Without You by Harry Nilsson. What an absolute classic.
In your face Lieutenant Pigeon.
Great song there Tom, huge hit in the day.
Everytime I see/hear this song I feel angst about it and the writers. It wasn't written by Nilsson. It was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans from a Welsh band called Badfinger. Their story is one of the tragedies of the music business. There are lots of articles to be read online about the whole sad business, it's that complicated I couldn't find an article to post a link to for anyone to read if interested, but here's the crux, from the website Songfacts.
Nilsson came across the song at a party in 1971 and thought it was a Beatles song. Badfinger were signed to Apple Records, The Beatles' label. The story did not end well for Badfinger.
Nilsson's version added an orchestra and gave the song a dramatic production. When Nilsson recorded it, he initially played the song slow and dark, accompanied only by piano. Producer Richard Perry recalled to Mojo magazine April 2008 that he had to persuade an unwilling Nilsson to record it as a big ballad: "I had to force him to take a shot with the rhythm section. Even while we were doing it, he'd be saying to the musicians, 'This song's awful.'"
Mariah Carey's version debuted at #1 in the UK in 1994 and hit #3 in the US. Nilsson died of heart failure on January 15, 1994 - the same day Carey's version was released in the US, which is also 22 years to the day after his interpretation of "Without You" hit #1 on the US charts.. Later in 1994, Nilsson's version was reissued to take advantage of the renewed interest.
Both Ham and Evans became despondent when they encountered various legal difficulties and committed suicide. Ham hanged himself in 1975. He was 27 and left a note for his pregnant wife and her son.
In 1983, after a bitter argument with guitarist Joey Molland about the royalties for "Without You", Evans hanged himself in his garden. Those who knew him stated that he had never gotten over Ham's suicide. He also left a wife and son.
I really liked Badfinger, some great songs (I think I have an original copy of No Matter What) and a sad sad story which shows that now and then when you are discovered by a giant in the music business and think you've landed on your feet, you've found anything but.
The No 1 song on my 14th Birthday was I'd like to teach the World to Sing By the New Seekers, I was 8 weeks premature. The song I would have had if I had been born at the right time was Without You by Nilsson!