Youtubefilter Schmyoutubefilter

February 5, 2007 12:30 PM

Did Somebody Drop His Mouse? is an unreleased documentary that tracks Harry Nilsson during the recording sessions for Son of Schmilsson. It is currently available on YouTube in (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) parts.
posted by StopMakingSense (18 comments total)

If horror's more your thing, don't miss out on Son of Dracula, also on Youtube in 11 parts starting here
posted by StopMakingSense at 12:32 PM on February 5, 2007

"I'd rather be dead . . . than to wet my bed."

Brilliant. Thanks so much!!
posted by billysumday at 1:44 PM on February 5, 2007

For the record, I can't believe how few comments there are on this thread. People, people...

Harry was one of the best. Thanks again for the links. What a talent, what a character.
posted by billysumday at 3:42 PM on February 5, 2007

He wrote so many good songs, covered by others and he's all but forgotten now.
posted by Fupped Duck at 4:30 PM on February 5, 2007

Great!
Thanks SmS!

billy, before i clicked on this thread i said to myself "jeez..just a couple comments on this thread...where's the love for Harry?"

anyhow, since it's just us three, lets sing along to "Turn on your radio baby, listen to my song.."

(on preview) Fupped Duck, will you count off?
posted by The_Auditor at 4:36 PM on February 5, 2007

I love me some Nilsson. SERIOUSLY. I have to say... the narration on the documentary keeps reminding me a little of The Kid Stays in the Picture, though. Rather than hearing him talk it would've been really nice to see more of his actual personality ON film, even though he hated cameras.

I really hope I get a chance to see last year's documentary on him someday. For some reason NOBODY picked it up for distribution, which is a shame.

I would've loved to have seen the acid trip that inspired The Point... I still listen to that soundtrack regularly when I'm working.
posted by miss lynnster at 5:41 PM on February 5, 2007

Here's the trailer for the documentary...
posted by miss lynnster at 5:44 PM on February 5, 2007

Thanks for this.
And lynnster, that documentary looks awesome. I wonder why no one will distribute it? The calibre of interview subjects alone is pretty remarkable.
posted by chococat at 6:20 PM on February 5, 2007

Yeah, it really annoys me to see the film is apparently so dead in the water. I would like to see it and I wish Nilsson's music would get rediscovered in a big way. As they said in the trailer, he's the closest thing we had to the Beatles... and he hung out with them enough that they were very influential on eachother. Yet he's forgotten.

The real reason I remembered him was because I watched the Point as a kid and never got it out of my head. Then about ten years ago I found the soundtrack & it inspired me to find out more about him & suddenly it clicked how many things he did that I loved. (I mean... comeon! Courtship of Eddie's Father, people! Rubadabuppy!).

Such an interesting guy. Because of the music I do, it's also interesting to me that he decided to do an album of standards in 1973 right when disco was starting. I mean, talk about rebellious. In 1973 they were even trying to convince Ella Fitzgerald to stay away from jazz.

Wonder if anyone's living in his Flat of Death nowadays?
posted by miss lynnster at 6:53 PM on February 5, 2007

Thanks for the Nilsson links! I hadn't heard about this doc but I was looking forward to the more recent documentary. Is it really dead in the water?

How about these songs from when Harry was on Playboy After Dark.
posted by ericthegardener at 7:20 PM on February 5, 2007

Wow. I can't wait. Thanks for the post, SMS.
posted by TonyRobots at 7:38 PM on February 5, 2007

Goodies from Nilsson's "The Point."
posted by moonbird at 8:10 PM on February 5, 2007

He wrote so many good songs, covered by others and he's all but forgotten now.

I don't consider him forgotten. He's not super popular today with the young'uns but I don't think he's forgotten. I think he's remembered pretty much the way Townes Van Zandt is remembered. I'm not comparing the two but I think they've had similar influence and are equally respected.

And, yeah, he wrote a bunch of great songs but his two biggest hits and certainly the songs he's best known for (Without You and Everybody's Talkin') were covers.
posted by dobbs at 8:19 PM on February 5, 2007

Oh, and those interested in Van Zandt, there's a great documentary about him as well. (And while I'm at it, there's also a documentary (yet to be released) about another of my fave 60s/70s (till present day, actually) musicians: Scott Walker. Dying to see that one.)
posted by dobbs at 8:23 PM on February 5, 2007

"Midnight Cowboy" was the second album my parents bought me when I was seven years old, and even then I knew the man was special.

I still miss him, 37 years later.

(Disney's "Jungle Book." My parents were progressively omnivorous, God Bless'em...)
posted by Dizzy at 8:46 PM on February 5, 2007

Okay, I'll say it: I'm a sucker for Popeye. It was a monumental flop, and only barely hangs together on rewatching, but it's got rich texture, quite a few very good songs, Robin Williams is a fine Popeye, and nobody can disagree that Shelley Duvall was born to play Olive Oyl. Yes, the writing was weak, but oh those Nilsson songs...
posted by dylanjames at 10:22 PM on February 5, 2007

Ok, you TOTALLY got me with that one, dylanjames. I will now confess that the MAIN reason I first saw Punch Drunk Love was because they used He Needs Me which is a song that has played inside my head regularly ever since I saw the Popeye movie in the theatre. I had to buy it on itunes. I don't know why I love that song so... not like Shelley Duvall could sing...

OOOOOH!!!! I just did a google search and found the original demo with Shelley Duvall AND Nilsson making mouth trumpet noises!!! YAY! It's actually almost sweeter...
posted by miss lynnster at 11:35 PM on February 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

Okay, I may be a few days late here, and this thread looks to be off the front page, but I'll drop this here anyway... Hopefully some of you manage to find it!

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Nilsson
posted by Old Man Wilson at 8:42 PM on February 7, 2007