By Bob Deakin
You know Gilbert O’Sullivan. “Alone Again (Naturally)" was his major U.S. hit (1972), memorable as much for its solemness as for the rich, piano-driven melody. I sometimes wonder, “Where Have You Gone Gilbert O'Sullivan?" but it’s easy enough to see what he’s up to.
I contacted him for this story in August. Through his brother, Kevin, I eventually got through to him to answer a few questions.
He still records and tours, but mainly in Great Britain. The artist hasn’t gone that far, merely a more exotic locale 730 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of his birthplace in Ireland. Raised in Swindon, England, O’Sullivan has lived in Jersey, a British dependency in the Channel Islands, with his wife and daughters for more than 40 years.
And Climbing to the Top
O’Sullivan had other U.S. hits including “Clair,” “Out of the Question” and “Get Down.” He was more successful in the U.K., with seven top-ten singles and four top-ten albums. Oddly enough, “Alone Again” reached number three in the U.K. but spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
In all, the singer/songwriter/pianist had three top-ten singles in the U.S. and one top-ten album, none after 1973, but he was far from finished.
We May As Well Go Home
Raymond Edward “Gilbert” O’Sullivan was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1946. Growing up, he played drums but eventually settled on piano, developing a percussive effect with his left hand to drive the beat.
His well-known recordings feature him on a Fender Rhodes electric piano with a signature distorted sound. His distinct vocal tonality was enhanced with double-tracking and his sharp voice gives the tracks more separation.
One word is all it takes to identify Gilbert O’Sullivan. I hear a touch of Paul McCartney, yet louder in the mix with more urgency.
Yes, MAM
There was nothing crude or off-the-cuff about a Gilbert O’Sullivan recording. His record company, MAM Records, spared no expense in hiring the best players to augment his compositions. The arrangements are extensive, with full orchestrations and lush solos.
His hit songs are simple in arrangement, but the album tracks more expansive. He features lots of changes in his songs. You sometimes get the impression he’s singing to you for the stage, a la Forum, Godspell, or even The Threepenny Opera.
Subtle humor is a constant, throwing in unexpected lines where you’re waiting for something sentimental. Listen to “My Father” and you’ll get it. Forever the storyteller, Gilbert O’Sullivan would have worked anywhere, from vaudeville to a coffee house to the concert stage.
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gordon Mills, who produced Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, discovered him and produced his first three albums. Raymond O’Sullivan initially appeared on the scene with a bowl haircut, newsboy cap and shorts, but a CBS records manager suggested he lose the look. He switched to a modern yet wholesome image while taking on the stage name “Gilbert” in mock tribute to the comic opera team Gilbert and Sullivan.
Apparently, Mills had a thing for re-naming his artists in honor of turn-of-the-century light opera genre. Engelbert Humperdinck, born Arnold George Dorsey, was given his stage name in honor of the German composer of the opera Hansel and Gretel (1893). Tom Jones (Thomas John Woodward) was renamed as a nod to the Tom Jones comic opera from 1907.
His young fans may have recognized the Gilbert and Sullivan reference but likely had to look it up.
A Clandestine Appreciation
In my experience, to be a fan of Gilbert O’Sullivan was and is a clandestine appreciation. Try turning someone on to his music. It requires an open mind to different genres and periods. I’ve had many friends with various musical tastes, and only the ones willing to listen a little deeper would give it the time.
It’s too soft for some and wasn’t easily accepted on the U.S. charts, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Furthermore, the old-fashioned British turn-of-the-century/music hall sound pops up in his recordings. I asked him if that was an influence.
“If a strong melody and good lyric is what you are looking for, then yes,” he said. He didn’t answer my question, but I’ll assume there is an influence.
In a 2016 podcast with Jason Barnard, he touched on his influences as a songwriter.
“I’m Irish by birth. I’m proud of my Irish roots but, if you want to talk in terms of songwriting, I’m very much an English songwriter because all my tradition of writing stems from growing up in Swindon and now living here in Jersey, so, lyrically I’m as English as any of the Davieses, McCartneys – you name it – of this world.”
As I Did On My Own
In addition to a lack of kindred spirits who appreciate his music, it was physically difficult to get hold of Gilbert O’Sullivan records in the pre-digital days. I can’t speak to what it was like in the 70s, but in the 80s, they weren’t readily available. In suburban New England, forget it.
Fortunately, I lived a train ride away from New York City. Once I could go it alone, I headed for midtown Manhattan and Greenwich Village to find his Back To Front, I’m a Writer, Not a Fighter, and A Stranger In My Own Back Yard albums. I can still feel the sheer joy the moment I spotted them on shelves.
