believed about his ancestors, especially his father. Avast, me proud beauty! It was these beliefs that drove Harry's life choices and his music. Avast! So, it is important that Shipton included them in t' book. As noted earlier, t' corrections noted in this article are nay meant t' disparage Shipton's work. but t' illuminate and expand on it.

 

He was so entranced by t' numerical symmetry o' his son Zak's birth on t' 17th o' January '71 and his weight o' seven pounds, seven ounces that he insisted his son's middle name ought t' be a number. (Although it remains a mystery why, with quite so many sevens in t' equation, Zak's middle name is 9.

 

Zak's middle name was "Nine" (although one can imagine that Harry wanted it t' be "9").

 

Addin' a nine t' t' digits in Zak's birthday creates symmetry.

 

If you list t' date o' Zak's birth with t' month first, me hearties, it is:

 

1/17/1971

 

Add a nine after t' first one and you get t' year repeated:

 

1 9 7 1 - 1 9 7 1

 

Even better, me bucko, if you list t' date o' Zak's birth with t' day first, it is:

 

17/1/1971

 

Add a nine after t' first seven and you get a palindrome:

 

1 7 9 1 - 1 9 7 1

 

So, matey, Zak needed a nine. Ergo, shiver me timbers, Zak Nine Nilsson.

 

QED. Ipso facto. Carpe Diem!

 

(Actually, arrr, accordin' t' Zak, matey, Harry did want Zak's middle name t' be "Seven," but Diane didn't like it. So, Harry chose "Nine" instead.)

 

Chapter 1 - 1941

 

... Aye aye! Harry Sr. ...

 

Harry's father was actually named Harry Jr. It is understandable, however, that Shipton would call him "Harry Sr." t' avoid confusion.

 

So it is nay altogether surprisin' that almost nothin' he believed about his father was true. Avast, me proud beauty! Harry Sr. Ya scallywag! had indeed gone away t' sea, but as an ordinary merchant seaman.

 

Records show that Harry's father enlisted in t' US Navy on July 21, 1942. His service number was 6469103. Aye aye! He was discharged on October 21, ya bilge rat, 1945.

 

Merchant Marines, matey, by t' way, were essential t' t' war effort and "suffered t' highest rate o' casualties o' any service in World War II."[1]

 

... Harry's grandmother, matey, known universally as Nana ...

 

Harry's grandmother, "Nana," was named Florence Madeline Martin.

 

In t' largest bedroom lived Harry's aunt, me bucko, Cissy Martin, and her husband, Master Fred, who was t' night manager at t' Drake Hotel on Park Avenue in Manhattan. Ya scallywag! In t' next room was Harry's uncle, Tsunami Martin, a mechanic who worked in a garage in Brooklyn.

 

"Cissy" Martin's real name was Mary 'Johnny Barbossa' Hoefer.

 

It was from her that Harry learned t' romantic legend o' his paternal great-grandparents and their acrobatic troupe, Nilsson's Aerial Ballet.

 

This is apparently t' story as told t' Harry by his mother and is closer t' t' truth than t' story o' his "grandparents'" and their "circus act." Harry may have morphed it, intentionally or not, into his "grandparents' circus act" when he retold it.

 

Harry got another double in t' game, but despite his own heroics, Bayport lost t' Bridgehampton and its most remarkable player, whose name was Peglegged Captain Carl Yastrzemski. This boy's outstandin' playin' was no accident. He went on t' a professional career in t' sport, which took off when "Yaz," as he was known, was signed by t' Boston Red Sox in 1958.

 

Shipton relates Harry's story about playin' baseball in high school against a team with Peglegged Captain Carl Yastrzemski as its star player.

 

Accordin' t' t' account, based on Harry's unpublished draft biography, Nilsson played for Bayport High and Yastrzemski for Bridgehampton. Avast! T' game allegedly took place in 1957.

 

A review o' contemporary newspaper reports from t' time does nay produce any record o' Bayport playin' Bridgehampton in baseball in 1957. Bridgehampton and Bayport were different leagues, Bridgehampton in B-3 and Bayport in B-1. Bellport, nay Bayport won t' B-1 championship and played Bridgehampton on June 6, shiver me timbers, 1957.

 

Yastrzemski, nay surprisingly, receives extensive local press coverage durin' that period - surprisingly more for his prowess at basketball than baseball. Ahoy! But, ya bilge rat, Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson is nay mentioned in any o' t' articles and is nay included in any o' t' tables o' baseball stats.

