Harry Nilsson - Without Her (The Music Of Nilsson, 1971)

[MrLisalangley]

I love Harry! If I knew about Harry before he passed I probably would have been a stalker. I am obessed!

[ritchloui]

Farewell Harry!

[jamful2]

BS&T and Herb Alpert both covered this tune. Harry was nothing if not eclectic. He wrote rock classics and TV theme songs, but also recorded many other people's music. His metamorphasis from sensitive singer-songwriter to late night raver was also fascinating.

[katydidscorner]

How can 12 people dislike this?

[mwhit1230]

Nearly 40 years ago, I performed this song in Viet Nam with the USO for the troops with my band. My wife of nearly 30 years died yesterday. This morning the song came to mind and I played it. I couldn't believe the emotions it stirred! What foresight he had to write it back in 1971. I'll play it again & again until Her memory fades (probably never).

mwhit1230

[BillMcGirr]

@mwhit1230 God bless you. We all love Harry. I'd miss my wife too!

[djwolf12]

@mwhit1230 I am sorry for your loss.

[mwhit1230]

Nearly 40 years ago, I performed this song in Viet Nam for the USO with my band. My wife of nearly 30 years died yesterday. This morning this song came to mind and I played it. I couldn't believe the emotions it stirred. What foresight he had to write it back in 1971. I'll play it again & again until Her memory fades (probably never).

[firewalker57]

@mwhit1230 I am so sorry to hear of your loss .. this is such a beautiful and sensitive song .. you must have done a wonderful job ... my prayers are with you :) xoxooxxooxox

[MusicJew158]

He has to be one of the most self destructive artists ever. Also one of the most brilliant...this is kinda weird but I relate to many of his lyrics and to his self defeating behavior, although thankfully I am not that bad.

[crackfarm76]

this is one of those songs whose cyclical and soaring tune gets stuck in my head and i find my mind rolling over and over it...

[LadyEdgar]

His saddest songs never make me sad.

[Zachoreeno]

Brilliant

[xr1800yam]

Sung with heart and soul! Great song under recognized.

[EMCEMITCH]

john lennon stated that nillson was his favorite american writer nd musician

[LazzariJ]

CU Later June Darling x Thanks Harry for your music we both loved & I do still x

[MrKenneth0909]

Paul stole this tune to do one of my favorite songs by him something to do with dolphins

[MoveOverCasanova]

he reminds me of james cameron

[Vitriden]

So simple, and yet it's impossible that someone has written a song like this. Not a single cliche, everything in its place. And I won't even comment the voice.

I'd listen to this to this song until the world collapses.

[Nomadd1957]

Beautiful my friend,5/5stars

[LazzariJ]

Sums Up My life right now - I miss you June My Darling! X

[Bobjb999]

I looked up this video to find out who wrote the song, after I just heard Blood Sweat & Tears' fine version from '68. It brings back memories, as I recall it from radio way back when, but haven't heard it in ages (well, maybe a few times on oldies radio over the years). What a great song! Harry's is a stripped down version here. I prefer B, S & T's version with the whole band, including a horn section. But thanks for writing it, Harry, where ever you are now! (R.I.P. Harry).

[andana52]

I think this song was composed by Burt Bacharach/Hal David.The Whole album is amazing, and dont forget the next album "Harry".

[LydiaSe2580]

Sweet! Thank you for posting this "boy'yo"

[westeightyone]

The sound is better on another posted version of this video.

Click on ' Harry Nilsson - Without Her ( 1971 )'

in the related videos column to the right of this video.

[Trikkerman3]

i love blood sweat and tears version.

[CenaTv2]

kenny everett does a better version

[Sk8trperson]

idiot

[SuperNevile]

I have the Jack Jones Version ~ It may be a bit crackly, but I'll put it up tomorrow

[cdayton1]

This is great, but I'm still trying to find Jack Jones' version.

[SuperNevile]

@cdayton1

I'll putting that up tonight

[cdayton1]

THANK YOU so much! I love Nilsson's version, but I heard Jack's and I loved it more...can't help it!

