Harry Nilsson - Mr. Richland's Favorite Song Lyrics

Best voice ever.

Always wondered if McCartney's "Dear friend" was inspired by this

How could 11 people give this a thumbs down....Neanderthals...no soul...barely a trace of heart!!!!! RIP Harry I ADORED YOU SINCE I WAS 16.....STILL LOVE YOU TODAY 67

I've loved Harry since his first album. Mid 60's, at a Hollywood record store. An endorsement sticker from John Lennon on the album helped the buying decision.

BEHOLD PAUL/FAUL MCCARTNEY. THE DODO. EARTH IS FLAT AND STILL. Aristarchus is revealed.

I just started listening to him last year and has instantly became a favorite. Why does no one talk about this music genius?

If you're interested you can watch the movie about Harry Nilsson. Available for downloading on one of the popular online video sites.

@Patrick Kitts Right here on YouTube you can watch "Who Is Harry Nilsson And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him?". Quite possibly the best biography film ever made.

I would love to meet the down voters just to murder them :) x

Mr. Richland's favorite opus. The loneliest opus is opus #1.

We miss you, Harry.

Why did you leave Harry?

The last 50 seconds of this clip are literally orgasmic to anyone who appreciates true vocal beauty.

The whole song is a masterful showcase of Nilsson's voice and songwriting skills. I love all of his work.

An absolutely incredible song-master gone far too soon........

I love to hear Harry sing...He has real soul and a memorable voice, incomparable vocal range, and the songwriting...WOW, just WOW!!!!

Absolutely gorgeous

I have enjoyed this man since 1969 Midnight Cowboy. Everybody's Talking About me. His I' d Rather be dead than wet the bed! Is fantastic....I'm 81

Never rushed for perfection. It all flows so fluid. Absolutely beautiful. What a remarkable talent he had. I once read he said " i just open my mouth and it just comes out. Nothing really to it." What came natural for him, others could never duplicate. To this day, nobody really makes me sit up and pay any attention. Sure, their are allot of wonderful singers out there. Harry's voice was an instrument of perfection. Listen to Life line from the BBC sessions. If that does not give you goose bumps, then your most likely not going to understand this thread...

+Barbarian The acoustic piano versions of his songs are especially beautiful and highlight his vocal abilities. I think he may have been working on an acoustic version of "Without You" for piano. I found a rough studio demo recording which I think would have been remarkable if it had been finished and perfected. I don't have a date for the demo, or if it was made after his vocal chord injury. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hZI6qJBvDE

I can see why lennon was fascinated with harry. I saw harry in 1982 beatles fest he looked really bad and drunk. I got pussycats lennon produced it wasent outstanding.but lennon was getting some innovative production sounds. life sent fair

Damn, been so long that he's been gone. Can't help feeling pissed that many don't even know him or of his contributions to those that they do know of and like.

great version of fantastic song.  There are some nice cover versions out there.  Cats of Sherman do a more rock oriented version.  I really like the Nilsson remixed version from Aerial Pandemonium Ballet

awesome

Possibly the best youtube video i've ever seen, what a voice!!!

this song gives me chills

Sad that Alcohol and Drugs took Harry from us, He had a great voice and a better personality... He was a great friend of John Lennon,,,,,,Even had a Cartoon on TV ,,, THE POINT.. It was funny ...

+Sir David Haddon So much more than a cartoon though, it was a full animated film, his concept. There were 2 versions, one with Dustin Hoffman narrating for the US release, and one with Ringo Starr for the UK version. You can find both to compare on YouTube. The voice of an angel.

thank goodness he realized he was about to screw up his voice and recorded the old standards...his manager and promo people told him it was bad timing and too soon.....guess not!

Harry was even better friends with Ringo. Both were the best man at each other's weddings. Lennon had to leave LA to escape Ringo and Harry's, along with their pal Keith Moon, level of debauchary. Which is really saying something when even a man like Lennon can't hang. There's a fascinating letter from Lennon to Phil Spector, known as the piss letter, that sheds some light on this.

Wow, didn't know that. That's really saying something. Would sure like to see that letter!

Do a google image search for "a matter of pee"

Oh. My. Dear. God. So amazing. It's unreal how soulful and beautiful Nilsson's voice is.

Achievement, melancholy, sorrow, and isolation are in this vocal performance. The realization of mortality in a nutshell.

a smattering of applause at the end  didn't they know they had just witnessed genius?

@daniel klodt There actually was no audience. The audience clips were put in the recording of this TV special. Harry never had a sizable audience and never did a concert ever. That's Ok when harry had no stage fright his artistry and ability shines!

@joe-hoarybat yeah  ide read somewhere he had severe stage fright  so the audience clips make sense  thanks

The Audience is a sample of his sense of humour. He was so Laurel and Hardy. Have you ever had a Brandy Alexander?

Our favorite song is "Me and My Arrow".

& who was The Walrus?

It's from Alice in Wonderland.

+Noah Zuniga-Williams true. koo-koo-kachew :)

+misstreebird It's a complicated lyric. Yes, it's from Alice in Wonderland, but it's also in a Beatles song when John Lennon sings I am the Walrus. He later regretted that, finding out the Walrus in the story was the bad guy, but he couldn't change it. To confuse matters further, the Beatles were in the early process of breaking up, so in the 1968 Beatles song "Glass Onion"
he sings, "I told you 'bout the walrus and me, man/You know that we're
as close as can be, man/Well here's another clue for you all/The walrus
was Paul"... McCartney and Lennon were the primary song writers for the group, but ended with a bitter feud. Harry was John's best friend for years. So... in the end... we still don't know what mystery Harry hints upon. No matter, it's still a great song, and segues into one of the most famous love songs of the time, "One', made a chart busting hit by 3 Dog Night.

The Walrus in the Alice poem represented the greedy capitalist who used trickery to take and hoard all the resources. Definitely could be read as a massive slam on Paul, considering that matches his reputation.

The dark boogeyman who so tortured poor Harry throughout his remarkable, musically-gifted, too-short life.

On Google Chrome, use 'Ok Google' and say "What is the Loneliest Number?"

He was comfortable there. God bless him. He was comfortable which is why the rapture kicked by ass. Thank you Harry. RIP.

@PetalumaPete Pretty sure that comment doesn't make sense man.

@max rakestraw I think he was high on Jesus and in the moment of watching Harry's passion

@JoradnLont
I guess so..  I never touch the stuff, it rots your brain. 

This is fucking beautiful. Why haven't i heard this before? Love it.

One of if not the greatest performance live I've ever seen

So dark and moody compared to the upbeat album versions

Fifth Beatle!

I wish.

I wish he was in the Beatles instead of John Lennon

@Adam Keenan Then The Beatles wouldn't exist. Plus, he and Lennon were friends.

@Adam Keenan His wife should have kept her mouth shut and did what she was told. Better yet.... she could have got a job and contributed instead of hemorrhaging his money on stupid shoes and purses.

I have watched this over and over and over and over... it's so good. What I wouldn't give for a proper DVD release of this special.

@litlnemo Have you seen his animated film "the Point?"

Oh it's a great work of animated art. And he did all the music. Both versions are available on here, if you search. The one with Ringo narrating the UK version, and the one with Dustin Hoffman narrating. Both good, just a little bit different.

Yes! I want high quality of all his video performances.  There aren't very many.  The documentary is excellent.  There are lots of lip sinc  videos on youtube, but the quality is usually poor and text on the screen.  very annoying.

I guess the Walrus eventually caught up with Nilsson...

+John Richardson Paul McCartney?

Daisy Rothschild Lennon

Incomparable Harry Nilsson! Such soul he gave in his lyrics and singing!! Thanks :)

the album version does not even compare

Couldn't agree more this is a million times better

One of best vocals I've ever heard on a track

Same with BBC version of 1941 and Without Her IMO

I enjoy this "live" version much more, but I also enjoy the circus vibe of the studio version a lot as well.

The version on Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (the "remix" album) is definitive for me. I love this, too, though. There's just not enough Nilsson and I'm grateful for all of it!

This live performance makes good to me! Thank You for sharing

when he skats at the end it makes my entire body shiver

Could sing amazingly, could play many instruments amazingly, could party amazingly. The rawest talent I have ever heard who was not born blind.