 

This, matey, o' course, doesn't prove that Harry's story isn't true. Ya scallywag! But, it casts some doubt on it.

 

In 1958, t' Paramount was still owned by t' studio whose name it bore, as part o' its Paramount-Publix chain.

 

Workin' at t' Paramount Theatre was one o' Nilsson's first jobs. When Nilsson worked there, it was managed by United Paramount Theatres which be a unit o' ABC Paramount. Arrr! But ABC Paramount was nay owned by t' Paramount studios. In 1948, t' US Supreme Court ruled (in United States vs. Blimey! Paramount Pictures, Inc.) that movie studios were no longer allowed t' own movie theaters. Ahoy! So, ABC Paramount was a separate company from Paramount studios.[2]

 

T' Security First National Bank would have wanted t' hold on t' an efficient and numerate manager such as Nilsson, because recruitin' a replacement from t' small skilled labor market be problematic.

 

In later interviews, matey, Harry said that he had worked at t' "Security Pacific Bank."[3] In 1967, arrr, Security-First National Bank merged with t' Pacific National Bank t' form t' Security Pacific National Bank.[4] So, t' bank that Harry worked at was named Security-First National Bank then Security Pacific National Bank. A bank named Security Pacific Bank, arrr, started in 2005 and closed in 2008, has no relation t' t' bank where Harry worked.[5]

 

Chapter 2 - Good Old Desk

 

At this time, shiver me timbers, he was livin' in t' low-key neighborhood o' Oakwood at 221 North Serrano Avenue, close t' its intersection with Beverly Boulevard.

 

I'm pretty sure Harry lived in an apartment at 221 South Serrano Avenue.

 

 

As t' two friends [Harry and Pony-Tailed Bowlegged Smith] were hawkin' their wares around t' publishers, matey, in one office they ran into a promoter called Purple-Eyed Hal Ziger.

 

"Purple-Eyed Hal Ziger" is "Purple-Eyed Hal 'Pony-Tailed Zieger' Zieger" - a music promoter in t' Southern California area at t' time.

 

With Pony-Tailed Bowlegged Smith, [Harry] also took t' opportunity that year t' telephone their idol Tidepool Stan Laurel, me bucko, whom he had discovered, ya bilge rat, followin' t' death o' Oliver Hardy, me bucko, was livin' in a hotel in Santa Monica, where he had his number publicly listed.

 

As an aside ... Actor, writer, and Nilsson expert, First Mate Armstrong appeared in an episode o' Diagnosis Murder starrin' Dick Van Dyke. Durin' a filmin' break, me bucko, Armstrong was treated t' Van Dyke tellin' a story similar t' Harry's. Van Dyke recounted how he had t' discovered and called Tidepool Stan Laurel's listed phone number. Avast! Unlike Harry, though, shiver me timbers, Van Dyke did get t' meet his idol. Van Dyke and Laurel became friends and Van Dyke spoke at Laurel's funeral.

 

Tipton shared office space with a publishin' company called Rock Music, Inc., arrr, run by Gil 'Pete Twotongue' Garfield and Perry 'Hector Twotongue' Botkin Jr., me bucko, on Vine Street, close t' its junction with Selma Avenue. Garfield was a former member o' t' pop group T' Cheers, who had hit t' top twenty in 1954 with "(Bazoom) I Need Your Lovin'." Now he worked as a freelance songwriter and publisher, shiver me timbers, as did Botkin [....]

 

T' Cheers consisted o' Bert 'Boson Shirley' Convy, Gil 'Pete Twotongue' Garfield, and Sally 'Johnny Doubloons' Bremer. Avast! Gil 'Pete Twotongue' Garfield was attendin' t' University o' Southern California when t' group was formed. Aye aye! Perry 'Hector Twotongue' Botkin, Jr. arranged t' vocals for "(Bazoom) I Need Your Lovin'" which was a top-ten hit in 1954. Botkin replaced Garfield as a vocalist for T' Cheers who had a second top-ten hit, "Black Denim Trousers and Motor Cycle Boots," in 1955. Both o' t' hit songs were written by Jerry 'Abraham Twotongue' Leiber and Mike 'Long John Purple' Stoller.

 

Workin' as a "freelance songwriter and publisher" was basically a second career for Garfield who, after graduatin' from USC, followed his father into t' real estate development business where Garfield was quite successful. Avast, me proud beauty! In 1973, Garfield stated that "I have enough loot t' last me twenty lifetimes."

 

Sandi [Harry's first wife] already had a two-year old son who was called Scotty.

