#115 – Everybody’s Talkin’

by Stacy Loves Buffett · May 5, 2025

#115 – Everybody’s Talkin’

-by Stacy Garwood-

This song has been waving at me for a little while, wanting to have it’s turn to in the sunlight, but the timing never seemed quite right. And yet, today seems like the perfect day to share it. There is a northeast wind blowing and rain is falling from the sky, and I am thinking about places where the sun keeps shining and warm ocean breezes, and the gentle vibe of this soft rock/folk song seems like it was designed for a day like today. Everybody’s Talkin’ is a song that paints a picture of a certain mood, and I would guess that almost everyone has heard at least one version of this song, although it may not have been Jimmy’s version.

“Everybody’s talkin’ at me, I can’t hear a word they’re sayin’, only the echoes of my mind… “

Everybody’s Talkin’ was released on JB’s 2003 “greatest hits” collection, called Meet Me In Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection, which turned into a 38-song, two CD compilation. This collection included original recordings of many of Jimmy’s most popular songs, including re-recording’s of several of his beloved past songs and two new studio recordings that were covers of other artists’ work. Fred Neil’s Everybody’s Talkin’ was one of those covers, the other being Sail On Sailor by The Beach Boys, both of which Jimmy would play often during his live shows.

Everybody’s Talkin’ was the second song on the second album of the collection, and while it was newly recorded by Jimmy, it wasn’t new to his repertoire. He covered it in concert as early as 1988, although he started playing it in live shows more frequently starting in 2002. Maybe he was testing it out as a possibility for an addition to Meet Me In Margaritaville, which was planned for the following year. Jimmy played it off and on in concert in the 2000’s. Not only did it make the compilation album for Jimmy, but it graced four of Jimmy’s live albums, including Live in Hawaii, Live in Las Vegas, Live in Cincinnati, and Live in Mansfield. Jimmy has described Fred Neil as an old friend and mentioned this song as one that he truly admired. One of the lyrics, in particular, seems to suit Jimmy’s lifestyle and personal vibration. “Where the weather suits my clothes “.

“Going where the sun keeps shinin’, Through the pourin’ rain, Goin’ where the weather suits my clothes…”

When Jimmy recorded this song, it might have sounded familiar to many who heard it, and the truth is, Everybody’s Talkin’ is a song that has a history. It probably does sound familiar to many, even if you know nothing about the song. It was written by reclusive singer-songwriter Fred Neil and recorded in 1966, on his second album, the self-titled Fred Neil. He would later re-release the song and album in 1969, retitled Everybody’s Talkin’. His deep baritone voice tied poignantly with the lyrics of the song, and if you have never heard his version, I recommend it. I will include a link to the Fred Neil version of Everybody’s Talkin’ in the links at the end of the story.

Fred Neil was a man who had a talent and love for music, but not the industry itself. As an artist, he avoided interviews and the press, much more content to work on writing songs and developing his musical style. He was born in Cleveland and moved to Florida when he was quite young. His parents’ marriage was complicated and they separated when Fred was quite young. Fred himself had complicated relationships, including four marriages. Beyond a complex personal life, including the tragic death of a girlfriend, Fred spent his time working in New York in his early music career and his early songwriting career saw him having songs recorded by people such as Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison.

His songwriting style was a little country, a little rockabilly, but mostly folk, and he became quite well known in the folk music scene in Greenwich Village. In fact, when Bob Dylan came to Greenwich Village, it was suggested that he find Fred Neil as a resource in the industry, and upon meeting each other in 1961, Fred Neil invited Bob Dylan onto the stage and the two men performed together.

In 1962, Fred Neil met Vince Martin, and the two men formed a singing partnership and released an album in 1964. While the partnership produced only one album, it was Vince Martin who introduced Fred Neil to Coconut Grove, Florida, an affluent neighborhood of Miami, a place Fred Neil would eventually retreat to and call home for many years.

Fred Neil had an interest in dolphins, even playing music for dolphins and he was impressed and amazed with their reaction to his music and his guitar. During his time in Florida, he began visiting the Miami Seaquarium, and his interest in dolphins grew and his interest in the music industry waned. By the time the seventies rolled around, Fred Neil was a co-founder of the Dolphin Research Project that’s focus was raising interest in protecting and stopping the exploitation of dolphins in the wild.

Fred Neil would eventually live the rest of his life as a recluse, traveling to places such as New York, Mexico, Texas and Oregon, before returning to southern Florida, his great interest still being the protection of dolphins and he would die in Key West in 2001, of complications of skin cancer. At some point along his journey, he would meet Jimmy Buffett, who would later refer to Fred Neil as a “great friend”.

“Bankin’ off a northeast wind and sailin’ on a summer breeze, Skippin’ over the ocean like a stone…”

As mentioned, Fred Neil wrote and recorded Everybody’s Talkin’, and then re-released it in 1969, but the song’s story starts soaring in 1968 when a young singer-songwriter named Harry Nilsson covered the song and turned it into a hit.

