Everybody's Talkin'

Harry Nilsson recorded “Everybody’s Talkin’” on 13 November 1967 at RCA Studios in Hollywood for the Aerial Ballet sessions. Rick Jarrard produced the recording, with Nilsson on lead vocal, Al Casey on acoustic guitars, Mike Melvoin on piano, Larry Knechtel on bass, Jim Gordon on drums and strings added by a Hollywood session ensemble. Released by RCA Victor in 1968 on Aerial Ballet and reissued as a single in 1969 after its use in Midnight Cowboy, it became Nilsson’s breakthrough hit. The recording reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male. The track remains Nilsson’s signature recording and one of the most famous film-song placements of the late 1960s. Its association with Midnight Cowboy and its many later covers helped turn Fred Neil’s song into a modern pop standard.