Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan

OK, boys and girls, back to the 70s: This Beatles-influenced Irish singer/songwriter/pianist's given name was Raymond Edward; his stage name was adapted to resemble that of a popular 19th century operettist duo. His only U.S. #1 hit was a 1972 poignant and introspective quasi-autobiographic account of contemplating suicide after being left at the altar as well as the death of his parents. It topped the charts for 6 weeks, received 3 Grammy nominations and Casey Kasem ranked it as the 5th most popular song of the 70s. The memorable nylon-string guitar solo comes from English session musician Big Jim Sullivan. Artist? Song?

This beautiful pop ballad first hit the U.S. market in Philly and was still hot when I arrived there during the summer of '73. To this day, every time I listen to it, I get choked up (you know me, I'm a sensitive guy!).

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