This song, written by Fred Neil sometime in the mid 1960s, was a big hit for Harry Nilsson in 1969. Harry released the song a couple of years earlier to much less popular success, but when asked to allow it to be use in the production of the movie Midnight Cowboy, he said yes, but actually re-recorded a new version of it. This improved version, along with the publicity it received from being the theme song of a very popular movie, put it high on several of the popular music charts of the day.

As stated in Neil's lyrics, Fred appears to have taken the spoils of his writer royalties and moved to Coconut Grove, Florida (where the weather suited his clothes) and appeared to mostly disappear from the music business. Sadly, in part due to his own demands when he performed, there is very little video of Fred Neil in live shows, although he was a well respected singer/songwriter in the '60s folk scene in New York City.

This song has been a favorite for many years now and while I have two versions already on Youtube, one of me playing solo and one in a duo with Todd Roberstson (Unsung Heroes bass player), I happen to like this one better than those, so it too will see the light of day.

If you enjoy it, please click the like button and if you haven't already, please subscribe to this channel so when we (or I) put out new tunes and/or start living streaming some shows, you will be notified of those events.

Thanks for watching and check back for more on a regular basis.

Here's a little more information about the Unsung Heroes Band.

The Unsung Heroes Band consists of:

Rick Watson: lead and harmony vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, piano, Hammond B3, mandolin and 5 string banjo
Rob Kneeland: lead and harmony vocals, drums, acoustic guitar and mandolin
Bruce Derr: harmony vocals, pedal steel, dobro, acoustic and electric guitar and electric bass.
Todd Robertson: lead and harmony vocals, upright and electric bass, acoustic guitar and trumpet.

The Unsung Heroes Band is an American roots and country music group based in the Seacoast area of Southern New Hampshire and Maine. We combine elements of old-school country, bluegrass, folk, blues, Americana and other roots genres, while trying to create a sound that is truly our own. We are a band that currently plays shows mostly in our local area, but with an intention to expand our geographical radius and musical goals to include festival and concert venues all around New England.

However, another major focus of our band is to use our beautiful new audio/video facility to record and film many new song videos just like this one and also to begin a regular live-streaming series in the next few months. Our facility is called Stone House Studio and we record in the amazing looking and sounding Blind Mule Barn, which was hand-built over many years by our drummer and singer Rob Kneeland and named after his next door neighbor Jack, who is indeed a big old blind mule who greets everyone who shows up at the barn. We have spent much of the last few years researching, purchasing and then dialing in the technology to create what we hope to be world class audio and video content... as well as just great music.

Our studio audio and video gear setup includes:

Microphones: all 4 artists use Sennheiser E935 in our live show setup, but we also own a great closet including several models of Neumann, Shure, AKG - (tube and dynamics) and other quality brands
Audio mixers: Presonus 32sx, Presonus, 32sc, Motu Monitor 8, Motu AVB Switch
Computers: Mac Studio M1 computer (running Motu Digital Performer 11, with full Waves plugin subscription, Davinci Resolve Studio video editing software), iMac 27" running Black Magic Design Atem control software
Cameras: Eight Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema 4K Film Cameras into Blackmagic Design Atem Extreme ISO camera switcher and recorder.
Keyboards: Hammond B3 with 2 Leslie 122 speakers, Yamaha Clavinova, Roland XV-88 with grand piano expansion card, Roland AT-60SL organ, and a working foot-pedal pump organ.
Guitars, bass, amps: Too many to list but includes all of the standard high-quality brands from Fender, Gibson, Yamaha, Martin and (several) Line 6 Variax acoustic and electric models and more... with several classic tube and solid state amps from Fender, Vox, Ampeg, Markbass, Line 6 and more.

Rick's primary guitar rig is a 20 year old Variax 700 acoustic modeling guitar through a brand new Line 6 Helix.

#harrynilsson #fredneil #countrymusic #glencampbell #Variax #helix #pedalsteel