Harry Nilsson – Without You (1972)

“Without You” – Single by Harry Nilsson from the album Nilsson Schmilsson
B-side “Gotta Get Up”
Released 11 October 1971
Label RCA
Songwriters Pete Ham, Tom Evans
Producer Richard Perry
Charted No.1 in US, No.1 in UK, No.1 in Canada, No.1 in Ireland, No.3 in Italy, No.12 in West Germany

“Without You” debuted at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 18 December 1971, and on its tenth week, in the chart dated 19 February 1972, started its four-week run at number one, as his only song to peak at that position. Billboard ranked it as the number-four single of 1972.

Harry Nilsson heard Badfinger’s recording of “Without You” at a party, and mistook it for a Beatles song.

After realising it was not, he decided to cover the song for his 1971 album Nilsson Schmilsson. According to Breihan, “He wanted his version of the song to be a stark, heavy solo-piano thing, but [producer Richard] Perry convinced him to turn it into a grand, crashing, theatrical monster-ballad, complete with orchestra.” Gary Wright, who worked with Badfinger on George Harrison’s projects, played the piano. Also featured are Klaus Voormann (bass), Jim Keltner (drums) and John Uribe (acoustic guitar). The string and horn arrangements are by Paul Buckmaster.

The Badfinger original wasn’t released as a single, so most people weren’t familiar with it. Nilsson’s version, laced with lush orchestration, became a huge hit, climbing to #1 US in February 1972 and staying for four weeks. Nilsson was known as a songwriter and wrote most of the songs he recorded, but two of his biggest hits were covers: “Without You” and “Everybody’s Talkin’.”

“Without You” is not the kind of song Nilsson, who died in 1994, would have written. His compositions were far more acerbic, and he took pains to avoid the topic of love (or lack of it).

This song made a lot of money for a lot of people, but for those most entitled to the windfall, it had tragic consequences. As the song’s writers, Peter Ham and Tom Evans should have been set for life, but Badfinger’s label, Apple Records, collapsed in 1973 and they never got their due. Despondent over career setbacks and overwhelmed by myriad legal difficulties, Ham hanged himself in 1975. In 1983, Evans followed suit, hanging himself from a willow tree after a bitter argument with Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland about the royalties for “Without You.”