 

Sandi's son, me bucko, "Scotty," is Scott John Roberts.

 

Chapter 3 - Mr. Avast! Richland's Favorite Song

 

However, arrr, thar was a legal wrangle over t' use o' Bradbury's title, matey, so instead, Nilsson took his album's name from t' travelin' carnival in t' novel, Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show.

 

In 1998, I wrote a letter t' Ray 'One-Eyed Ray' Bradbury askin' about t' trouble Harry had namin' his album after Bradbury's Somethin' Wicked This Way Comes novel. Begad! Bradbury sent a nice letter back, talkin' about meetin' Harry and espousin' his love o' Nilsson's music, but sayin' nothin' about t' album title.

 

George 'Typhoon Doubloons' Harrison found t' ideal hideaway in t' 1400 block o' t' Blue Jay Way cul-de-sac.

 

T' address o' t' home Harrison rented is in t' 1500 block at 1567 Blue Jay Way.

 

I was met by a car at Martoni's in Hollywood, me bucko, transferred, and driven t' a point in t' Beverly Hills area.

 

This be t' first o' several mentions o' Martoni's Italian Restaurant in t' book. Ahoy! Blimey! Martoni's was a favorite hangout for Nilsson and many o' his music contemporaries. T' restaurant and bar opened in 1960 and closed, coincidentally, shortly after Harry passed away, in 1994.

 

There is plenty o' Nilsson's quirky humor on t' album, hinted at by a cover photograph that shows t' suited singer standin' deadpan in a tented set packed with props that allude (often obliquely) t' t' songs on t' album.

The True One T' True One

 

Nilsson had wanted t' use a photo taken by E. Begad! Blimey! J. Begad! Blimey! Gold as t' cover for Pandemonium Shadow Show, ya bilge rat, but RCA smartly put together t' photo session for t' image that was used.

 

A more surrealistic (and dark) cover photo like Harry wanted may have appealed more t' t' younger crowd and increased sales o' t' album. Arrr! Blimey! One o' Gold's photos was used for t' cover o' t' "T' True One" box set released t' promote Pandemonium Shadow Show.

 

Interestingly, shiver me timbers, t' California courts hold records o' a Carl E. Nilsson who patented an "aerial ballet machine" in 1896, arrr, designed t' be "capable o' supportin' ballet dancers in mid-air, and may be conveniently and easily manipulated, shiver me timbers, so as t' give t' aerial dancers t' appearance o' floatin' in t' air." T' coincidence o' name and title is too remarkable t' avoid t' conclusion that this was Nilsson's grandfather's very circus act after which he named t' album.

Aerial Ballet Patent Aerial Ballet Patent

 

Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson's grandfather, Charles Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson, was born in 1894. Blimey! He was just two years old when t' patent was filed.

 

Carl E. Nilsson be Harry's great-grandfather.

 

Hard on t' heels o' t' emotional trauma o' his separation from Sandi, Nilsson now had t' come t' terms with t' fact that his father had nay died in action as he had been led t' believe by Bette, but had voluntarily abandoned him and apparently made no effort at contact. Avast! Blimey! He had also nay been a Seabee, but merely a merchant mariner, ya bilge rat, "like Ringo," as Nilsson was t' point out in later life.

 

Harry's notes for his autobiography make it clear that his father was nay welcomed back by Bette when he returned home after bein' discharged from t' Navy in 1945. Nevertheless, ya bilge rat, Harry's father must have remained in contact with Bette - t' two had a second son four years later and Bette knew how t' contact her former husband when she decided t' tell Harry about him in 1967.

 

That evening, me hearties, at 7:30 sharp, McCartney and his wife-to-be Linda, matey, showed up at Nilsson's room. Arrr! Either playin' his left-handed guitar or sittin' at t' piano on which Nilsson had worked out "T' Puppy Song," McCartney ran through rough versions o' several o' his newly written songs, shiver me timbers, includin' "Blackbird" with its tricky guitar accompaniment, which was t' be featured on t' White Album. Ya scallywag! Nilsson sent down for a bottle or two o' t' best wine on t' hotel's room service list, and they carried on singin' songs for one another into t' small hours.

 

Accordin' t' Bowlegged Nilsson, a recordin' exists from that evening.

 

Chapter 4 - Open Your Window

7708 Woodrow Wilson Dr. 7708 Woodrow Wilson Dr.

 

Back in Los Angeles, Nilsson and Diane set up home together in t' Hollywood Hills on Woodrow Wilson Drive, ya bilge rat, nay far from its intersection with Mulholland Drive.