The subsequent walk through the city was a nervous thrill, knowing what lay in store for me when I got home. I guarded the records with my life in the thin paper bags from the stores and felt like a big shot for being resourceful enough to know where to go.
Alone Again (Naturally)
As for “Alone Again (Naturally),” Gilbert said in an interview with Strange Brew, “McCartney gets labeled with ‘Yesterday’ and Paul Simon gets labeled with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ I get, not unhappily, labeled with ‘Alone Again.’”
He remains identified with the song all these years later. When I think of him, I instinctively think melancholy. When I contacted him for this story, I tiptoed asking about “Alone Again.” The melody is sad, typical for many of his songs, but I knew the lyrics weren’t biographical.
“You don’t have to experience something to be able to write about it in a genuinely sympathetic way,” he told Dave Simpson in a story for The Guardian. “But the truth is I never ‘cried when my father died.’ I was very teary when my mother passed away four years ago (2018), but I never really knew my dad, because he was out at work. I regret that, and he would have been proud of me.”
The chord structures, instrumentation, and performances in “Alone Again” shout ‘sad song’ despite how beautiful it is. Tim Renwick’s acoustic guitar solo highlights the pure beauty of the melody, mimicking O’Sullivan’s vocal virtually note-for-note.
Back To Front
The Back To Front album (1972) is outlined with a clever Intro, Outro, and tastefully arranged melodies and emotions throughout. This is one of the first full albums I ever listened to because of one song (“Alone Again”), and I immediately liked the whole thing. I had to wait out my childhood to hear it, but the score in New York made it all worthwhile.
As for “Clair,” another hit from the same album (#1 in the U.K. and 2 in the U.S.), it is straightforward memories of Gilbert babysitting for his manager, Gordon Mills, and his wife. He explains how it came about in the Strange Brew story.
“It was written for the parents, if anything, because of Gordon, as a manager, and Jo, his wife, who kind of fed me. He plays the harmonica, in the solo, and [Clair] does the laugh at the end. I did it as a kind of tribute to them as much as it was about, you know, seeing Clair on the times when I’d go up to their house.”
A Stranger In My Own Back Yard
On his A Stranger In My Own Back Yard album, there are a couple of songs (“Number 4,” “Victor E” and “It’s So Easy To Be Sad”) where he sings with the innocence of teaching children lessons in letters and numbers. All of the album's tracks are polished arrangements and recordings. Delightful at first listen or after hundreds.
Juxtapose these tracks with “A Woman’s Place,” which was the intended hit of the album. It’s high-energy and emotionally moving, with slick riffs by the session players. The tongue-in-cheek misogynistic lyrics were jarring at first until I got lost in the song.
“A Woman’s Place” moves beautifully. Synthesizers and orchestra, yet everything is oh-so-subtly placed in the mix. Tasteful rhythm guitar and Gilbert’s vocals make it work. It was the only projected hit from the album but didn’t fare so well, no thanks to the lyrics.
Ever Since I Wrote This Damn Song…
I get the impression the lyrics for “A Woman’s Place” were intended for humor. He was quoted after a 2004 concert at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre in London.:
“Ever since I wrote this damn song, I've been beaten up so many times about it, and I've loved every minute of it.”
The “Stranger” album encompasses the gamut of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s versatility. Give it a listen, and you’ll undoubtedly get images of silent movies, torch songs, tap dancing, 1950s Broadway, Burt Bacharach, and straight-up male chauvinism with fine guitar and synth fills.
It’s So Easy To Be Sad
In the middle of the “Stranger” album, you get five minutes of the most beautiful melody changes backed by positive affirmations in a seaside setting in “It’s So Easy To Be Sad.” This is one to enjoy. The steady, restrained beat of the rhythm section and string arrangement give the impression there were a lot of minds at work on this one, to great success.
In this case, as he sings the words, he portrays the wise old sage (at 27). It is a remarkable song and recording. If you’re going to listen to one Gilbert O’Sullivan song, let this be the one.
This is the song that got me after I bought his albums. I had no prior knowledge of the material but took the time to listen to this and all tracks. I’d never had the patience before to take the time, but I was growing up.
I blew through “It’s So Easy To Be Sad” the first few listens until it hit me that it’s profoundly inspirational. At 18 it didn’t mean much, but as the years have gone by it has always provided a quick comfort when needed. The lyrics come right out and say it:
And anytime there's trouble up ahead
Don't get into a state where you wish you were dead
Just take your time and do what you believe is right
It could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, disguise
As with any inspirational quote, it’s nothing you don’t already know, but it means more when someone else says it. With the help of a large orchestra, it carries even more weight.
Thanks Gilbert!
“It’s So Easy To Be Sad” juxtaposed with “Alone Again (Naturally)” led me to ask the artist the following questions:
Your songs often sound sad, regardless of the lyrics. Am I correct?
