Ultimately, though, Harry Nilsson's worst enemy didn't come in the form of the music industry, his fans, or fellow musicians - it was Harry Nilsson.

A legendary drinker and drugger whose prodigious intake still managed to dwarf those of seasoned Bacchanalians like John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and Alice Cooper, his endless carousing ended up damaging his most important gift, that angelic, high voice.

It was one that, when multitracked (as he was wont to do), enveloped listeners in a warm sonic milk bath. That each recording the instrument deteriorated into a hoarse whisper was a musical tragedy.

The man did enjoy a nice, raucous night (or week) out, though. At one famous incident, Nilsson and Lennon were ejected from L.A.'s Troubadour Club for obnoxiously heckling the Smothers Brothers during a show after imbibing far too many Brandy Alexanders (though in Shipton's retelling, it's Lennon who was mostly out of control). Nilsson also began packing on the pounds.

But things couldn't have gone well after Lennon entered the club with a sanitary napkin placed on top of his cranium. "Do you know who I am?" he asked imperiously. "Yeah," a seen-it-all waitress responded. "Some asshole with a Kotex on his head."

Shipton is detailed -- very detailed -- throughout and in particular to his dissection of Nilsson's music. And while it's manna for the diehards, more casual fans might struggle.

Still, there are plenty of interesting tidbits, some better known (both Mama Cass Elliott and Who drummer Keith Moon died in Nilsson's London apartment years apart) and not so (Nilsson got the news that his friend John Lennon had been killed while in the studio recording with...Frank Stallone).

And while Nilsson cleaned up somewhat in the '80s while leading a one-man campaign across the U.S. to reform handgun laws in the wake of Lennon's assassination, he died in 1994 at age 52 from heart failure, no doubt brought on by other health issues stemming back years.

But recently, there's been something of a Harry Nilsson revival. Spearheaded by the must-see documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?), there has also been a deluxe DVD edition of his incredible 1972 animated children's parable The Point (with story concept and songs written and performed by Harry), and a massive 17-disc box set, The RCA Collection.

Shipton -- who also penned bios on Dizzy Gillespie and Cab Calloway -- may not be a writer with a lot of flair, but his book (with plenty of quotes from the subject himself along with other interviews) will be the definitive work on the man who put the lime in the coconut. And drank it all up. All up.

ROCKS OFF'S GREATEST HITS

The Ask Willie D Archives Houston's Top 10 Patio Bars Top 10 Bars, Clubs & Ice Houses In Midtown Daddy, Why Is Numbers Called Numbers?