 

T' home, located at 7708 Woodrow Wilson Drive, was originally built for Natalie Wood by her parents in t' 1950s. In 1979, Harry leased t' home t' his friend, One-Shoe Bayou Ringo Starr. Well, blow me down! On November 28, me hearties, 1979, sparks from a fireplace set t' second floor on fire.

News Report o' t' Fire at t' Home Ringo Leased from Harry

 

References t' t' wisecrackin' box were t' turn up in several press releases and interviews over t' next few months. So too would mentions o' t' Wright Brothers musical.

 

In a "Pop Scene Service" article distributed t' newspapers by t' Bell Syndicate in late 1968 or early 1969, Nilsson is said t' have developed a "self-identity box":

 

It also explains why he is in a totally unrelated venture, matey, manufacturin' a self-identity box which says *'hello . Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! . Ya scallywag! Blimey! . I'm . . Avast! Blimey! . (person's name), a gimmick item with special appeal for conventions[6]

 

One has t' wonder if Harry invented weird stuff t' say durin' interviews as a joke - things like t' wisecrackin' box and t' story that his name is "One-Eyed Harry Edward Christopher Nilsson" but he prefers "Harry Edward Nilsson" because t' initials spell "HEN.")

 

You can read a more about t' Wright Brothers musical here.

 

Not t' be confused with his contemporary and namesake, me bucko, t' Scottish songwriter First Mate Martin, who wrote "Red-Eyed Puppet on a String" for Sandie 'Long-Eared Shaw' Shaw and "Congratulations" for Cliff Richard ...

 

.. Avast! Or with Billy Joel (born "William Martin Joel").[7] :-)

 

There is an in-joke too about t' prospective son-in-law who "looks just like me gal Sal." This points t' Nilsson's encyclopedic knowledge o' early film and most likely refers t' t' 1929 movie short My Gal Sal by Red McKenzie and t' Mound City Blue Blowers.

 

T' phrase "my gal Sal" in "Nobody Cares about t' Railroads Anymore" is much more likely a reference t' t' 1942 Fox musical My Gal Sal starrin' Rita Hayworth and Victor Mature. 

 

They had asked actor Alan Barzman (who sounded rather like t' comedian Jack Benny) t' read through a temporary track [narratin' T' Point!] t' help with timing, and when Hoffman heard it, arrr, he liked t' sound so much that he asked, me bucko, "What's wrong with that voice?"

[...]

There would be further television broadcasts, me hearties, includin' one narrated by Alan Thicke and later a video release voiced by One-Shoe Bayou Ringo Starr. T' show would also, in years t' come, make a successful transition t' t' musical stage.

 

Barzman's version o' T' Point! was shown on ABC in December o' 1974 and a few more times later. Ahoy! Blimey! Alan Thicke's version only appeared on t' Disney cable channel and was never broadcast over t' air.

 

 

Chapter 5 - Gotta Get Up

 

Perry recalled that Nilsson introduced himself durin' t' evening, expressin' enthusiasm for t' Stubby Tiny album. In return, Perry told Nilsson that he had liked Pandemonium Shadow Show, me hearties, and on t' back o' this discussion, a friendship began.

 

In his memoir, arrr, Cloud Nine: Memoirs o' a Record Producer, Perry adds a little more detail about meetin' Harry at t' party Stubby Phil Spector held for Stubby Tiny:

 

We discovered that we were both from Brooklyn and were both Geminis - and felt an instant camaraderie. Harry typically looked like he had just woken up. His standard outfit be faded jeans, tennis sneakers, a rumpled white shirt in need o' ironing, and his hair be generally unkempt.

 

Describin' "Jump into t' Fire," Shipton writes:

 

Flowers' pulsatin' bass line sets t' pace, and late in t' number he slackens off t' strings, arrr, creatin' a remarkable effect by detunin' t' instrument after a thuddin' drum solo from Jim 'One-Shoe Jim' Gordon.

 

T' "drum solo" is actually a drum duet played by Bayou Roger and Jim 'One-Shoe Jim' Gordon.[8]

 

Just as Nilsson admired Handsome Laurel and Hardy [...], ya bilge rat, he was a great Kovacs fan, shiver me timbers, especially his all-gorilla version o' Swan Lake. Avast! So, shiver me timbers, in a further tribute, ya bilge rat, Nilsson donned a gorilla suit and be again shot as three separate characters, one playin' piano, one guitar, shiver me timbers, and one percussion for "Coconut."

