"Without You" by Harry Nillson

After recently watching a documentary on Harry Nillson,  I decided to get his 1971 album  "Nillson Schmillson" as a way to connect with his music. Quite the eclectic assemblage of songs, some original, some covers, all from a great artist, composer, wonderful singer, and, by famous accounts by his famous friends, quite the party animal, but the one that stands out for me is his amazing track "Without You" which won him the Grammy for Best Pop Male Vocal for 1972.

From a beautifully sung opening verse to a chorus that soars to incredible vocals heights, I must admit I have spent time in the car on the way to gigs recently listening to that track repeatedly, and I shake my head in amazement at the end of every listening. Powerful falls short in describing such a performance, and to think this guy rarely performed live; what a shame. The orchestral score is wonderful, and thats Jim Keltner channelling his inner-Ringo on drums. An amazing track.

The guilt? It's in the lyrics, of course, because everyone's been in a love gone bad and thought to themselves "I can't live, if living is without you" (go on, admit it).

Sure, "Coconut" is the best one-chord song ever written, his vocals on "Everybody's Talkin'" are pop-folk at its finest, but the entire production of "Without You" is so steeped in Guilty Pleasure that I just might have to make this the G.P. anthem. So go ahead and give a guilt-free listen, because though we couldn't admit to our friends that we liked this back in 1972, we can now sit back and marvel in its simplicity and greatness.

Cheers, Harry.