In 1971 he brought these skills to bear on Nilsson Schmilsson, a disarmingly eccentric pop-rock album that confirms his place among the finest singer-songwriters of his generation.
Brooklyn-born Nilsson had picked up a Grammy for his 1968 cover of Fred Neil song Everybody's Talkin', made popular by its inclusion on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack.
But his own writing chops had been long established, Nilsson having penned material for the likes of Glen Campbell, the Yardbirds, the Shangri-Las and the Monkees, and having earned a nod of approval from the Beatles for his 1967 album Pandemonium Shadow Show.
It was the search to capture something of the warmth and sonic scope of the Beatles' recent works that took Nilsson to Trident Studios in London for the recording of Schmilsson with Captain Beefheart/Barbra Streisand producer Richard Perry.
The resulting sessions produced a hatful of stylistically varied, slightly skewed songs, including a sensational cover of a Badfinger track that Nilsson had heard at a party.
Grammy-winning single Without You is the album's bleeding heart.
Nilsson tackles the track with every asset in his multi-octave vocal range, forlorn and vulnerable through the repeated verse and soaring in glorious agony through the chorus.
It's the unchallengeable champion of all suicide songs.
Nilsson-penned second single Jump Into The Fire is celebratory wailing rocker, a mile away from Without You's navel-gazing melancholia, and third single Coconut is an oddball Calypso novelty with an unforgettable hook.
Elsewhere, Nilsson's talent as a wry and wistful lyricist on everyday topics shines in such tracks as Gotta Get Up and Driving Along, while The Moonbeam Song is a romantic and delicate precursor to works from the likes of Rufus Wainwright and John Grant.
Nilsson would never repeat Schmilsson's commercial success, preferring to dabble in a range of less radio-friendly styles.
