Who recorded it first
Everybody's Talkin'
Not a Harry Nilsson original — Fred Neil recorded it first, in 1966
Harry Nilsson’s recording is so bound up with Midnight Cowboy that the song is often assumed to be his own. It isn’t. Fred Neil wrote “Everybody’s Talkin’” and recorded it himself, on 13 October 1966, for his self-titled Capitol album — the first recording of the song. The album followed in December 1966, though some catalogues date the LP to 1967. Neil’s version was an album track, not a single, and it passed almost unnoticed; Capitol later reissued the whole album under the song’s title once Nilsson’s cover became a hit.
The record
Who recorded it first
Released An album track — track six of Fred Neil, cut on 13 October 1966 and issued by Capitol Records in December 1966 (some catalogues, MusicBrainz among them, date the LP to 1967), produced by Nick Venet. Capitol chose “The Dolphins” as the album’s single in January 1967, not this song.
Charted Did not chart. Neil’s recording was never issued as a single in its own right.
Hear Fred Neil’s original 1966 Capitol recording www.youtube.com · Auto-generated upload on the “Fred Neil - Topic” channel, described as provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group, credited ℗ 1967 Capitol Records, LLC and dated 1966-12-01 from the album Fred Neil. It is Neil’s own performance, not a re-recording. Its 2:45 runtime matches the 2:44 master MusicBrainz first lists on Capitol’s 1969 retitled reissue; MusicBrainz times the LP track itself at 2:58 — the same performance with a different fade.How the record has been traced
Wikipedia’s article on the song states that Fred Neil wrote it, copyrighted it on 20 April 1966, and recorded it on 13 October 1966 for his self-titled Capitol album — Everybody’s Talkin’ ↗.
The album article gives the release as December 1966 on Capitol, produced by Nick Venet, and notes the 1969 reissue retitled Everybody’s Talkin’ — Fred Neil (album) ↗.
MusicBrainz credits Fred Neil as both composer and lyricist of the work — MusicBrainz work entry ↗.
MusicBrainz’s entry for the album carries the 2:58 LP master at track six, but dates that release to 1967 and records no label credit — a caveat against the December 1966 Capitol date given elsewhere — MusicBrainz recording entry ↗.
Wikipedia: “Everybody’s Talkin’” — original and cover versionsKnow more about the original — or think we’ve got it wrong? Add a source →
Fact-check
Right song, wrong originator
The confusion here isn’t about authorship credit — it’s about who made the record first. Nilsson’s version is so total that the song now carries the subtitle “Theme from Midnight Cowboy,” which leaves little room for the idea of an earlier recording at all.
Harry Nilsson
His 1968 RCA Victor recording, made famous by Midnight Cowboy in 1969, is the version almost everyone has heard — and is widely assumed to be the first.
Fred Neil
Cut on 13 October 1966 for the album Fred Neil, issued by Capitol Records in December 1966 (some catalogues date the LP to 1967). It was an album track, never a single, and it did not chart.
Fred Neil
Neil is credited as both composer and lyricist of the song; Wikipedia records the composition as copyrighted on 20 April 1966.
Fred Neil wrote it and recorded it first, in 1966. Harry Nilsson made it famous in 1969.
Context
Why the cover swallowed the original
The interesting question isn’t why Nilsson’s version is famous — it’s why it took a film to make it so. RCA released it as a single in July 1968 and it stalled at No. 13 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart, short of the Hot 100. The record hadn’t changed a year later; the context had. Once John Schlesinger laid it over the opening of Midnight Cowboy, the same performance went to No. 6.
Fred Neil’s own recording never had that chance. It sat as track six on a Capitol album by an artist who disliked touring and was already drifting out of the business; the single pulled from that album was “The Dolphins.” The clearest measure of the reversal is that Capitol reissued Neil’s self-titled album in 1969 retitled Everybody’s Talkin’ — the original renamed after the cover that eclipsed it.
The chronology, step by step
- 20 April 1966 — the composition is copyrighted by Fred Neil.
- 13 October 1966 — Neil records “Everybody’s Talkin’,” the song’s first recording.
- December 1966 — Capitol Records releases the album Fred Neil, produced by Nick Venet (MusicBrainz and some catalogues date the LP to 1967).
- January 1967 — Capitol pulls “The Dolphins” as the album’s single, not “Everybody’s Talkin’.”
- November 1967 — Harry Nilsson records his version for RCA Victor.
- July 1968 — Nilsson’s Aerial Ballet is released and the single stalls at No. 13 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart, short of the Hot 100.
- May 1969 — Midnight Cowboy premieres in New York with Nilsson’s recording as its theme.
- 1969 — the reissued single reaches No. 6 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 Easy Listening; Capitol reissues Neil’s album retitled Everybody’s Talkin’.
- 1970 — Nilsson wins the Grammy for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male; the recording enters the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Same record, one year apart. The only thing that changed was the film in front of it.