This was written by the singer and released on his 1966 album Fred Neil. Wikipedia says: ‘It was composed towards the end of the [recording] session, after Neil had become anxious to wrap the album so he could return to his home in Miami, Florida. Manager Herb Cohen promised that if Neil wrote and recorded a final track, he could go. Everybody’s Talkin’, recorded in one take, was the result.’
In 1968 the song was included by Nilsson on his album Aerial Ballet. When released as a single in July 1968, it reached 113 in America.
Nilsson’s version was chosen as the theme song for the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy (potentially a great film ruined by an unnecessarily graphic scene of violence), in the wake of which it was re-released and this time got to No 6 in the US and No 23 in Britain.
The Fred Neil album was relaunched in 1969 as Everybody’s Talkin’.