This page will contain blogs about Harry Nilsson, as they become available.Harry NilssonHarry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 - January 15, 1994) was an American songwriter, singer, pianist and guitarist, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s. For most of his recordings, he did not use his first name, and was credited only as Nilsson. Despite some spectacular successes, including two Grammy Awards, Nilsson's tendency to make broad stylistic jumps from one record to the next and his iconoclastic decisions kept him from capitalizing on those successes. His most well-known recordings are "Without You" and "Everybody's Talkin'". BiographyEarly yearsNilsson was born in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York in 1941. His father, Harry Edward Nilsson, Jr., abandoned the family three years later. An autobiographical reference to this is found in the opening to Nilsson's song "1941":
Harry grew up with his mother Bette Nilsson and his younger half-sister, periodically moving to California or back to New York, and living with a procession of relatives and stepfathers. One relative who turned out to be an important influence on him was his Uncle John, a mechanic in San Bernadino, California, who taught him to sing properly. Due to the poor financial situation of his family, Nilsson worked from an early age, including a job at the Paramount Theater in Los Angeles. When the Paramount closed (circa 1960), Nilsson applied for a job at a bank, falsely stating he was a high school graduate on his application. (He only made it through 9th grade.) He turned out to have an aptitude for computers, which were just starting to be employed by banks at the time. He did so well, in fact, that the bank kept him on even after discovering the lie about his education. Musical beginningsAs early as 1958, Nilsson was hooked on the new wave of music, especially rhythm and blues artists like Ray Charles. He had taken early stabs at performing while he was working at the Paramount, forming a vocal duo with his friend Jerry Smith and singing close harmonies in the style of the Everly Brothers. His job with the bank was on the night shift, so Nilsson spent his days infiltrating Los Angeles music business offices, making friends and developing connections. Uncle John's singing lessons, along with Nilsson's natural talent, surely helped when he got a job singing demos for songwriter Scott Turner in 1960. Turner paid Nilsson five dollars for each track they recorded. (Years later, when Nilsson became famous, Turner decided to release these early recordings, and contacted Nilsson to work out a fair payment. Nilsson replied that he had already been paid -- five dollars a track.) In 1963, Nilsson began to have some early success as a songwriter, working with John Marascalco on a song for Little Richard. (Little Richard, upon hearing Nilsson sing, reportedly remarked, "My! You sing good for a white boy!") Marascalco also financed some independent singles by Nilsson. One, "Baa Baa Blackseep", was released under the pseudonym Bo Pete to some small local airplay. Another recording, "Donna, I Understand", convinced Mercury Records to offer Nilsson a contract, and release recordings by him under the name Johnny Niles. In 1964, Nilsson worked with Phil Spector, writing three songs with him. He also established a relationship with songwriter and publisher Perry Botkin, Jr., who began to find a market for Nilsson's songs. His recording contract was picked up by Tower Records, who did nothing with it, but his songs were now being recorded by Glen Campbell, Fred Astaire, The Yardbirds, and many other artists. (Despite this growing success, Nilsson was still working the night shift at the bank.) Signing with RCA VictorNilsson signed with RCA Victor in 1967 and released an album, Pandemonium Shadow Show, which was a critical (if not commercial) success. Music industry insiders were impressed both with the songwriting, and with Nilsson's pure-toned, multi-octave vocals. One such insider was Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, who bought an entire box of copies of the album to share this new sound with others. With a major-label release, and continued songwriting success (The Monkees had a hit with Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy"), Nilsson finally felt secure enough in the music business to quit his job with the bank. Some of the albums from Derek Taylor's box eventually ended up with the Beatles themselves, who quickly became Nilsson fans. This may have been helped by the track "You Can't Do That", in which Nilsson covered one Beatles song but added 22 others in the multi-tracked background vocals. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson". Pandemonium Shadow Show was followed in 1968 by Aerial Ballet, an album that included Nilsson's rendition of Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". A minor hit at the time of release, the song would become extremely popular a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy, and would earn Nilsson his first Grammy Award. Aerial Ballet also contained Nilsson's version of his own composition, "One", which was later taken to the top of the charts by Three Dog Night. Nilsson was also commissioned at this time to write and perform the theme song for the ABC television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The result, "Best Friend", was very popular, but Nilsson never released the song on record. Chart successNilsson's next album, Harry (1969), was his first to hit the charts, and also provided a Top 40 single with "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City". While the album still presented Nilsson as primarily a songwriter, his astute choice of cover material included, this time, a song by a little-known composer named Randy Newman. Nilsson was so impressed with Newman's talent that he devoted his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson's multi-tracked vocals. The resuit, Nilsson Sings Newman (1970), was commercially disappointing but was named Record of the Year by Stereo Review magazine, and provided momemtum to Newman's career. Nilsson's next project was an animated film, The Point!, created with animation director Fred Wolf, and broadcast on ABC television in 1971. Nilsson's album of songs from The Point! was well-received, and spawned a hit single, "Me and My Arrow". Later that year, Nilsson went to England with producer Richard Perry to record what became the most successful album of his career. Nilsson Schmilsson yielded three hit singles that could not be more stylistically different from each other. The first was a cover of Badfinger's song, "Without You", featuring a highly emotional arrangement and soaring vocals to match, a performance that was rewarded with Nilsson's second Grammy Award. The second single was "Coconut", a novelty calypso number. The third, "Jump Into the Fire", was raucous, screaming rock and roll, including a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon and a bass detuning by Herbie Flowers. Nilsson followed quickly with Son of Schmilsson (1972), released while its predecessor was still on the charts. Besides the problem of competing with himself, Nilsson's decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness on this release alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base. With lyrics like "I sang my balls off for you, baby", "Roll the world over / And give her a kiss and a feel", and the notorious "You're breaking my heart / You're tearing it apart / So f--k you", Nilsson had travelled far afield from his earlier work. Still, the album did well, and the single "Spaceman" was a Top 40 hit. The maverickThis disregard for commercialism in favor of artistic satisfaction showed itself in Nilsson's next release, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). Performing a selection of pop standards by the likes of Irving Berlin and Kalmar & Ruby, Nilsson sang in front of an orchestra arranged and conducted by veteran Gordon Jenkins in sessions produced by his constant supporter Derek Taylor. While in hindsight, the sessions showcased an extremely talented singer in one of his best performances, this was not the sort of thing that was going to burn up the charts in the 1970s. The session was filmed, and was broadcast as a television special by the BBC in the UK. (Nilsson fans still await this film's release in some home video format.) 1974 found Nilsson back in California, and when John Lennon moved there during his separation from Yoko Ono, the two musicians rekindled their earlier friendship. Lennon was intent upon producing Nilsson's next album, much to Nilsson's delight. However, their time together in California became known much more for heavy drinking and drug use than it did for musical collaboration. In a widely publicized incident, they were ejected from the Troubadour in West Hollywood for drunken heckling of the Smothers Brothers. To make matters worse, Nilsson ruptured a vocal cord during the sessions for this album, but hid the fact due to fear that Lennon would call a halt to the production. The resulting album, Pussy Cats, was a shock for listeners who knew Nilsson as one of the best singers of his generation. Nilsson's voice had mostly recovered by his next release, Duit on Mon Dei (1975), but neither it nor its follow-ups, Sandman and ...That's the Way It Is (both 1976) met with chart success. Finally, Nilsson recorded what he later considered to be his favorite album, 1977's Knnillssonn. With his voice strong again, and his songs exploring musical territory reminiscent of Harry or The Point!, Nilsson had every right to expect Knnillssonn to be a comeback album. RCA Victor seemed to agree, and promised Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. However, the death of Elvis Presley caused RCA Victor to ignore everything except meeting demand for Presley's back catalog, and the promised marketing push never happened. This, combined with RCA Victor releasing