Everybody's Talkin' (Fred Neil)

30 NOVEMBER 1966


'Everybody's Talkin'' was a huge hit for Nilsson in 1969, after the song featured heavily in the movie 'Midnight Cowboy'. It had, however, been written, recorded and released in late 1966 as a track on folk singer Fred Neil's self-titled second album. The song was composed near the end of a New York recording session for the album, when Neil was anxious to wrap things up and get back home to his family in Miami, Florida. His manager promised that Neil could go if he wrote and recorded one last track. 'Everybody's Talkin'' - clearly speaking for Neil's state of mind at that exact time - was the result, and it was recorded in one take.

Neil's recording lacks the comparative urgency and slick production values of the Nilsson version, but is still a good song and deserves the respect that originals should get. Unfortunately Neil did not enjoy commercial success - although the 'Fred Neil' album was reissued in 1969 after the success of 'Midnight Cowboy' - and he more or less left the industry by the 1970s.