Alone Again Gilbert O’Sullivan Yamaha Genos Roland G70 by Rico

Alone Again Gilbert O’Sullivan Yamaha Genos Roland G70 by Rico Gilbert O’Sullivan (born Raymond Edward O’Sullivan; 1 December 1946) is an Irish singer songwriter, best known for his early 1970s hits “Alone Again (Naturally)“, “Clair“, and “Get Down“. Worldwide he has charted 16 top-40 records, including six No. 1 songs, the first of which was 1970’s “Nothing Rhymed“. Across his career, he has recorded 19 studio albums, up to his UK top 20 self-titled record in 2018. Speaking in 2009 he said, “I write pop songs. That’s all I want to do. I have no interest in just touring, and living in the past.“ The music magazine Record Mirror voted him the top UK male singer of 1972. He has received three Ivor Novello Awards, including “Songwriter of the Year” in 1973. Raymond Edward O’Sullivan was born in Cork Road, Waterford, Ireland. In 1953, when he was seven, his family moved to Battersea, London; when he was eight they moved to Swindon, Wiltshire, England. He attended St. Joseph’s and the Swindon College of Art, where he briefly played drums in a band called Rick’s Blues, along with Malcolm Mabbett (guitar), Keith Ray (bass), and founder Rick Davies (who later founded Supertramp) and where he developed his lifelong interests in music and art. According to a 1972 interview with O’Sullivan, Davies taught him how to play both drums and piano. Other semi-professional bands he played with while at college include the Doodles and the Prefects. In 1967, O’Sullivan was signed to a five-year contract with April Music, CBS Records’ house publishing company, after coming to the attention of the professional manager Stephen Shane, who also suggested changing his name from Ray to Gilbert as a play on the name of the operetta composers Gilbert and Sullivan. His songs at the time were avant-garde, and even drew the interest of Vivian Stanshall and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who were interested in recording a couple of them. He was paid an advance of £12 (equivalent to £200 as of 2020), with which he bought a piano. He was signed to CBS Records by the A&R manager Mike Smith, who produced the Tremeloes, the Marmalade and the Love Affair). After two unsuccessful singles with CBS, “Disappear“ and “What Can I Do?“, and one with the Irish record label Major Minor, “Mr. Moody’s Garden“, all released under the name “Gilbert“, O’Sullivan sent some demo tapes to Gordon Mills, the manager of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, whereupon O’Sullivan was signed to Mills’ label, MAM Records. O’Sullivan’s self-created eye-catching visual image comprised a pudding basin haircut, cloth cap and short trousers. Mills reportedly hated the image, but O’Sullivan insisted on using it initially until he assumed a more modern ’college-like’ look in which he often wore a sweater bearing a large letter ’G’. At the end of 1970, O’Sullivan achieved his first UK Top 10 hit with “Nothing Rhymed“, which also reached No. 1 in the Netherlands, where it earned O’Sullivan his first gold disc. Subsequent hits followed including “Underneath The Blanket Go“ (which also reached No. 1 in the Netherlands), “We Will“ and “No Matter How I Try“, the latter being named “Best Ballad or Romantic Song“ at the 17th Ivor Novello Awards in 1972. O’Sullivan released his debut album, Himself, in 1971. In 1972 O’Sullivan reached international stardom with “Alone Again (Naturally)“, which reached No. 3 in UK; No. 1 in the US, spending six non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and selling nearly two million copies; No. 2 in New Zealand (11 weeks on the charts in total); No. 1 in Canada for 2 weeks (13 weeks in the Top 40);[14] and No. 1 in Japan (21 weeks on the chart). The guitar solo was played by Big Jim Sullivan. In total US sales for 1972, O’Sullivan’s hit was topped only by Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face“. Both songs were nominated for a Grammy Award in the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories in 1973, but Flack won both. O’Sullivan followed “Alone“ with “Clair“ (1972, from the album Back to Front). The single reached No. 2 in the United States on the Hot 100 and No. 1 in the UK and Canada (14 weeks in the Canadian Top 40). O’Sullivan’s disc sales exceeded ten million in 1972 and made him the top star of the year. O’Sullivan’s success led to him taking part in the BBC’s anniversary programme Fifty Years of Music in November 1972. “Out of the Question“ (also from Back to Front) reached No. 17 in the US and No. 14 in Canada. “Get Down“ (1973), from the album I’m A Writer Not A Fighter, reached No. 1 in the UK and in Germany, No. 7 in both the US and Canada, and No. 3 in the Netherlands. Following “Alone Again (Naturally)“ and “Clair“, “Get Down“ was his third million-seller, with the RIAA gold disc award presented on 18 September 1973. His November 1974 single “Christmas Song“ reached No. 12 in the UK and No. 5 in Ireland.