Harry Nilsson – One

Again, I’m feasting on this book.

Michael J Roberts has written several books on brilliant songwriting, I keep turning to “33 Great Songs, 33 Great Songwriters” and I think the reason is that no matter what page I land on, I am genuinely reminded why a great song is a great song.

As well as being a great friend and a regular contributor to this site, Michael’s insightful writings have become part of my daily rituals. As long as I keep learning, I’ll keep sharing:

Nilsson! Fab!

Nilsson came careening into the public’s consciousness via the unusual medium of the 1968 New York press conference to launch The Beatles Apple Records, a label to which he was not signed. Journalists enquired of John Lennon as to his favourite American artist and he replied Nilsson. Paul McCartney was then asked as to his favourite American group and he replied Nilsson! Fab! Soon Harry didn’t have to worry anyway thanks to John Schlesinger using his cover of Fred Neil’s song Everybody’s Talkin’ as the signature song in the Academy Award winning Best Picture, Midnight Cowboy (Click here to read Filmycks review). Schlesinger asked Harry to come up with a bespoke song for the film, as he’d only been using the already recorded Everybody’s Talkin’ as a guide during filming and editing and wanted something more specific to the narrative. Harry wrote I Guess The Lord Must Be in New York City (and Dylan wrote Lay Lady Lay, but didn’t finish the recording in time) only to have Schlesinger prefer the ‘guide’ song. That’s showbiz.

The Nilsson album that contains the Fred Neil cover that Schlesinger used was released late in 1968, Aerial Ballet. The album also contains an unusual ballad with an odd point of inspiration. Harry caught himself listening to a busy tone on a telephone, and the continuous monotone ‘beep’ got him thinking about a melody. He stayed on the line and constructed the basic melody for the song around the busy tone, starting with a lyric that directed the listener to the loneliness inherent in the busy tone, which by necessity has one person on the end of a phone unable to get through, “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do”.

You can read more about this song and 32 more! This is an excerpt from Michael J Roberts’ excellent eBook “33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters”

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