a Nilsson Greatest Hits collection without consulting him, prompted Nilsson to leave the label. Winding downNilsson's musical work after leaving RCA Victor was sporadic. He wrote a musical play, Zapata, with Perry Botkin, Jr., which got as far as being performed in Connecticut but never moved to Broadway. He wrote all the songs for Robert Altman's movie-musical Popeye (1980), and recorded one more album, Flash Harry, which was released in the UK but not in the USA. However, Nilsson increasingly began referring to himself as as a "retired musician". Nilsson was profoundly affected by the murder of John Lennon in December 1980. He joined the Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence and begain making public appearances solely to raise money for their cause. Nilsson found himself in a dire financial situation when his trusted financial adviser embezzled all the money he had ever made as a recording artist. His health was also deteriorating, and in 1993, he suffered a massive heart attack. After surviving that, he began pressing his old label, RCA Victor, to release a boxed-set retrospective of his career, and also started recording again, attempting to complete one final album. He completed the vocal tracks for the album on 15 January 1994, and then died that night of heart failure. A little over a month later, the 2-CD anthology he worked on with RCA Victor, Personal Best, was released. As of 2005, Nilsson's final album, tentatively titled Papa's Got a Brown New Robe, has never been released. Discography
Film and television
Use of Nilsson recordings in films
Sources
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As of 2005, Nilsson's final album, tentatively titled Papa's Got a Brown New Robe, has never been released. He named:. A little over a month later, the 2-CD anthology he worked on with RCA Victor, Personal Best, was released. In June 2004 British newspaper The Observer asked Osbourne to name his top ten favourite British albums of all time. He completed the vocal tracks for the album on 15 January 1994, and then died that night of heart failure. A number of yet unsigned bands send one member to compete in a challenge to win a spot on the 2005 Ozzfest and a possible recording contract. After surviving that, he began pressing his old label, RCA Victor, to release a boxed-set retrospective of his career, and also started recording again, attempting to complete one final album. He and wife Sharon are also on yet another MTV show, this time a competition come reality show entitled "Battle for Ozzfest". His health was also deteriorating, and in 1993, he suffered a massive heart attack. He takes on the Beatles, King Crimson and the Rolling Stones on this much-anticipated release. Nilsson found himself in a dire financial situation when his trusted financial adviser embezzled all the money he had ever made as a recording artist. It is rumoured to contain two long-awaited discs, one being a collection of outtakes, rare demos and duets, and the other being a set of cover songs. He joined the Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence and begain making public appearances solely to raise money for their cause. He is slated to release a box set of his solo work entitled the Bible of Ozz in February of 2005. Nilsson was profoundly affected by the murder of John Lennon in December 1980. The reputed topic is that of the Russian mad monk, Grigory Rasputin, who held sway with Russia's royal Romanov family. However, Nilsson increasingly began referring to himself as as a "retired musician". He has also turned his hand to writing a Broadway musical. He wrote all the songs for Robert Altman's movie-musical Popeye (1980), and recorded one more album, Flash Harry, which was released in the UK but not in the USA. Since the accident, he has fully recovered and headlined the 2004 Ozzfest, where he again reunited with Black Sabbath. He wrote a musical play, Zapata, with Perry Botkin, Jr., which got as far as being performed in Connecticut but never moved to Broadway. In doing so, he broke the record of the longest period between an artists's first UK chart appearance (with Black Sabbath, Paranoid, number four in August 1970) and their first number one hit — a gap of 33 years. Nilsson's musical work after leaving RCA Victor was sporadic. While in hospital, Osborne achieved his first ever UK number one single, a duet of the Black Sabbath song Changes with daughter Kelly. This, combined with RCA Victor releasing a Nilsson Greatest Hits collection without consulting him, prompted Nilsson to leave the label. Sharon later revealed that Osbourne had stopped breathing following the crash and was resuscitated by a security guard. Hospital reports indicated that, despite the severity of his injuries, a full recovery was expected. However, the death of Elvis Presley caused RCA Victor to ignore everything except meeting demand for Presley's back catalog, and the promised marketing push never happened. An operation was performed to lift the