Of all the British songwriters who have followed in the wake of the Beatles, Gilbert O’Sullivan may possess the greatest gift for McCartney-esque melody and chord structure. His 1972 hit ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’, which spent six weeks at number one on the American pop charts, holds the same melodic melancholy of an ‘Eleanor Rigby’ or ‘For No One’ (though lyrically it’s perhaps a bit more on the maudlin side).
But O’Sullivan’s extensive catalogue contains many other sublime but less familiar tunes which also deserve a listen:
Here in a 2001 interview Gilbert touches on his ongoing love for the craft of songwriting, his appreciation of contemporary pop, his 5-year legal dispute against Gordon Mills (father of ‘Clair’, the inspiration for another of his hit singles) and another court case against Biz Markie:
