Download Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter AudioBook Free
Paul McCartney and John Lennon identified him as the Beatles' "favorite group", he earned Grammy awards, wrote and recorded hit songs, and yet no shape in popular music is as much of a paradox, or as underrated, as Harry Nilsson. Within this first ever full-length biography, Alyn Shipton traces Nilsson's life from his Brooklyn youth to his LA adolescence and his gradual emergence as a distinctively talented singer-songwriter. With interviews from friends, family, and associates, and material drawn from an unfinished autobiography, Shipton probes under the enigma to find the true Harry Nilsson. A major celebrity at a time when huge concerts and festivals were becoming the norm, Nilsson shunned live show. His place was the studio, his level the dubbing booth, his greatest triumphs masterful examples of studio build. He was a gifted author of songs for a multitude of performers, including the Ronettes, the Yardbirds, and the Monkees, yet Nilsson's own biggest visits were almost all compiled by other songwriters. He earned two Grammy prizes, in 1969 for "Everybody's Talkin'" (the theme track for Midnight Cowboy), and in 1972 for "Without You", got two top-10 singles, numerous recording successes, and wrote lots of sounds -"Coconut" and "Jump into the Fire", to name just two - that still sound extremely fresh and original today. He was once identified by his developer Richard Perry as "the best possible white male performer on the planet", but near to the end of his life, Nilsson's career was proclaimed by voice-damaging drug abuse and the infamous fatalities of both Keith Moon and Mama Cass in his London washboard. Attracting on exclusive access to Nilsson's paperwork, Alyn Shipton's biography offers listeners an intimate portrait of a guy who has looked both famous and unknowable - until now.