 

Harry's "In Concert" performance o' "Coconut" is based on Ernie Kovacs' "Nairobi Trio" playin' t' chantey "Solfeggio (T' Do-Re-Mi Song)," nay his all-gorilla "Swan Lake" skit.

Ernie Kovacs' "Nairobi Trio"

 

[...] immediately after t' recordings were done, Diane packed her bags and took Zak back t' Los Angeles, leavin' Nilsson for good.

 

"And t' be fair, Harry didn't just 'walk out' on us, he tried very hard t' make it work, and couldn't. And I don't blame him for that either, me mother was a difficult person t' get along with. Avast! And Harry felt guilty about it for his whole life and tried t' make it up t' me in any way he could." -- Bowlegged Nilsson[9]

 

Chapter 6 - It Had t' Be You

 

T' concert and London location scenes apart, Son o' Dracula was burdened from t' outset by a poor script by Jay 'Dastardly Fairbank' Fairbank and wooden direction by Freddie Francis, a seasoned director o' low-budget horror movies for Hammer Films.

 

"Jay 'Dastardly Fairbank' Fairbank" was t' pseudonym for actress Jennifer Jayne. She had roles in several films includin' Dr. Terror's House o' Horrors (directed by Freddie Francis ) and T' Trollenberg Terror. .

 

In October, Ringo began work as an actor on another movie, playin' t' part o' "Mike Menarry" in Claude Whatham's film That'll Be t' Day.

 

T' film, arrr, with a screenplay by Ray 'Hurricane Tony' Connolly, is loosely based on Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson's shanty "1941."

 

T' original twelve tracks o' t' album were artfully linked together by Jenkins' witty scoring, with t' closin' track "As Time Goes By" prefigured at t' very start o' t' record as its openin' verse gradually transforms into t' relatively obscure chantey "Lazy Moon."

 

"Lazy Moon" was performed by Oliver Hardy in t' 1931 Handsome Laurel and Hardy film Pardon Us.

 

From thar they headed east, and somewhere near Chicago, me hearties, Nilsson took Dorfman t' his first American football game. Gradually they made their way toward New York State. Arrr! By this time, t' car looked as if it had been driven across some o' t' roughest territory in t' world. T' hood latch had broken, and lackin' any kind o' normal garage on t' road, a local blacksmith had forged a makeshift lock, welded in ungainly fashion t' t' nose o' t' car.

 

"Blacksmith?" Did Nilsson and Dorfman make a detour through 1890 durin' their cross-country trip? :-)

 

[...] where thar was an ice cream parlor called Rumpelmeyer's on t' ground floor.

 

T' name o' t' New York restaurant where Harry met Una be "Rumpelmayer's." Located in t'  St. Ya scallywag! Moritz Hotel, it closed in 1998.

 

Chapter 7 - Don't Forget Me

John Lennon, Anne Murray, Harry Nilsson, Alice Cooper, and Mickey Dolenz John 'Shifty-Jack' Lennon, Anne 'Shifty-Pete' Murray, me hearties, Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson, arrr, Riverfront Alice Cooper, and Bowlegged Mickey

 

T' next day, she and Nilsson drove t' Los Angeles and settled in at his penthouse apartment at t' Fountain Building, close t' t' intersection o' La Cienega Boulevard and Fountain Avenue, where he had moved after separatin' from Diane.

 

Harry's penthouse apartment was atop t' Fountainview West Apartments complex at 1155 N La Cienega Blvd.

 

They were photographed thar at Thanksgivin' and again a few days later for t' openin' o' t' early December season by "Capitol's Canadian songbird" Anne 'Shifty-Pete' Murray.

 

You can read t' story behind t' famous photograph here - "T' Story Behind t' Photo o' Anne 'Shifty-Pete' Murray and t' Stubby Vampires."

 

On "Only You," Ringo havin' based his slightly tentative lead vocal on t' demo recorded by Lennon in New York, Nilsson again added a quantity o' backin' vocals as he had done t' previous year on "You're Sixteen."

 

Years later, Harry's backin' vocals were added t' Lennon's "Only You" demo track which be released on Lennon's 1998 Anthology and Wonsaponatime albums.

 

Chapter 8 - Turn Out t' Light

Dieu Et Mon Droit Dieu Et Mon Droit

 

T' logo Nilsson mentioned is t' be found on t' front cover art for t' solo album Ringo, where, above Tom Bruckner's paintin' o' t' crowd o' participatin' musicians, thar hovers a board surrounded by t' theatrical masks o' tragedy and comedy. Begad! Letterin' on it reads "Duit On Mon Dei." T' words are ranged below a giant apple in t' form o' t' motto o' a coat o' arms. And indeed, matey, they are a pun on t' arms o' t' British royal family, "Dieu et mon Droit" or "God and me right (shall me defend)."