Harry Nilsson’s version of Everybody’s Talkin’ is probably the most well-known version and was a bonified hit. It reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and won Harry Nilsson a Grammy for Best Male Vocal Performance in 1970. It is certainly the version of the song that I grew up hearing, and it is undeniably well done. Harry Nilsson’s dynamic vocal range and expressed character is hard to deny, and it meshed perfectly with Everybody’s Talkin’ winsome style. I will include Harry Nilsson’s version in the links below.

Another thing that helped push the Harry Nilsson version of Everybody’s Talkin’ was that it was placed on the soundtrack of the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy, and the song became synonymous with the film. In 1970, the movie, which starred Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. An interesting thing about the soundtrack for Midnight Cowboy is that Bob Dylan wrote Lay Lady Lay for the soundtrack, but didn’t finish and submit the song in time, and it was Everybody’s Talkin’ that became the music that became identified with the movie. Turns out, Bob Dylan and Lay Lady Lay did just fine on their own.

Harry Nilsson himself was a dynamic singer and songwriter and was even mentioned by the Beatles in an interview as their favorite American band. Although he wasn’t an actual band, he was a gifted performer and musical dynamo, playing multiple instruments, and he would record multiple harmonies and instruments and then overdub them into dynamic music that was a joy to listen to, but difficult to reproduce to live audiences.

“People stop and stare, I can’t see their faces, only the shadows of their eyes…”

Harry Nilsson, much like Fred Neil, wasn’t a fan of interviews or promoting himself, and would later admit that caused his career to suffer. He also reportedly had substance abuse issues that might have affected both his personal life and career, and he was known for having a bit of a wild streak. At one point, he was a part of an exclusive drinking group called The Hollywood Vampires, founded by Alice Cooper, which was based out of the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Los Angeles.

Interestingly, this is the second month in a row that Harry Nilsson has been mentioned in my writing about Jimmy Buffett songs. If you are waving at me from the other side, Harry, know that I am waving back. In last months story, he was tied to an incident in Hollywood with John Lennon, where they two men were kicked out of the Troubadour for heckling the Smothers Brothers after a drinking binge. John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were good friends, with John Lennon once stating that Harry was the one person who really understood him, and after John Lennon’s murder, Harry Nilsson became a huge part of the Coalition To Stop Gun Violence.

Harry Nilsson was a gifted singer and songwriter and overall musician, but ironically, he is most well known not for his own body of work, but for two songs that he covered. Of course, one was Everybody’s Talkin’ and the other was Without You, written by Badfinger’s Pete Ham and Tom Evans. Since Harry Nilsson was a man who avoided interviews and music industry promotions, it’s hard to say how he felt about that, but one could imagine that he might have been a bit bothered to be most known for two songs that he didn’t write. As a matter of fact, there are some people that say that Harry Nilsson’s hit with Fred Neil’s Everybody’s Talkin’ changed his career, which Harry Nilsson had reportedly refuted. Still, it’s hard to deny that the success of Everybody’s Talkin’ and the casual endorsement from the Beatles made him a household name in the sixties and seventies.

Harry Nilsson has a dynamic collection of albums, and each one is like a novel, which introduce us to an artist with a sense of humor and a sense of the bizarre. He was also not afraid to poke fun at the spelling, often misspelled, of his last name, by placing it into multiple variations of album titles over the years. Back in those days, people would sit down and listen to an album over and over, just taking in the story the artist was painting. It was something that Harry Nilsson was great at.

While this story isn’t about Fred Neil or Harry Nilsson, they are a part of the story of the song that is Everybody’s Talkin’, and when he recorded it, Jimmy Buffett became part of that story as well. I remember hearing Jimmy’s version of this song and it felt like a comfortable visit with an old friend. He didn’t change much in the arrangement, I think trying to stay true to Fred Neil’s vision for the song, and Jimmy’s version is lovely.

It also seems to fit Jimmy’s persona and the idea that had promoted his career, finding a place where the weather fits his clothes. Sunshine and summer breezes fit the legend that Jimmy built around himself. Not only did Jimmy build his own legend, but he also embraced it, which makes him different than how Fred Neil and Harry Nilsson chose to face the scrutiny of the music industry.

And Jimmy was also very aware of covering music of other artists, with either the song speaking to him or the artist being someone he quite admired, so I believe he probably put quite a bit of thought and direct intent into choosing Everybody’s Talkin’ to add to his own album of wonderful music, with a nod to a fabulous song and an artist he admired.

And I am so glad he did add this song to his collection. It’s a beautiful listen!

“Everybody’s talkin’ at me, I can’t hear a word they’re sayin’, only the echoes of my mind…

I won’t let you leave my love behind…

I won’t let you leave my love behind…”

Stacy

Please enjoy Everybody’s Talkin’. I have included links below to the studio version (not currently available on Jimmy’s official page) and a live version that is. Enjoy!

2003 Studio Version: