There was an absurd number of reasons not to miss The Harry Nilsson 75th Birth-Year Show at The Constellation on March 18 ( although Nilsson's birthday is actually on June 15—but why quibble? ).
First was a line-up that featured some of the most idiosyncratic musicians and vocalists in Chicago, including Weather Man, Monica Boubou, a reunited Baby Teeth, Marvin Tate, Bobby Conn and a rare performance by Josh Chicoine. The event also served as a benefit for The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence but the kicker was actually the idea of the show itself. Harry Nilsson may have made his first mark as a vocalist in the late 1960s ( his first big hit, "Everybody's Talking" from the film Midnight Cowboy, was not written by him ), but his legacy was made and sustained by his songwriting.
For all of his faults, which included a career killing habit for self sabotage and a drinking problem that destroyed his health, Nilsson created a rich, varied, oftentimes brilliant songbook which, even now, 22 years after his death, has few contemporary equals. ( Randy Newman and Tom Waits' works comes to mind. ) The notion of turning these particular artists loose onstage for a celebration of this particular artist sounded like pure folly.
Harry Nilsson was a "bad boy" at heart, and his talent for creating highly intelligent pop would not hide the fact. Before he reached massive success through his own recordings ( "Without You" ) and as a composer ( he wrote "One" for Three Dog Night ) he thought nothing of writing the coy, catchy, seemingly innocent "Cuddly Toy" for The Monkees ( which they released as a hit single in 1967 ) with a subversive message stuck in plain view. ( Once Screen Gems, The Monkees' label, got wind of that message, it yanked the song off the radio. ) It made perfect sense that The Beatles' bad boy, John Lennon, would become his best friend and drinking buddy ( becoming a spokesman against gun violence after Nilsson's death ). With a songbook draped in personal pain, vulnerable love songs, bouncy sweetness, winsome nostalgia, bubbly charm and acidic bon mots, an entire evening of Nilsson promised to be, at the very least, an entertaining flaming wreck.
The key here was show producer/participant Peter Andreadis' deft balance in assembling talent, pairing it with the right songs, selecting the order and getting the hell out of the way. Far from a "wreck" of any sort, the show managed to encapsulate everything that Nilsson embodied which was no mean feat. For this event, there were so many highlights and show-stoppers that it would be impossible to include everything here ... but I will try.
Judson Claiborne opened with a mildly pained reading of "1941" ( an autobiographical song that detailed Nilsson's father abandoning his family when he was a toddler ), then flipped the mood with a whimsical "Everything Is Food," from the Popeye soundtrack. If Wimpy ( Popeye's burger-lusting friend )'s culinary love song bordered on the absurd, Chicoine's soaring take on "Walk Right Back" brought an elegant heartbreak back onstage. Then, Weather Man and poet/author/vocalist Marvin Tate lobbed the show into outer space with atonal, hollowed and haunted readings of "He Needs Me" and "Sailing." To say the show was headed for another dimension was putting it mildly, since this reading turned Nilsson's clear-eyed pop into weird, engaging art-noise. Then, The Lonesome Organist ( who not only accompanied himself simultaneously on accordion and keyboards but tap-danced through his set ) bopped into "One" and "I Never Thought I'd Get this Lonely," turning them into oddball heartbreakers.
Devin Davis tore through "You're Breaking My Heart" with a full band/orchestra and an ear-clearing helping of Nilsson's vulgar rage ( the chorus: "You're breaking my heart/So F*CK YOU!!!" ) to start a set that dispensed with subtlety. Angela James' reading of "Maybe" was the only nod here to sanity as the eternally smirking but pleasant Abraham Levitan turned "Joy" into a mild dirty joke steeped in regret. ( Just how Levitan can make an audience snigger and bawl in the same song is a talent I have yet to understand. ) Finally, Andreadis strapped on a guitar and bounced through a purely joyful "I'll Take A Tango," which was the set up for a brain-jarring close. Said close featured Bobby Conn's slightly sinister take on the sweet love ballad "Perfect Day" and a hell-raising rip through "Jump Into the Fire" that got multiple asses shaking in the aisles.
Oh, yeah: The encore came with Conn and that orchestra having their way with "Without You" and a lighthearted sing-a-long to "I'd Rather Be Dead," but the point was readily made. Harry Nilsson got the birthday celebration he rightly deserved and, though we are in the third month of the year, this was clearly an event to remember 2016. Here's hoping that Andreadis and his crew make this an annual event.
Heads up: Ripley Caine will be performing at 27 Live at 1012 Church St. in Evanston on Saturday, April 9, for a CD-release show.
