Nilsson

Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), usually credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His most commercially successful albums, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971) and Son of Schmilsson (1972), bore the international top 10 singles "Without You" (1971) and "Coconut" (1972). His other top 10 hit, "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968), was a prominent song in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy.

During a 1968 press conference, the Beatles were asked what their favorite American group was and answered "Nilsson". He soon formed close friendships with the band's John Lennon and Ringo Starr. In the 1970s, Nilsson and Lennon were members of the Hollywood Vampires drinking club, embroiling themselves in a number of widely publicized, alcohol-fueled incidents.

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Links to Peel
"One of those great shriek-along-in-the-car records, and whenever we make up a holiday tape or anything like that, ‘Without You’ is always on there, along with the Hollies’ ‘The Air That I Breathe.’ And one of these days a blood vessel is going to snap in me head and that’ll be it really when I’m singing along with it, but I do like having a go." (Peel on “Without You,” played as part of the Peelenium 1971 on 11 November 1999) Peel appears to have been a big fan of the Nilsson hit version of “Without You.” As well as appearing in the 1971 Peelenium, the track also turned up after the DJ's death among the singles found in John Peel's Record Box of special 45s, alongside two others by Nilsson, making the singer one of only seven artists with multiple releases in the collection (the others were The White Stripes (10), Charlie Feathers (5), Eddie & Ernie (3), Harry Nilsson (3), G.L. Crockett (2), Medicine Head (2) and The Upsetters (2)). It has been suggested, however, that the unexpectedly high Nilsson total may be a result of a three-track EP being entered as three separate singles on the original list (see John Peel's Record Box).

Despite Nilsson's close links to members of the Beatles, particularly John Lennon, he was rarely played on Peel's show, possibly reflecting the commercial nature of much of the singer's material. “Without You” itself was originally by Badfinger, a band on the Beatles's Apple label.

On 11 November 1997, Peel led off his show with a happy hardcore version of “Without You” (entitled “Can't Forget”) by DJ Vinyl Junkie. He played the same version in his live set at Sonar on 21 June 2001.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Sessions

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Other Shows Played

 * 11 September 1973: It Had To Be You
 * 24 September 1974: Many Rivers To Cross (7") RCA Victor
 * 11 November 1999: Without You (LP-Nilsson Schmilsson) RCA Victor Peelenium 1971