Harry Nilsson - Gotta Get Up [A/V Upgrade]

From the television special "The Music of Nilsson: Harry Nilsson in Concert". Recorded live at the BBC Television Theatre in 1971. First broadcast on New Year's Day of 1972.

Watch the entire special in a marvelous HD upgrade here:    • The Music Of Nilsson (Harry Nilsson I...  


"Nilsson almost never performed live, after he was embarrassed by a pre-fame ’60s concert with an old songwriting partner. After much haranguing, a BBC executive convinced him to participate in this live series for the network. Nilsson, instead, crafted a meta-performance, a commentary on his disdain for going live.

Alone on a soundstage — amid canned applause, sight gags, cutaway reaction shots, and an animated interlude — Nilsson performs in triplicate, then as the gorillas, and finally beautifully by himself. It’s a wondrous and strange special that predates Christopher Guest movies, MTV’s Unplugged, Ali G, Hologram 2Pac, and nearly every other extraconceptual pop performance. Nilsson didn’t necessarily think this was genius stuff; he was just a scamp with stage fright."

(Sean Fennessey, "Deconstructing Harry", August of 2013)

#harrynilsson #shepherdsbush #baroquepop