Bob Babin on Harry Nilsson




The following is from Dad's journal (see my postscript following):


HARRY NILSSON
1941-1994

About 20 years ago my son, Paul, gave me a sound tape he had recorded off radio of a singer named Harry Nilsson, who I had never heard of. On it young Nilsson very charmingly sang many old favorites—among them "For Me and My Gal" and "As Time Goes By"—with an unusually sweet, mellow orchestra backing him up. I loved that re-cording. One evening Paul and I generously imbibed in scotch and soda while we played that beautiful Nilsson recording again and again and sang along with it.

Just last week I rediscovered that Nilsson cassette and began playing it repeatedly while using my computer. More than once, while listening and remembering that sen-timental evening with Paul, I shed a few tears. I frequently sang along, and for one of my fa¬vorite tunes I copied the lyrics into my computer.

Then on Saturday morning, 15 January, the tape suddenly broke and rewound into the cassette, making it unplayable. Of the dozens of cassettes I have played from time to time, that is my only tape break in the past ten years or more.

Today I read in the L.A. Times that Saturday morning, 15 Janu¬ary, Harry Nilsson, age 52, died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack!

Bob Babin
16 January 1994

P.S. I have restrained myself from submitting this note to the International Society of Kooky Inexplicables, because I know the coincidence is simply a coin¬cidence. Harry's tape and mine broke at the same time.



Paul's Post Script: The morning after Elliot and I left Dad on the shores of Shadow Lake, we carried through on our decision to leave Waupaca a day early. We got into the car and the radio came on. Mahler's 1st Symphony filled the air. The passage that was playing is my example of what "This is All I Ask" was for Dad. This lyrical, sentimental, beautiful, delicate moment carried by the strings so moved me one night in 1975, I've never forgotten it. And here I was at this remarkable moment being able to share it with Elliot.

P.P.S. I'm reserving my option on submission to the ISKI until further notice.

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