Had I not slagged off Top 10 Lists in general at the close of last year, John Scheinfeld’s documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) would have made that list. While not a product of last year, it was finally released on DVD and benefitted from a few screenings across the country in 2010.
As the Onion’s AV Club noted in its review from last September, “Harry Nilsson is one of the great two-tiered artists in American pop: a musician whose biggest hits are widely known and generally well-liked, but who’s even more adored by music buffs who’ve taken the time to dig deeper than “One,” “Coconut,” and Nilsson’s smash covers of “Without You” and “Everybody’s Talkin’.”
“…there’s been so little written about Nilsson or archiving of his work that Who Is Harry Nilsson is a godsend just for bringing together so much rare footage. (The upcoming features-packed DVD should be even better.) (Scheinfeld) captures the essence of the Nilsson experience, and how, according to his attorney, “He would turn up at your door at 4 in the morning, and you knew that the next three days were going to be an adventure.”
We’ve got a copy of Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) on DVD and the poster you see at the top of this post for one winner to embark on that aforementioned adventure, albeit for a few hours.
Simply let us know what Harry or his music has meant to you over the years in the comments to this post and the one that hits the point home the best shall receive both items. We’ll keep this open for a week and choose our winner on Tuesday, February 8th.