collarbone, which was believed to be resting on a major artery and interrupting blood flow to the arm. RCA Victor seemed to agree, and promised Nilsson a substantial marketing campaign for the album. Osbourne broke his collar bone, eight ribs and a vertebra in his neck. With his voice strong again, and his songs exploring musical territory reminiscent of Harry or The Point!, Nilsson had every right to expect Knnillssonn to be a comeback album. On December 8, 2003, Osbourne was rushed into emergency surgery when he was involved in an accident involving the use of his all-terrain vehicle on his estate in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, UK. Finally, Nilsson recorded what he later considered to be his favorite album, 1977's Knnillssonn. During 2003, a member of Birmingham City Council campaigned for him to be given Freedom of the City. Nilsson's voice had mostly recovered by his next release, Duit on Mon Dei (1975), but neither it nor its follow-ups, Sandman and ...That's the Way It Is (both 1976) met with chart success. The Osbournes, a program featuring the domestic life of Osbourne and his family (wife Sharon, children Jack and Kelly, but not daughter Aimee, who declined to participate), has turned into one of MTV's greatest hits. The resulting album, Pussy Cats, was a shock for listeners who knew Nilsson as one of the best singers of his generation. Osbourne garnered still greater celebrity status by the unlikely success of his own bizarre brand of reality television. To make matters worse, Nilsson ruptured a vocal cord during the sessions for this album, but hid the fact due to fear that Lennon would call a halt to the production. At least two titles, Speak of the Devil and The Ultimate Sin, were permitted to go out of print entirely. In a widely publicized incident, they were ejected from the Troubadour in West Hollywood for drunken heckling of the Smothers Brothers. The bass guitar and drum tracks from Osbourne's first two albums were re-recorded entirely, and the original versions (which featured Daisley and Kerslake) were dropped. However, their time together in California became known much more for heavy drinking and drug use than it did for musical collaboration. In the wake of a lawsuit by former band members Daisley and Kerslake, reportedly for unpaid royalties, Osbourne's catalogue was "remastered" again in 2002. Lennon was intent upon producing Nilsson's next album, much to Nilsson's delight. Osbourne's first album of new studio material in seven years, 2001's Down to Earth met with only mediocre success, as did its live followup, Live at Budokan. 1974 found Nilsson back in California, and when John Lennon moved there during his separation from Yoko Ono, the two musicians rekindled their earlier friendship. Some acts even had the pleasure to share the bill with a reformed, yet much older Black Sabbath. (Nilsson fans still await this film's release in some home video format.). Ozzfest was a quick hit with metal fans, spurring groups like Incubus and Papa Roach to broad exposure and commercial success. The session was filmed, and was broadcast as a television special by the BBC in the UK. Ozzy's biggest financial success of the 1990s was a venture named Ozzfest, created by his wife Sharon and managed loosely by his son Jack. While in hindsight, the sessions showcased an extremely talented singer in one of his best performances, this was not the sort of thing that was going to burn up the charts in the 1970s. A greatest hits package, The Ozzman Cometh was issued in 1997. Performing a selection of pop standards by the likes of Irving Berlin and Kalmar & Ruby, Nilsson sang in front of an orchestra arranged and conducted by veteran Gordon Jenkins in sessions produced by his constant supporter Derek Taylor. Also that year, he released Ozzmosis and went on stage again, dubbing his concert performances "The Retirement Sucks Tour". This disregard for commercialism in favor of artistic satisfaction showed itself in Nilsson's next release, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). At this point Osbourne expressed his fatigue with the process of touring, and proclaimed his "retirement", which was to be short-lived. Osbourne's entire CD catalog was remastered and reissued in 1995. Still, the album did well, and the single "Spaceman" was a Top 40 hit. Yet another live album followed in 1993, Live and Loud. With lyrics like "I sang my balls off for you, baby", "Roll the world over / And give her a kiss and a feel", and the notorious "You're breaking my heart / You're tearing it apart / So f--k you", Nilsson had travelled far afield from his earlier work. While quite successful as a heavy metal act in the 1980s, Osbourne began to enjoy much broader commercial success in the 1990s, starting with 1991's No More Tears, which enjoyed much radio and MTV exposure. It also initiated a practice of bringing in outside composers to pen much of Ozzy's solo material, instead of relying solely upon the recording ensemble to write and