The Peculiar Truth about Ringo’s Son of Dracula

This is Part 2 of 2 about singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson and his connection to the Beatles. Click here to read Part 1.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

• Pop musician Harry Nilsson was called by some the American Beatle. Lennon and McCartney praised his albums, and he hung out with the Beatles in the final years the group remained together and after the breakup.
• 1972: Ringo Starr played drums on Nilsson’s eighth studio album Son of Schmilsson, which featured cover art showing Harry Nilsson dressed as a vampire.
• Apple Corps was the Beatles’ multimedia company involved in producing music and films. Ringo spearheaded a few of its movies.
• When Ringo came to him with the idea of making a filmed musical called Son of Dracula, Nilsson assumed Ringo had taken inspiration from Son of Schmilsson with its vampire cover art. But in reality Ringo never made the connection. It was all a coincidence. Nilsson agreed to not only appear in the movie but to play the title role — despite never having acted before.
• Six Nilsson songs were integrated into the film. All but one were recordings from his previously released albums.
• Son of Dracula (not to be confused with the 1943 Lon Chaney movie of the same name) was billed as the “first rock-and-roll Dracula movie.” It ran 90 minutes in…