Thread for Fred Neil

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but side 2 is just two longer jams that both work pretty well. first one is a real goodtime stomper for about 8 minutes where martin gives the loosest vocal i've ever heard from him on and on about reelin his fish in i guess. does some things vocally that arent unlike what buckley was starting to do (albeit not nearly as well). other one also has a buckleyish feel like "goodbye and hello" (the song) twanged up a bit. not unlike neil's own sessions but it is a little more focused.

that album though, bleecker & macdougal, i just truly adore. easily my favorite neil album. the capitol stuff just never grabbed me as being as sharp as this and its not even a case of me preferring pureness in my folk/blues over more experimental stuff. my only quibbles with b&m are the fact that it sometimes sounds a little too sentimental on songs like "little bit of rain" to the point of being corny or like it should have been recorded by some straight pop act like eydie gorme or some shit. "handful of gimme" is the other that's gotten more annoying to me on repeated listening

Similarly, Neil's "I've Got A Secret" shares lyrics with Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree," but the arrangements are quite different. (Cotten claims to have written the tune, which appears to be the case, although the song seems so "authentic" it's hard to believe.) In Neil's version, the tune is so sublime (very VU third album) that he could easily sing the evening news over it and it would still be perfect, so who knows how to specify the author? (Interestingly, the version of Dylan's "She Belongs To Me" on the "No Direction Home" 2xCD is equally as VU third album-sounding.)

"Bleecker & MacDougal" is definitely a folk "tune" (lyrically not) of common enough origin that it could be fairly said that Buckley didn't "steal" it (unless the lyrics are similar.) It's interesting to me that all these guys swiped tunes left and right but still managed to each write at least a couple of mind-blowing classics ("The Dolphins," "Everybody's Talkin'," "Song To The Siren," "Reason To Believe," the Dylan oeuvre, etc.)

Fred Neil = genius

I saw Vince Martin a few years back and he was mediocre and cranky

Karen Dalton took a while to grow on me.

it took several listens for me to appreciate karen dalton as well and itd probably do me right to listen several times more

ok then. been positively addicted to If the Jasmine Don't Get You, the Bay Breeze Will via the recent reissue. Anyone else pick it up? Roger Fidelity, you ever wind up hearing this?

Agree with Dan about the production: the electric guitar, acoustic bass, vibes, congas: Tim Buckley took all that (& the baritone vocals) & beefed up the production & the jazz influence. 'Once I Was', 'Buzzin Fly', 'Strange Feeling' all owe a huge (acknowledged) debt to Fred.
As maybe does Astral Weeks? I don't know who was doing the whole folk/jazz thing first. See also The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier.

Haven't got the recent Vince Martin reissue yet; will have to check it out.

This are the only words of sympathy ilm has shared towards Fred Neil? Really?

Anyways... right now Im listening to a comp of his on spotify called "the many sides of" and its one of the best midnight companions Ive had in a while.

"Dolphins" pops up in a particularly good scene in The Sopranos. I'm listening to "The Many Sides Of..." now, it's some seriously good Scott Walker/ Lee Hazelwood type stuff.

Love that baritone or is it bass, not listened to it enough recently.
The fluidity of the voice sure is nice.
Got that Elektra 2fer of the set with Vince Martin w Bleecker & McDougall
also the Many Sides compi. Think I stuck a lot of the s/t lp from that on my walkman but it doesn't seem to turn up that frequently.

Also got the Vince Martin solo lp which is nice but needs me to play it more frequently. Got some really lovely bits in it.

Cool, some good recommendations there, thanks!

What's that 2012-released album on Spotify, Passion? Rockabilly and doo-woppy, at first I thought it was someone else, can't find any info online about it. Some of the same song titles as on a "early singles" disc i've never heard. The only th i knew of predating the Vince Martin duo album was a mixed-artist disc with three or four Neil songs.

If you compare the two, that Spotify collection has the exact same tracklisting as Trav'lin Man: The Early Singles, but in a different order.

wow, i had no idea any of these existed

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xoph1f_fred-neil-the-dolphins-mp4-show-infossee-your-video-fred-neil-the-dolphins-mp4

the special effects are annoying, but it's nice to finally see a video of Fred (live w/ Vince Martin and John Sebastian in 1976)

That was excellent - thank you!

:)

apparently it's from an unfinished documentary called "Fare Thee Well, Fred Neil" that was posted on youtube and fredneil.com (and quickly pulled due to copyright issues) but hasn't been officially released. the producer wants to take it to PBS and he claims he has access to other rare live footage, but I'm not sure if anything will ever come of it.

Was just on wikipedia to try and fit that film into some sort of chronology and...

"Many of Neil's 1970s recordings remain unissued, including a 1973 session with Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina"

^ would listen

i'm a fan of a record called "Sessions" from 1967. raw and rambling.

its all good pretty much.

well not even pretty much. its just all good. some people have a power. don't know where they get it from but they got it. something magical.

I've been a big fan for some time. after watching this I re-read his wiki, he's definitely a towering and mysterious god of music. He wrote great songs and had a killer voice.

To me, I love the connection with the 50s. I think growing up there was always this break in my mind, classic rock of the late 60s was one thing and 50s oldies was like a generation before. Easy to forget how little time passed. So to hear about Fred Neil writing rockabilly songs (or the early Scott Walker records for instance), it's such a strange thing to me.

I used to be in contact with some of the principal characters in Neil's life and career (many sadly passed away since his death.) There are hundreds of hours of unreleased material, some of it better than his released material, with many songs regarded by those who knew as compositions better than "Everybody's Talkin'" or "The Dolphins." It'll probably never get released, as legal entanglements are plenty, and the death of many people involved has, sadly, made things even more difficult. I keep hoping Neil's son will try to straighten it all out, but who knows. Sad story.

That's amazing. Any idea what kind of legal entanglements? Tied up with labels or family disputes? I like the early stuff, but it's that later stuff, which I have on the Many Sides of Fred Neil compilation, as well as a version released as Everybody's Talking, that's just the best.

Every kind of legal entanglement! Albums held by labels (I think primarily Columbia) that were never approved for release and now no one knows who really owns them, recordings made while Neil was theoretically or possibly under contract to other labels (but no one is sure), loads and loads of tapes made by former managers and associates that are scattered in various places or for which credits are unknown and people - for various reasons - have made claims of long-owed debts and thinks which threaten to hang things up. Lots of live stuff. A decent amount of filmed stuff.

It's more personality clashes and ancient (45 years or so) grudges than family - as far as I know, Fred only had one son from whom (I think, but wouldn't swear to it) he was somewhat estranged. Left behind several ex-wives, including one who later married Tony Orlando! I've long believed that the family doesn't see much potential in re-releases, so maybe there is no motivation to try. All of this stuff I'm talking about was recorded after the Capitol stuff, but when Fred was in a good frame of mind, and I even spoke with Richie Havens a few years ago, who told me the best song he'd ever heard was one Fred played for him just a couple of years before he died - and presumably never recorded. Now lost forever, I guess. Quite a lot of the unreleased material was recorded with some of the same guys who played on the Capitol stuff.

It's a heartbreak for me not to hear this stuff!

you and well, lots of other people! if there's a god in heaven, or even if there isn't...

There are hundreds of hours of unreleased material, some of it better than his released material, with many songs regarded by those who knew as compositions better than "Everybody's Talkin'" or "The Dolphins."

since "The Dolphins" is a PERFECT song afaic this stuff must be interstellar

It's a heartbreak for me not to hear this stuff!

shit. i had no idea. i heard the legends of how reclusive he was and assumed nothing else existed. heartbreak isn't a strong enough a word.

i got Other Side of This Life for xmas, wonderful record