arrange the music. Besides the problem of competing with himself, Nilsson's decision to give free rein to his bawdiness and bluntness on this release alienated some of his earlier, more conservative fan base. The subsequent tour saw Osbourne reunited with erstwhile Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler on bass, and a live EP (entitled Just Say Ozzy) featuring this lineup was released two years later. Nilsson followed quickly with Son of Schmilsson (1972), released while its predecessor was still on the charts. Meanwhile, Ozzy found his most enduring replacement for Rhoads to date, a guitarist named Zakk Wylde, plucked from a New Jersey bar. Wylde joined Ozzy for his 1988 effort, No Rest for the Wicked, in which Castillo remained on drums and Daisley returned to bass duties. The third, "Jump Into the Fire", was raucous, screaming rock and roll, including a drum solo by Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon and a bass detuning by Herbie Flowers. Excellently recorded, the album cemented Rhoads's legendary stature as an imaginative and talented musician. The second single was "Coconut", a novelty calypso number. Ozzy continued to struggle with his chemical dependencies, and commemorated the fifth anniversary of Rhoads's death with Tribute, the live recordings from 1981 that had gone unreleased for years. The first was a cover of Badfinger's song, "Without You", featuring a highly emotional arrangement and soaring vocals to match, a performance that was rewarded with Nilsson's second Grammy Award. Lee and Osbourne parted ways in 1987, however, reportedly due to musical differences. Nilsson Schmilsson yielded three hit singles that could not be more stylistically different from each other. Jake E. Later that year, Nilsson went to England with producer Richard Perry to record what became the most successful album of his career. Ozzy would ultimately prevail in all of the suits, which the judges would basically rule that Ozzy cannot be held accountable for a listener's actions. Soon after, Ozzy publicly acknowledged he wrote Suicide Solution about his friend, AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott, who died from alcohol abuse, and that alcohol as a solution to one's problems is not the answer (hence the song's title). Nilsson's album of songs from The Point! was well-received, and spawned a hit single, "Me and My Arrow". In late 1986, he was the target in the first of a series of lawsuits brought against him, alleging that one of his songs, Suicide Solution, drove two teenagers to commit suicide because of its subliminal lyrics. Nilsson's next project was an animated film, The Point!, created with animation director Fred Wolf, and broadcast on ABC television in 1971. Meanwhile, Ozzy was becoming involved in a legal battle of his own. The resuit, Nilsson Sings Newman (1970), was commercially disappointing but was named Record of the Year by Stereo Review magazine, and provided momemtum to Newman's career. Lee, formerly of Ratt and Rough Cutt, was a more successful recruit than Torme, recording 1983's Bark at the Moon (with Daisley, Aldridge, and keyboard player Don Airey) and 1986's The Ultimate Sin (with bassist Phil Soussan and drummer Randy Castillo) and touring behind both albums. Nilsson was so impressed with Newman's talent that he devoted his entire next album to Newman compositions, with Newman himself playing piano behind Nilsson's multi-tracked vocals. Jake E. While the album still presented Nilsson as primarily a songwriter, his astute choice of cover material included, this time, a song by a little-known composer named Randy Newman. Madonna asked that her vocal not be restored for the hits package, so new vocals by Kim Basinger were added to complement the Ozzy lead. Nilsson's next album, Harry (1969), was his first to hit the charts, and also provided a Top 40 single with "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City". Ozzy's cut was remixed and re-released in the early 1990s for a Was (not Was) Greatest Hits album in Europe and it cracked the UK pop chart. The result, "Best Friend", was very popular, but Nilsson never released the song on record. Her original vocal today remains just one of many Unreleased Madonna Songs. Nilsson was also commissioned at this time to write and perform the theme song for the ABC television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. He replaced the original first choice, Madonna. Aerial Ballet also contained Nilsson's version of his own composition, "One", which was later taken to the top of the charts by Three Dog Night. In 1982 Ozzy was the guest vocalist on the Was (not Was) pop dance track Shake Your Head (Let's Go To Bed). A minor hit at the time of release, the song would become extremely popular a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy, and would earn Nilsson his first Grammy Award. This live title, known in the United Kingdom as Talk of the Devil, was originally planned to consist of live recordings from 1981, primarily of Ozzy's solo material, but after Rhoads's death, Osbourne changed his mind, and the album ended up consisting entirely of Ozzy's Black Sabbath material, recorded with Gillis, Sarzo, and Aldridge. Pandemonium Shadow Show was followed in 1968 by Aerial Ballet, an album that included Nilsson's rendition of Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'". Rhoads's first replacement was Bernie Torme (who reportedly could not cope with the pressures of live performance, and who never recorded with Ozzy), followed by Brad Gillis of Night Ranger, who filled in for an album called Speak of the Devil. He replied, "Nilsson". During the 1980s and 1990s, Osbourne's career was an effort on two fronts: continuing to make music without Rhoads, and getting clean. Paul was then asked to name his favorite American group. Osbourne subsequently fell into a deep depression, compounded by the death of his father. He replied, "Nilsson". The pilot (also the tour bus driver) clipped the parked bus and crashed into a nearby house, killing himself, Rhoads, and the band's tour hairdresser. When John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in 1968 to announce the formation of Apple Corps, John was asked to name his favorite American artist. In March 1982, while in Florida for the Diary of A Madman tour, a light aircraft carrying Rhoads crashed while performing low passes over the band's tour bus. Some of the albums from Derek Taylor's box eventually ended up with the Beatles themselves, who quickly became Nilsson fans. This may have been helped by the track "You Can't Do That", in which Nilsson covered one Beatles song but added 22 others in the multi-tracked background vocals. He later underwent a number of treatments for alcoholism and drug abuse. With a major-label release, and continued songwriting success (The Monkees had a hit with Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy"), Nilsson finally felt secure enough in the music business to quit his job with the bank. He was arrested after urinating on The Alamo while wearing one of his wife's dresses, for which he was banned from San Antonio, Texas for the next ten years. One such insider was Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, who bought an entire box of copies of the album to share this new sound with others. Ozzy was also hospitalized for rabies vaccinations after biting the head off of a stunned bat (which he later claimed to have thought was a rubber toy) thrown on stage by a fan. Music industry insiders were impressed both with the songwriting, and with Nilsson's pure-toned, multi-octave vocals. He famously bit off the head of a dove during a meeting with his newly signed record company, CBS — though it has been speculated that this was a calculated stunt meant to intimidate the label executives into giving Osbourne more favorable contractual terms. Nilsson signed with RCA Victor in 1967 and released an album, Pandemonium Shadow Show, which was a critical (if not commercial) success. According to press accounts, Osbourne's antics progressively worsened during the 1980s, his alcohol and drug abuse continuing. (Despite this growing success, Nilsson was still working the night shift at the bank.). Undaunted, Osbourne attempted to launch a solo career, and met with considerable success on his very first effort. His recording contract was picked up by Tower Records, who did nothing with it, but his songs were now being recorded by Glen Campbell, Fred Astaire, The Yardbirds, and many other artists. He divorced his first wife, Thelma, and developed bipolar disorder. He also established a relationship with songwriter and publisher Perry Botkin, Jr., who began to find a market for Nilsson's songs. Depressed, his drug and alcohol abuse continued. In 1964, Nilsson worked with Phil Spector, writing three songs with him. Ozzy returned however, to record and tour behind 1978's Never Say Die, after which he left the group again in 1979, to be replaced by Ronnie James Dio. Another recording, "Donna, I Understand", convinced Mercury Records to offer Nilsson a contract, and release recordings by him under the name Johnny Niles. Osbourne was kicked out of the group briefly after the band's 1976 effort Technical Ecstasy, and Sabbath went so far as to begin writing and recording with a new singer. One, "Baa Baa Blackseep", was released under the pseudonym Bo Pete to some small local airplay. Over the duration, however, Iommi began to take the band's music in a more progressive and experimental direction, to Osbourne's distaste. (Little Richard, upon hearing Nilsson sing, reportedly remarked, "My! You sing good for a white boy!") Marascalco also financed some independent singles by Nilsson. Nevertheless, the group remained a steadily successful act for over eight years. In 1963, Nilsson began to have some early success as a songwriter, working with John Marascalco on a song for Little Richard. The rigors of touring and financial success combined to lead some of the band members to drug and