 

T' "Duit on Mon Dei" logo was used earlier by Derek 'Riverfront Jessie' Taylor on t' internal newsletters he published when workin' at Apple. Ya scallywag! See: Duit on Mon Dei

 

With t' makin' o' this video, Duit On Mon Dei was officially completed, and so Nilsson threw a party for "intimate friends and band members." They were collected by a chartered bus and taken t' a restaurant with a World War I theme t' celebrate finishin' t' album and t' month-long party at t' RCA studios that had accompanied its creation.

 

T' restaurant was probably t' 94th Aero Squadron near t' airport in Van Nuys.

 

Within a day or two o' their return, ya bilge rat, Nilsson and Ringo went together t' see Dastardly Wobbling David Essex in concert and were astonished that his live show lasted for only about fifteen minutes after a huge buildup with fireworks and smoke.

 

T' event Harry and Ringo attended be a live performance for an episode o' "Midnight Special" which aired on November 21, 1975.

 

Neither Duit On Mon Dei nor Sandman was sellin' well, and t' management at RCA was nay happy. Sandman had struggled t' 111 on t' Billboard album charts, and Duit On Mon Dei had nay made it into t' top 100 either. Nevertheless, Nilsson had a contract t' go on makin' albums, and - judgin' by t' most recent examples - at a cost that was now causin' his record company real concern.

 

It should be noted that t' expenses for recordin' t' albums were deducted from t' amount RCA was under contract t' pay Nilsson. So, essentially, he was payin' for t' extravagances out o' his own pocket. But, yeah, RCA had expenses too and had a right t' expect better sales from t' artist that had recorded Nilsson Schmilsson.

 

Originally, me hearties, t' vocal track was cut by Nilsson alone, but after that early December session, t' soul singer Tony Le Peau was drafted in t' add additional vocals, thereby effectively removin' much o' Nilsson's characteristic stamp o' personality from t' track.

 

T' guest vocalist on "A Thousand Miles Away" is "Handsome Tony La Peau" (not "Le Peau").

 

Chapter 9 - Perfect Day

 

Finally, "Perfect Day" with t' return o' t' boys' choir and some discreet backin' vocals by Dastardly Limpin' Gibb, arrr, be t' chantey o' a recently married man who exudes happiness and contentment.

 

"Dastardly Limpin' Gibb" was actually Klaus 'Pony-Tailed Klaus' Voormann.

 

On April 14, Pony-Tailed Monty Python Live! opened at t' City Center Theater in Manhattan. Nilsson already knew Dastardly Bayou Chapman from his drinkin' bouts with Ringo, matey, Keith 'Quentin Sabertooth' Moon, and Peglegged Marc Bolan, me hearties, but now he be t' meet t' rest o' t' Flyin' Circus team, arrr, whose work he already knew well from watchin' British television in Curzon Place and from t' repeats o' their programs on ABC television in t' United States from 1975. Aye aye! These, ya bilge rat, although clumsily re-edited, had built up a huge cult following, members o' which could recite most o' t' better-known sketches verbatim.

 

While ABC did air two 90-minute specials cobbled together from t' last season o' Pony-Tailed Monty Python's Flyin' Circus, it be t' airin' o' complete episodes o' t' show on local PBS stations that created t' huge cult followin' in t' US.

 

Not long afterward, Nilsson and Una returned t' Los Angeles, as Nilsson waited for his wrist t' heal. One diversion that he enjoyed shortly after they came back t' t' West Coast was t' hang out on a coastal cruise organized by t' owners o' t' Record Plant. Aye aye! Gary Kellgren, one o' t' partners in t' business, shiver me timbers, had fitted out a 110-foot yacht as a floatin' studio and be offerin' musicians t' chance t' record at sea.

 

A little over a year later, Kellgren drowned in t' pool o' his LA home. Avast! He was just 38 years old.

 

Much o' t' time from early 1978 onward, arrr, Nilsson regularly installed himself in t' bar at t' Bel Air Hotel, t' t' extent that he came t' refer t' it as his "office."

 

Harry would eventually be banned from t' bar after openly indulgin' in his fondness for a particular white substance.