“I have no idea.”
Can there be pleasure in wallowing in one’s misery?
“Go and ask someone in therapy.”
I had to ask. Perhaps a different phrasing would have been more appropriate.
Just Wait Until Christmas
A Stranger In My Own Back Yard was released in 74. Later that year he released “Christmas Song (I'm Not Dreaming Of A White Christmas)” an enduring classic if you’ve heard it, of course with more than a touch of melancholy.
Few in the States are familiar with this one, but that’s their loss.
Obligatory Rock & Roll Legal Problems
A legal battle got in the way of O’Sullivan’s career in the late 70s. He was still at the top of his game despite decreasing record sales. His accountants realized he’d signed a bad deal with MAM and Gordon Mills, which initiated a lawsuit. O’Sullivan won five years later.
“It was very sad,” he said to The Guardian. “I had a fantastic lawyer – a Rumpole of the Bailey – that tore Gordon to shreds. I don’t think he knew why he was there. He just assumed his lawyers would take care of it, but the judge gave me everything [£7m in unpaid royalties] plus the shirt.”
The legal and personal dispute caused a temporary halt in recording, and he felt blackballed by the music industry. “I’d done something that nobody had done before and won,” he added.
Right On With Off Centre
Gilbert O’Sullivan was far from done as a recording artist, and in 1980, at 34, he released the Off Centre album produced by Gus Dudgeon (David Bowie, Elton John, Chris Rea).
This is a man growing up, with songs such as I’m Not Getting Any Younger and
Can’t Get Enough of You. My favorite is “The Niceness of It All,” where Tim Renwick shows up again for some eloquent acoustic and electric guitar work.
“I’m Not Getting Any Younger” is a classic build from a soliloquy by Gilbert on piano, climaxing with full orchestra.
Where Have You Gone Gilbert O’Sullivan?
There have been 14 album releases since Off Centre including Driven from 2022 and Songbook in 2024. Driven features Mick Hucknall from Simply Red on “Let Bygones Be Bygones.” It has the same earmarks you find throughout his career, from the familiar piano chords to the sweet symphonic sounds and pensive lyrics.
I’ve always thought of Gilbert O’Sullivan songs as bright and beautifully despondent. Sonically, and musically, they are upbeat and in your face. But I see him singing with his head down, thinking of what could have been.
Outro
I went on longer than expected, pouring over the Gilbert O’Sullivan catalog. The only reason I don’t go on longer is that I don’t have the time. I’ve listened to his music since I was a kid simply because I like the sound. The distinctive voice and polished performances and recordings always sound fresh.
I don’t ever remember hearing a Gilbert O’Sullivan song on the radio, although my brothers and sisters did. I discovered the catalog in-depth years after the releases.
Admittedly, in my numerous attempts at an interview and subsequent responses via email, he gave me less to work with than I was hoping. He must have wondered ‘Who the hell is this American guy with all these questions about various album tracks, instrumentation, inspiration, and the musicians playing on the sessions?’
When I asked who his favorite musicians were in his youth, he named The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, and The Searchers. As for who he’s been listening to lately: The 1975, Alison Krauss, and Bonnie Raitt.
What’s his favorite Gilbert O’Sullivan song? “The latest new song, written and ready to be recorded.”
You don’t get anything unless you ask. I’ll ring him up again one of these days. He’s currently touring and recording, so he’s got a lot going on.
Gilbert O’Sullivan defies categorization, which musicians love to hear. He was a shining pop star with a wonderful ability to write melody, composing songs more sophisticated than than at first glance. His catalog is vast and timeless, and includes one song that will identify him forever.
My Gilbert O’Sullivan must-play list:
Himself
Back To Front
I’m a Writer, Not a Fighter
A Stranger In My Own Back Yard
I Wonder Would You Mind (for piano players)
Off Centre
Videos
Gilbert and Burt Bacharach sing Do You Know the way
Gilbert sings Alone Again on Burt’s show
Alone Again (Naturally)
In a little while from now
If I'm not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top
Will throw myself off
In an effort to
Make it clear to who
Ever what it's like when you're shattered
Left standing in the lurch at a church
Were people saying, My God, that's tough
She stood him up
No point in us remaining
We may as well go home
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally
To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
Looking forward to who wouldn't do
The role I was about to play
But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt
Talk about, God in His mercy
Oh, if he really does exist
Why did he desert me
In my hour of need
I truly am indeed
Alone again, naturally
It seems to me that
There are more hearts broken in the world
That can't be mended
Left unattended
What do we do
What do we do
(Guitar solo)
Alone again, naturally
Looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears
And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul
Couldn't understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start
With a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally
Alone again, naturally
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Thank you.