alcohol abuse, including Osbourne. Nilsson replied that he had already been paid -- five dollars a track.). Black Sabbath met with swift and enduring success; their early records such as their self-titled debut, Paranoid and Master of Reality in particular are considered heavy metal canon, and selections from Ozzy's Sabbath days have featured prominently in his solo performances. (Years later, when Nilsson became famous, Turner decided to release these early recordings, and contacted Nilsson to work out a fair payment. Polka Tulk disbanded, to reform almost immediately as a four-piece consisting of Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, and Ward. Turner paid Nilsson five dollars for each track they recorded. Iommi's style of guitar playing did not mesh well with Phillips's, however, nor with Clarke's saxophone. Uncle John's singing lessons, along with Nilsson's natural talent, surely helped when he got a job singing demos for songwriter Scott Turner in 1960. Ozzy came up with the name after seeing it on a can of talcum powder. His job with the bank was on the night shift, so Nilsson spent his days infiltrating Los Angeles music business offices, making friends and developing connections. At Butler's urgings, Osbourne was brought on board, along with saxophonist Alan Clarke and another guitar player, Jim Phillips, to form the Polka Tulk Blues Band. He had taken early stabs at performing while he was working at the Paramount, forming a vocal duo with his friend Jerry Smith and singing close harmonies in the style of the Everly Brothers. Rare Breed did not last long, but Osbourne's collaboration with Butler did; in late 1968, Butler was invited to form a new group with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward, both formerly of a fairly successful local group called Mythology. As early as 1958, Nilsson was hooked on the new wave of music, especially rhythm and blues artists like Ray Charles. equipment his next gig was with a group called Rare Breed, where he met and played with future Black Sabbath bandmate, bassist Terence "Geezer" Butler. He did so well, in fact, that the bank kept him on even after discovering the lie about his education. Thanks in part to the advantage of owning his own P.A. (He only made it through 9th grade.) He turned out to have an aptitude for computers, which were just starting to be employed by banks at the time. Personal differences led Ozzy to split with the group, however. When the Paramount closed (circa 1960), Nilsson applied for a job at a bank, falsely stating he was a high school graduate on his application. Osbourne slowly began to realize his ambitions in 1967; after filling in on vocals for a band called The Music Machine, he landed the singer's duties in an outfit called The Approach, playing R&B tunes in a church basement. Due to the poor financial situation of his family, Nilsson worked from an early age, including a job at the Paramount Theater in Los Angeles. He had several jobs before turning to music, including testing car horns in the Lucas car factory and on the kill floor of an abattoir. One relative who turned out to be an important influence on him was his Uncle John, a mechanic in San Bernadino, California, who taught him to sing properly. He used his time there to give himself his now famous tattoos: OZZY across his knuckles and a smiling face on each knee to cheer himself up. Harry grew up with his mother Bette Nilsson and his younger half-sister, periodically moving to California or back to New York, and living with a procession of relatives and stepfathers. He was sentenced to six weeks at Winson Green Prison. An autobiographical reference to this is found in the opening to Nilsson's song "1941":. He wore gloves to steal from houses and shops so as not to leave fingerprints, but they were fingerless gloves and he was soon arrested. His father, Harry Edward Nilsson, Jr., abandoned the family three years later. Ozzy was not a particulary talented criminal. Nilsson was born in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York in 1941. Ozzy Osbourne, who earned his nickname in his youth, sought a career as a rock singer after hearing The Beatles on the radio, in hopes that it would lift him out of his difficult working-class existence, in which he had some scrapes with the law. His most well-known recordings are "Without You" and "Everybody's Talkin'". He is also a football fan, supporting Aston Villa. Despite some spectacular successes, including two Grammy Awards, Nilsson's tendency to make broad stylistic jumps from one record to the next and his iconoclastic decisions kept him from capitalizing on those successes. Osbourne has been married twice and is father to five children: Jessica Hobbs and Louis Osbourne by first wife Thelma; and Aimee, Kelly and Jack, by current wife Sharon. For most of his recordings, he did not use his first name, and was credited only as Nilsson. John Michael Osbourne (born December 3, 1948, in Aston, a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands, England), better known as Ozzy Osbourne, was the lead singer of the rock band Black Sabbath and later a popular solo artist. Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 - January 15, 1994) was an American songwriter, singer, pianist and guitarist, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s. Forenote: All references to the sport of football refer to the European sport, dubbed "soccer" by Americans. Dawn Eden, One Last Touch of Nilsson (Goldmine magazine, April 29, 1994). 2003 "Changes" (with Kelly Osbourne) #1 UK. The Girl Next Door (2004) - "Jump Into the Fire". 2002 "Dreamer/Gets Me Through" #18 UK. Around the Bend (2004) - "Daddy's Song". 1995 "Perry Mason" #23 UK. Shanghai Knights (2003) - "One". 1992 "Mama, I'm Coming Home" #28 US. The Rules of Attraction (2002) - "Without You". 1991 "No More Tears" #31 UK. Punch-Drunk Love (2002) - "He Needs Me" (Shelley Duvall's version from Popeye). 1986 "Shot in the Dark" #20 UK. Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) - "Everything's Got 'Em", "Me and My Arrow". 1984 "So Tired" #20 UK. Bridget Jones' Diary (2001) - "Without You". 1983 "Bark at the Moon" #21 UK. High Fidelity (2000) - "The Moonbeam Song". Bible of Ozz - 2005 (box). You've Got Mail (1998) - "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City", "Remember", "The Puppy Song", "Over The Rainbow". The Essential Ozzy Osbourne - 2003 (compilation), #21 UK, #81 US. Practical Magic (1998) - "Coconut". Live at Budokan - 2002 (live), #70 US. The Ice Storm (1997) - "Coconut". The Osbournes Family Album - 2002 (compilation). Ellen Foster (1997) - "Remember". Ozzfsest 2001 The Second Millenium - 2001 (compilation)
Casino (1995) - "Without You". Down to Earth - 2001, #19 UK, #4 US, US Sales: 1,000,000. Forrest Gump (1994) - "Everybody's Talkin'". The Ozzfest - 1997 (compilation, out of print). Private School for Girls (1993) - "You're Breakin' My Heart". The Ozzman Cometh - 1997 (compilation), #13 US, US Sales: 2,000,000. Caroline (animated short, 1993) - "Caroline". Ozzmosis - 1995, #22 UK, #4 US, US Sales: 2,000,000. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - "Coconut". Live and Loud - 1993 (live), #22 US, US Sales: 1,000,000. Goodfellas (1990) - "Jump Into the Fire". No More Tears - 1991, #17 UK, #7 US, US Sales: 4,000,000. Real Life (1979) - "Jump Into the Fire". Just Say Ozzy - 1990 (live, EP), #58 US, US Sales: 500,000. All That Jazz (1979) - "Perfect Day". Ten Commandments - 1990, (rare out of print, greatest hits). La Mortadella (1971) - "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City". Best of Ozz - 1989 (compilation). Dusty and Sweets McGee (1971) - "Don't Leave Me". No Rest for the Wicked - 1988, #23 UK, #13 US, US Sales: 2,000,000. Me, Myself and I (1992) song "Me, Myself and I" written and performed. Tribute - 1987 (live), #13 UK, #6 US, US Sales: 2,000,000. The Fisher King (1991) song "How About You" performed. The Ultimate Sin - 1986, #8 UK, #6 US, US Sales: 2,000,000. Camp Candy (TV series, animated, 1989-1991) theme song written, and performed with John Candy. Bark at the Moon - 1983, #24 UK, #19 US, US Sales: 3,000,000. First Impressions (TV series, 1988) theme song co-written, performed. Speak of the Devil - 1982 (live), #21 UK, #14 US, US Sales: 1,000,000. Handgun (1983) song "Lay Down Your Arms" written and performed. Diary of a Madman - 1981, #14 UK, #16 US, US Sales: 3,000,000. Popeye (1980) all songs written. Blizzard Of Ozz - 1981, #7 UK, #21 US, US Sales: 4,000,000. In God We Trust (1980) new version of "Good For God" performed. Machine Head - Deep Purple. The World's Greatest Lover (1978) song "Ain't It Kinda Wonderful" performed. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin. Son of Dracula (1974) actor (lead role), all songs performed. Blizzard of Ozz - Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads. The Point! (1971) story, all songs written and performed. Imagine - John Lennon. Jenny (1970) song "Waiting" written and performed. Abbey Road - The Beatles. Midnight Cowboy (1969) new version of "Everybody's Talkin'" performed. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd. The Courtship of Eddie's Father (TV series, 1969-1972) theme song written and performed, incidental music. So - Peter Gabriel. Skidoo (1968) songs written and performed, soundtrack music composer, actor (bit role). Band on the Run - Paul McCartney. Flash Harry (1980) (not released in USA). Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles. Knnillssonn (1977). Sgt. ...That's the Way It Is (1976). Revolver - The Beatles. Sandman (1976). Duit on Mon Dei (1975). Pussy Cats (1974). Son of Dracula (1974). A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973). Son of Schmilsson (1972). Nilsson Schmilsson (1971). Aerial Pandemonium Ballet (1971). The Point! (1971). Nilsson Sings Newman (1970). Harry (1969). Skidoo (soundtrack) (1968). Aerial Ballet (1968). Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967). Spotlight on Nilsson (1966). |