"He had a gift for melody. Which is a rare, inexplicable talent to have," Randy Newman once said of Nilsson's easy way with complex melodies and counterpoint. "People like McCartney have it, Schubert, Elton John has it. Harry had that gift."

 In a 1968 interview John Lennon said of Harry Nilsson, “everything influences everything, Nilsson’s my favorite group.” McCartney mirrored the statement. In the same interview, the two confirm Nilsson is both their “favorite artist” and “favorite American group”. Later that day, when a journalist wondered what they thought about American music, Lennon replied, “Nilsson! Nilsson for president!”

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