Absolutely u nailed it. Nobody and I mean no white singer, writer has ever had the talent Harry had. IMO he has no equal. I give the Beatles a big thank you for recognizing Harry and helping to bring him to the masses. I give a big booo for the people that booed Harry at a young age when he first performed for an audience which frightened him so much that it stuck with him which made him never perform a live concert.

Didn’t know that’s the reason he didn’t perform live. So sad

such a unique voice. such a loss...so many losses too, too early...

love love love this song this guys a true talent the videos awesome I could watch it all day hes so intent while hes performing goes to show you don't have to have explosions and 100 backup singers and dancers if the main show is quality to begin with the scat part is my fave!

To call him the fifth Beatle is a discredit, a stand alone genius.

Sometimes I cry because I wish he was still alive. He passed two years before I was born... if only I could've seen him live :/ rip you beautiful angel.

Thanks for sharing.........Love this song!

I tried looking in dictionary for a word to best describe this piece. I couldn't find one. I've never heard anything so beautiful to my ears. What a huge smile and tear this brought to my face. If you don't hear what I'm hearing, then you don't understand real music.

Thanks barbarian for your beatiful post about Harry....even 5 years ago it still holds true....really very little holds up ...but his genius is a constant!!!!!!

The 1 dislike is the loneliest number that you'll ever know

One of the best live performances ever. The transitioning between songs was nailed. Totally different songs joined very seamlessly. Nilsson on top of his game.

What a great artist - the 5th Beatle for sure

Elliot Smith looks like and writes like Harry Nilsson....not the other way around.

It's on youtube. of course you can. Google is your friend. RIP Harry.

powerful.I love you tube sometimes.

@teamcrumb Well, that would put you in the minority, with others who apparently fail to see the contributions they made to our popular culture, either as a group or as individuals. Additionally, Harry didn't die during an earthquake, he was buried during an earthquake.

@MAMsMom97 Yeh but The Monkees were utterly shit. They were a crap TV show that became a crap TV band. Its not a miracle that desperate old men try to find fame once more, but for beloved Harry who died during an earthquake, well it would be a miracle because he died!

@DavelovesRealMusic Nilsson never showed his art in public. You should see the dutch documentary about Nilsson and Lennon named "Uur van de Wolf"' Very nice.

@DavelovesRealMusic C'est la vie. It's life. People forget, renew. But sometimes it's shit to renew, such as this music, should be remembered forever. We can't control, the thing we can do is tell our children. Peace.

the lyrics to Mr richland are so dark and real..it is the fate of many a performer whose hits have stopped...they DO eventually recognize the same fans after a show...and the thousands become hundreds of people and eventually he knows them by NAME..RIP hARRY GENIUS

@DavelovesRealMusic He actually didn't want to do live shows or concerts. so not poor harry!

GREAT special..so underrated is Nilsson!! The song loosely based on Sinatra who was "out" again at that time! Harry was one interesting talent!!

fuck! i watched this special a ton of times and never saw this one. so freaking good.

Poor harry...ther was NO audience for this concert.. .he would and DIDNT appear in front of a paying audience.....it set him off. Other than this concert and a 1 hour BBC show of "classic" Standards...there is no other concert footage of Nilsson.

When he sings "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do" I always get a lump in my throat. Such a sad sentiment. :'(

Great voice. Just rediscovering Mr. Nilsson. His work from this period is so good. Love it. What a range.

His songs almost always have at least a tint of melancholy...one must wonder if he had a wholly content moment after his father's departure

@dar0381 I know, right? These versions of the songs on this program totally beat the studio versions, hands down! Who knows, maybe someday. If the Monkees can get back together for a 45th anniversary tour, than that's proof that miracles do happen.

@dar0381 You can probably get a bootleg on DVD somewhere. I found a source on the Internet where you could download it. I tried to, but failed. I only got the introduction by Derek Taylor that was added to later telecasts of the concert on British TV, but nothing else. There is no legitimate release of this concert that I know of.

Wow, I'm so glad this is up. I can't believe there's less than 500 views so far. I really love how he melds these songs together, cutting edge for the times in a lot of ways, great songwriter