[sweetlikecandi365]

Peter Nero did an excellent rendion of this song!!!!!

[swray484]

Harry's creativity, sensitivity, and musical prowess are incomparable. Achingly beautiful.

[music4healings]

Thank you ----i heard this so long ago and I am so glad to find this rare piece--

Thanks !!!

[Loofafa]

gently understated brilliance :)

[clemdane]

It's so good it nearly kills me.

[Carpworm]

Blood, Sweat & Tears did a good job of this on their first album with Al Kooper, which was by far the BEST BS&W album ever made.

[art4life4me]

I have to agree with you. While Al didn't have the rrripping baritone of David Clayton Thomas, his songs were so, so good.

[lilackine]

hes at his best with those high notes

Listen to Kenny Rankin  Silver Morning

[crispian2005]

mary hopkins albumb earth song is good too.she was on apple with badfinger.........connections.

[lobasplace]

without her ...no one does it like nilsson ,badfinger could only dream of thier band. Love them but NEVER will they be in nilsson's music

[mexicangeorge]

i´m sorry I prefer the JOSE JOSE´s version

[LADYDEACON]

@mexicangeorge wwowowo disculpa, cómo se llama la versión en español????!!!!!! yo no sabía eso. por favor dime para buscarla.

[YouRaphie]

Original is from the band Badfinger

but Harry Nilsson song the best version R.I.P. harry

[awleong]

You've confused this song with "Without You" which was originally by Badfinger.

[GUIDOBRAT]

yeah, Pete Ham wrote this for Badfinger, but Harry did an incredible version---both versions are excellent, come to think of it...

[LetsNotBeL7]

This song is, of course a Harry Nilsson composition. Badfinger's Pete Ham and Tom Evans composed "Without You", which Harry Nilsson recorded as the definitive version of that song.

[handymf1]

Pete Ham And Tom Evans wrote "Without You" ....you moron! different song .!

[GUIDOBRAT]

typo, bozo..Badfinger was in my blood b4 you were even freakin BORN--havent u ever typed something wrong while thnking of something else?? douchebag

[Badfinger1964]

Badfinger recorded 'Without You' written by Harry Nilsson, not this one

[shellshoo]

loved the jack jones version too, its just a fab song

[Newbarn62]

No one has mentioned Astrud Gilberto's version - I love the baroque original and this does something different with it but it still works and is VERY evocative of the time it was made.

[neilandnorma]

Great rendition!  Get this, he also did this song in a guest stint in, "The ghost and Mrs. Muir." get the vid!

[tbaernthaler]

breathtaking beauty

[dennisisms]

one of the very prettiest songs ever written

[gsjbaldwin]

Harry Nilsson's talent is astonishing. His voice is one of the great natural untrained instruments I've ever heard. And he was no slouch as a songwriter as well. Alas, he was also one of the greatest self destructive artists who ever lived. Very sad. If you've never heard Nilsson Sings Newman, an album of Harry doing Randy Newman songs, get it. It remains one of my favorite albums of all time. Bless his heart.

[shotdonkey]

sad? not really.

harry nilsson lived EXACTLY the life he had to live to fully express who he was, warts and all!

to term him "self-destructive" might well be correct in the sense of...er consensus reality BUT...

it was his genius that took him precisely where he needed to go.

[tcyhm]

puta som, Gramophone.

[Bizarronumber4]

My fave version of this great song is Herb Alpert's.

[fadguru]

I've listened to enough great music in my life to know when that certain someone comes on the scene..and sometimes it takes a little time to pass before you come to the realization: "Wow, ya know something? That person's music is timeless." Harry's singing and music is truly timeless and may very well be studied for centuries to come.

[JuanMoreforeDeRhode]

The man had soul

[PALUMPALAM]

@fadguru i couldn't have said it better.

[rezeski]

@fadguru: Let's hope that he does not go unrecognized. He is truly among the great artists of the 20th century. No doubt about it. [Think of Randy Newman, Moes Allision, etc.]