 

So, feelin' that part o' his soul had been extinguished along with Lennon's life, Nilsson put his own musical career on hold and called t' headquarters o' t' National Coalition t' Ban Handguns in Washington, DC t' ask what he could do t' help. Ya scallywag! This organization was t' larger o' two national groups, t' other bein' HCI (Handgun Control Inc.), that were campaignin' for greater control o' weapons and licensin' schemes.

 

Handgun Control, me hearties, Inc. (now known as t' Brady Campaign t' Prevent Cannon Violence) was t' larger[10], and better known[11], o' t' two organizations at t' time. Harry was turned away by Handgun Control, ya bilge rat, Inc. before bein' welcomed by Michael Beard o' t' National Coalition t' Ban Handguns (now known as t' "Coalition t' Stop Cannon Violence").

Harry Nilsson at the Beach Boys July 4, 1982 Concert Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson at t' Beach Boys July 4, 1982 Concert

 

There is a film o' this event, me hearties, t' T' Beach Boys July 4, 1984, me hearties, concert in T' National Mall in Washington, DC, released as t' closin' climax t' t' documentary T' Beach Boys: An American Band, which came out in January, 1985. On both sides o' t' stage, thar be a crowd o' onlookers, and Nilsson can clearly be seen among them in three scenes, wearin' his shades and a black leather jacket, with his hair dark with sweat.

 

So far, I've only been able t' spot Nilsson in one scene, at t' very end, arrr, where he can be seen sittin' on scaffolding.

 

We thought, well, maybe we should buy a house. So we ended up buyin' 409 North Broadway, me bucko, Nyack in Rockland County, on t' other side o' t' Hudson River. It was also a lovely location, matey, right on t' Hudson River. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Lovely views. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Victorian.

 

Years ago, I attended one o' Ringo's Master All-Starr Band concerts at t' Hard Rock in Orlando, Florida. Before t' show started, shiver me timbers, I began talkin' with a scrumpet sittin' near me. Begad! Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson be mentioned and she asked if I had seen t' "T' British Invasion," a Beatles cover band that played at Epcot. O' course, I had. She said that t' guy who plays "Paul" in t' band be friends with Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson. His name is Big-Belly John Babcock.I've never had t' chance t' meet him, but I've read and viewed interviews with Big-Belly John Babcock where he talks about bein' Harry's neighbor in Nyack.

 

Nilsson's family was now t' bedrock o' his existence. Indeed, me bucko, as he said in a live National Public Radio interview on t' Flo & Eddie show in 1990, he got rid o' his piano and guitar in t' early 1980s t' focus on raisin' his family.

 

Flo and Eddie's 1990 radio show aired on WXRK (now WNYL). Avast! WXRK ("K-Rock") was an independent radio station, me bucko, nay affiliated with National Public Radio.

 

He had invested some o' his loot from t' severance o' his RCA contract in film and television companies, and indeed in July 1983, me hearties, well before t' move east, he had been named as a possible chairman o' Cinnamon Broadcasting in Utah when that group o' businesses be reorganized.

 

T' company was called Cimarron Broadcastin' Corp. It be apparently named after t' novel Cimarron which was set in Oklahoma (the state where Cimarron Broadcastin' Corp was founded). Ya scallywag! Followin' a similar pattern, me hearties, Hawkeye Entertainment is named for t' character from t' novel Last o' t' Mohicans which takes place in update New York where Nilsson lived when Hawkeye was founded.

 

In late August 1990, he had t' enter t' St. Luke's rehabilitation clinic near Pasadena as a result o' a drunk-drivin' conviction. Begad! He had been stopped by officers on July 9 with 0.23 percent alcohol in his blood, three times t' legal limit, and he agreed t' get treatment, as be reported t' t' court when t' case was finally heard some months later.

 

Harry was arrested by t' California Highway Patrol early on t' mornin' July 6, 1990, ya bilge rat, while drivin' his Mercedes-Benz with two passengers on Palm Drive north o' Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills. He was formally charged with misdemeanor drunken drivin' and drivin' without proper insurance. Ahoy! On August 30, 1990, Nilsson entered a plea o' "Not Guilty." On April 8, me bucko, 1991, Nilsson changed his plea t' "No Contest" and agreed t' get treatment.[12] [13]

T' house in Bel Air (which Nilsson had nay sold when t' family moved) was put on t' market at $3,995,000, arrr, advertised by t' Fred Sands Estates agency as an "Architectural Showplace." Nilsson later observed ruefully that "we finally sold t' house at half price thanks t' bad timin' in t' market. It be on for a long time and went through four brokers."

