Being True to Self

In this post, I'm writing about another cover that stood out to me while I was listening to Pandora.  Madeleine Peyroux created a jazzy version of "Everybody's Talkin'"  by Fred Neil.  He wrote and recorded it in 1966, and Harry Nilsson released a cover 1968.  It's mostly likely that if you know this song, you know it for Nilsson's version.  The Grammy winning cover was featured in such movies as Midnight Cowboy, Forrest Gump, and the third Hangover movie.  It begins with "Everybody's talking' at me.  I don't hear a word they're saying.  Only the echoes of my mind.".  Although the song is primarily for folk and rock, the Peyroux version brings a great combination of drums, bass, guitars, piano, and cymbal (bringing a new take to the old classic).

Originally, the song was written in a rush.  Fred Neil needed a final track for an album that he was recording.  He quickly wrote this as an autobiographical message about not fitting in.  He had come from St. Petersburg, Florida to New York so that he could pursue a music career.  But life up north in the big city wasn't right for him.  People had their views and opinions of him, but Neil chose to be himself.  Eventually, things came to a head when this third album (self-titled).  Afterwards, he flew down to Miami (where the weather suited his clothes), and worked primarily out of South Florida.  He worked out of the Coconut Grove neighborhood, occasionally coming back north for performances.  He recorded two more albums and dedicated much of his energy to championing for dolphins.  One of his songs about dolphins.  His performances became increasingly less frequent.  The last known show was at a Coconut Grove pub in 1981.  He lived out his life in Miami, dying from skin cancer in 2001 at the age of 65.

Fred Neil's life's was cut short, but he made an impact wherever he went.  Before getting pulled back to Florida, he had befriended and inspired many folk artists in Greenwich Village.  Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, etc... His sphere of influence has expanded beyond folk now.  He, Joni Mitchell, and Charlie Chaplin, were among the musicians that Madeleine Peyroux covered for her Half the World album.

That says great things about his short-lived career.