[tlaloc2010]

"Sin ella" is the Spanish version by Mexican singer= Jose Jose!!!!

[tlaloc2010]

"Sin ella" by Mexican singer=Jose Jose is the Spanih version!!!!!

[nymph58]

The José José version is very beautiful!

[verabeto]

Very beautiful song. I love that.Thanks.

[moodyblue1964]

Oh how good is this !!!!

It says everything so simply and to the point and i adore it.

[thomas3570]

This was a very talented man who's life was cut tragically short by alcohol.

RIP Harry...you were the best!

[breadfan262]

I can't beleive I lived to 34 without ever hearing this or really knowing who Harry Nilsson was. Everybody's talkin, Coconut, One, Jump into the Fire, Without Her, The Moonbeam Song, etc. I see the world through new eyes.

[g8rsteve]

Bread...I was 13 or so (1969) when HN burst on the scene and it wasn't until last year that I really discovered his talent beyond "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You"(2 songs he didn't even write)..like all of us he was far from perfect...he bucked the musical trends of the time and did it "his way"...and made his kind of music that he enjoyed....welcome to the club, Bread.

[lnkatts]

I have come to appreciate Harry Nilsson so much. He has such a beautiful amazing singing voice. His songs have meaning in them and he sings them as if he were telling his own life story. I admire him.

[verbaud]

Exquisite...is it any wonder McCartney and Lennon loved and promoted this guy?

[slider41]

ty 4peace4all,

I understand ty for your posts, i ache yst love every day of my humbled life

[Lucbigx]

Capo. Genio!

[pixiecherries]

He is a genius. He only had a 9th grade education, but he still worked in banks on computers before he became a musician. Imagine how much beautiful music we would have missed without him.

[jjcbss]

He makes it seem so effortless. He is an absolute genius!!!!

[zzRider]

This song is very simple, with both dark and romantic lyrics, along with a lovely melody. Thanks for showing it.

[4Peace4All]

I love him, I have no desire to tell him "f*** you". I didn't smile, I turned off that video. I don't expect to ever be the person I used to be again. I simply want to do what I did today and sleep all day (every day). Thanks for the attempt. My life is shattered at my feet, every step I cut myself. (I failed to mention I have disabilities, I have to have strangers come in to clean my house and do other things I can't do. THAT is what he left behind.)

[Zirolia]

Nice, nice, nice!

[celticlofts]

I think Harry had a little bit of bad karma, He was supposed to have led Lennon astray but that wasn't all. In 1974 Mama Cass of the Mamas and the Papas was found dead in an apartment owned by Harry. Four years later Keith Moon from the band The Who also died in the SAME apartment, which was still owned by Harry. He got so freaked out over it that he sold the apartment not too long after.

[JerryX68]

Maybe it was Mayfair that had the bad karma. You can't blame the lad for Mama Cass n the Moon!

[4Peace4All]

Such a poignant and apropos song for me right now. I've just lost my marriage/love/best friend of 31 years, we separated 6 mo. ago and he's now filed for a divorce I don't want, I love him, no matter what he did. The pain is unbelievable, I spend my time sleeping as much as possible, I can't face these days without him or even talking to him. There's truly no song without him.

[westeightyone]

Don't do that to yourself, 4Peace4All.

Tomorrow is one day farther away from the pain if you allow it to be.

Listen to Harry Nilsson's song "You're Breaking My Heart".You'll smile.

[4Peace4All]

It's called "grief", and it doesn't just go away so soon after 31 years with one person you love. I DO fall asleep in my chair, just as he says, quite often, and THERE IS NO SONG WITHOUT HIM! Thanks for the attempt, but you could never understand, few can, because few ever get this many years with one person. Smile? What's that?

[westeightyone]

What is your 'grief' getting you, 4Peace4All?

How is torturing yourself by continually recalling the memory of 31 years together with one person helping you?

Listening to and relating to songs like "Without Her" and "Without You" will only add to your depression.

[4Peace4All]

I rarely listen, happened to come across "Without You". Try being with someone you love for 31 years, get over your grief in a few months, doesn't work that way. It will take around 5 YEARS to completely recover according to psychiatrists and grief counselors. I don't EVER want to forget the memories, there are a lot of great ones. They will be with me forever, and he will always live in my heart. I doubt there are very few, if any, people on here who have been with someone as I was for 31 yrs.

[webgrunt]

I understand. It's been 27 years for me. People who have never been broken in the way we have will never know, and for that they're lucky. No matter how you try to live on, and fake being OK, there'll always be that aching emptiness that's larger than you. Fortunately, antidepressants help me a lot. Too bad they don't help everyone the way they help me.

[webgrunt]

Sorry, please disregard my post--I totally misunderstood what you were saying.

[4Peace4All]

If you're talking to me, webgrunt, I'm not sure what you thought you misunderstood??

[4Peace4All]

Thank you, only someone who has lived a lifetime with someone can begin to understand. I hear people who are ecstatic that they have been married for 5 or 7 or even 10 years, & I can only think "they don't have a clue what I had and lost, and at least half of them never will". westeightyone is 1 who has the attitude of "get over it", "let it go", while having no clue how. Remembering the good times will always be a part of my life, he doesn't get that. Remembering the good is what HELPS.

[Loofafa]

Wo wo wo! my goodness me , bit of spine tingler that one .. exceedingly sad yet equally as uplifting. Can't get enough of that voice, go Harry!

[Stryker146]

I think this song was once featured in The Ghost and Mrs Muir but I don't know if Nilsson himself was in it. Very poignant song. Pity he led John Lennon astray. John had been such a good boy up until then (OK, not in Hamburg).

[4Peace4All]

John Lennon was much too strong a human to be "led astray" by just one man, he did so very much with his far-too-short life.

[taghl]

Its a shame that alcoholism hurt this incredibly talented man's health like it did. I wish he was still with us with that angelic-voice he had. He could hit every octave and hold the note, and had exquisite musical sensibility. A real God-given talent if one was ever born.

[moodyblue1964]

I adore this song so much....it so resonates with me right now. Strange really as the reason it resonates with me is to do with the person who got me into this guy.......

Such great words and oh so true if you choose to indulge your hurt this way !

[freestuffwiz]

hang in there, you'll get over him and move on...and still have Harry Nillson!!!

[MuizeekPhanahtic]

A really talented musician/performer/lyricist and (especially) vocalist. Harry had a real powerful way of building up a song to all its potential with ascending/descending notes/vocals. His words are very succinct and easy for all of us to understand/relate. If this is "pop" than I would say 100% (without doubt) this is what "pop" should be, heartfelt and catchy, but also emotional and believable. Even without a "big band" arrangement, it still hits with as much delivery.

[Bluesmen88]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears did a really good cover of this, but the original is great too.

[onceuponamidnightdry]

What is this McCartney / Nilsson b.s. going on? Both wonderful artists and least we forget that when the Beatles landed in New York they were asked who their favorite American band was ... their answer, Nilsson.

[nicolasonnn]

I get a love split only to listen this song...I should not.

[persefonethegreat]

i have beautiful voice too

[LEWOOF]

.......beautiful voice..

[Qidron]

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing this.

[MaximumMartin]

hmmm i've just read about him in mojo mag, i wonder how many people qoute from things like that to sound knowledgable or how ever its spelt but i know nowt bout music.

[MaximumMartin]

hmmm i've just read about him in mojo mag, i wonder how many people qoute from things like that to sound knowledgable or how ever its spelt but i know nowt bout music.

[DigitalAssassin]

I really like this song. Tune at the beginning of it reminds me of Mika's "Stuck in the Middle"

(Although, the two artists definitely have their own twist on it.)

Apparently Mika finds Henry Nillson to be an inspiration! He did a cover of "Everybody's talkin'" and mentioned "1941" in an interview.

Funny - they're such different artists!

[jzerony]

There is just so little of Nilsson performing out there... this is such a joyous find! THANKS....

[Fairport70]

Besides this original Harry Nilsson tune, the only cover I know about is by Al Kooper w/ Blood, Sweat & Tears from their 1st LP, "Child Is Father To The Man."

BTW, thanks for the video George. Great.

[AndrALT130]

Rather belated reply, but if you like this song you should listen to the Herb Alpert cover - fantastic!

[fiona1958]

A Beautiful song from a fabulous singer/songwriter. I believe this was also covered by Jack Jones? and I know there is a fantastic version by Colin Blunstone (as Neil MacArthur)!

[AndrewTSq]

one of my all time fav songs!

[DeeepSmyle]

This is BEAUtiful!!!

[vintagemnstrs]

I'm writing from my daughter's account....ahhhhhh...Harry....­he's pure beauty...

We miss him..........

[saragiro]

I Love Nilsson but I absolutely ADORE this song. He's amazing!!

[orsonfreud]

Just superb! Pure genius and very underrated.

[zoomantony7]

I forgot how good this guy sang thanks for putting this up

[BUTCHCRAB]

how melodic! Blows me away even after all these years.

[nicolasonnn]

SO GOOD! GORGEOUS!

[badaltitude]

The greatest voice ever bestowed upon a man.

We love you Harry.

[judex54]

BEATLESQUE!!!!!!

[cdstryker]

you are right, no wonder lennon liked hangin w/ this guy, he has a lot of McCartney in him

[Qidron]

...uh...MAYbe McCartney had a litttle tiny bit o' Harry goin on, let's not get things backward.

[cdstryker]

that would be chronologically incorrect. big mac was doin it first

[Qidron]

Well, I'm no authority, but it seems they were both doin it at the same time. Paul was more popular comercially, but Nilsson was a genius all the way round. I've always liked Paul, but Harry is da bomb. I don't know why I posted that here tho. Odd.

[cdstryker]

well the beatles wee around before harry, and paul is one of the greatest singers of all time-bar none.i like harry alot. and when john and paul werre asked who they liked in contemporary music back in the day they both said harry nilsson. you can hear the similarity in the music. i love them both, they are two of the best vocalists of all time in popular music.

[UnhealthySalad]

Blood, Sweat & Tears did a great cover of this song on their first album.  Do-do-do do-do-do

[walleyrange]

How goods this???? Amazing

[cutis1000]

so soulful. I like his voice too. Wish I could play like him...

[tacomadc]

Love Harry! Had no idea he played guitar too!

[zurapDOR]

Heavenly!!!

[dirtystrings]

still loving harry's music...

thanks for posting

[nancyfa]

Wow ... many thanks for posting.

[poetsnails]

sweet, harry is missed ..especially in this arena of boy/girl bands and rap music that plagues our airwaves these days :(

[waynepitty]

He's Paul Mccartney Infulenced!

[randyatlantis]

I would say the other way around and that's speaking as a Macca fan.

[ceiteach91]

he is a man singin abou a woman.... dats so gay!!!

[jtn999]

Wow!  Thank you. .

[bernhill666]

I don't think I've ever heard such a beautiful voice on a bloke. Absolutely heart-rending. Alreay got my 3 kids to appreciate him. thanks for posting this.

[gazzod]

this guy`s voice is orchestral, beautiful.

[kevme]

Great tune..great voice. Another amazing heartbreak type song is, 'Come Down In Time' from Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection album...never here that on the radio either..but fantastic.

[gazzod]

this has got to be the best heartbreak song of all time,wow

[slowmovingdreams]

Man, I wish I could sing like that!

[westeightyone]

I'm sure that anyone who's ever heard you sing wishes you could sing like that.

[SeeDeeMoe]

I'm sure you're right! I'm not a great singer.

[BloodySerpent]

Haha I'm sure none of us are great singers when put in comparison with Nilsson.

[pondermynavel]

thank you for posting this.

lots.

amazing.