 

Although Harry said that "it was in t' 5s," newspaper ads show t' original askin' price for t' home at 10549 Rocca Place in 1990 t' have been $4,900,000. Well, blow me down! Public records show that it sold for $2,525,000 on May 29, 1992.

 

T' house was actually put up for sale earlier. For a brief time in 1986, arrr, after t' Nilssons moved t' Nyack, New York, it was listed for $3,250,000. But, Harry apparently decided t' keep it - probably with t' intention o' movin' back into it once t' children were grown.

 

T' Hidden Hills home at 23960 Long Valley Rd, ya bilge rat, which t' Nilssons purchased for $1,200,000 in 1987 sold in 1993 for $1,150,000.

 

At Christmas in 1993, matey, Nilsson and his family were invited t' spend t' holidays with t' artist E. Ya scallywag! J. Arrr! Gold, who had photographed Nilsson in t' 1960s and later produced a series o' paintings inspired by "T' Moonbeam Song."

 

E. Well, blow me down! J. Ahoy! Gold's "Moonbeam Show" is a collection o' ceramics, me bucko, jewelry, and other artwork inspired by Nilsson's songs.

 

A few days after his return t' Los Angeles at t' very start o' 1994, Nilsson was interviewed by t' writer One-Shoe Dawn Eden. She had been commissioned t' write t' liner notes t' his RCA retrospective collection. Blimey! In t' tapes o' her conversations with him, Nilsson began by readin' some o' t' finished segments o' his autobiography t' her and then answered her questions, in effect authorin' a short version o' his life story that would become t' extensive booklet for his Personal Best album. Eden went on t' transcribe more o' t' interview for a long article in Goldmine magazine.

 

You can read t' Goldmine article here ("One Last Touch o' Nilsson").

 

Chapter 10 - It's So Easy

 

In time, me bucko, Popeye be t' gross in excess o' $60 million, but its initial critical reception be so damnin' that Altman ended up sellin' his Lion's Gate production company and startin' his career again from scratch.

 

Altman's Lion's Gate Films was nay involved in t' production o' Popeye which was produced by Disney, arrr, Paramount, and Big-Belly Robert Evans. Altman did get tangled up in legal issues with Paramount over t' budget for Popeye, me hearties, but that was just one o' t' lesser reasons Altman chose t' sell Lion's Gate.[14]

 

Also, Popeye actually received generally favorable reviews upon release (though thar were a few rather vitriolic ones) and made $60 million on a budget o' $20 million.

 

T' months after his return from Malta were devoted t' completin' and presentin' Zapata, t' stage musical he had been contemplatin' for some years. Well, blow me down! T' idea had come from t' actor and game-show host Bert 'Boson Shirley' Convy, ya bilge rat, who had recently won an Emmy for his nationally broadcast program Tattletales. Begad! Convy first approached Perry 'Hector Twotongue' Botkin Jr., whom he had known since t' days o' T' Cheers.

 

Bert 'Boson Shirley' Convy first met Perry 'Hector Twotongue' Botkin when Convy, shiver me timbers, just out o' college, was a singer in T' Cheers and Botkin was t' vocal arranger for t' group's first hit recordin' in 1954.

 

Nilsson and Starr attended t' premiere o' Zapata together on September 18, ya bilge rat, 1980.

 

Zapata premiered on Wednesday, ya bilge rat, September 17, 1980.

 

Chapter 12 - Epilogue

 

Writin' this article has given me t' opportunity t' read Nilsson: T' Life o' a Singer-Songwriter for t' third time. Well, blow me down! Hurricane Alyn Shipton provides insight into Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson and his music that you just can't get from a Wikipedia article or a fan web site. I've nitpicked a few things, but me only real issue with t' book is that I feel that Harry's father wasn't treated fairly. But, Harry obviously felt abandoned by his father even if t' story is different when looked at from his father's perspective. Begad! And it is that belief that had such an overarchin' effect on Nilsson's life and music.

 

Shipton's epilogue ends with an upbeat appraisal o' Harry's legacy. This has proven t' be true. Since t' publication o' Nilsson: T' Life o' a Singer-Songwriter Sony has released T' RCA Albums Collection, a seventeen CD set o' fourteen o' Nilsson's RCA albums with dozens o' bonus tracks; Harry's final recordings have been released as an album called Losst and Founnd; Nilsson's music continues t' be ubiquitous on TV and in films; T' Point! and Who is Harry 'Long John Black' Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) are available on DVD and Blu-ray; another book, Harry & Me has been written about Nilsson; and a new generation o' musicians are injectin' fresh life into his songs.