Fred Neil

​Fred Neil  (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) [1]   was an   American  folk  singer-songwriter  in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer, [2]   and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly " Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for   Harry Nilsson  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">after being used for the film <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">  Midnight Cowboy<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Dead_1-1" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[1] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-side_3-0" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[3] <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">Though highly regarded by contemporary folk singers, <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-furious_2-1" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[2] <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">  <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:22.399999618530273px;">he was reluctant to tour (something he shared with Nilsson), and mainly spent the last 30 years of his life assisting with the preservation of dolphins. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-side_3-1" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]

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Contents
[hide]  *1 Biography <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;"> ==Biography<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Neil was exposed to music at an early age, travelling around the US with his father who was a representative for Wurlitzer jukeboxes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brend_5-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  Neil was one of the singer-songwriters who worked out of New York City's Brill Building, a center for music industry offices.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[6]  While composing at the Brill Building for other artists, Neil also recorded six mostly rockabilly-pop oriented singles for different labels as a solo artist.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brend_5-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  He wrote songs that were taken by early rock and roll artists such as Buddy Holly ("Come Back Baby" 1958) and Roy Orbison ("Candy Man" 1961).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-rush_7-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]
 * 2 Later life and death
 * 3 Legacy
 * 4 Discography
 * 5 Selected songs
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">He met Vince Martin in 1961, and they formed a singing partnership;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  his first LP, Tear Down The Walls (1965) was recorded with Martin.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Great_Rock_Discography_9-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  During 1965 and 1966 Neil was joined on many live sets by the Seventh Sons, a trio trio led by Buzzy Linhart on guitar and vibes. Neil released Bleecker & MacDougal on Elektra Records in 1965, reissued in 1970 as A Little Bit of Rain. Fred Neil (released in 1966, relaunched in 1969 as Everybody's Talkin') was recorded during his residences in Greenwich Villageand Coconut Grove, Florida, respectively (although for the latter, one session took place in Los Angeles).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Great_Rock_Discography_9-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">After "Everybody's Talkin'", Neil's best-known song is "The Dolphins", which was later recorded by several artists including Tim Buckley, for whom Neil was a major influence.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brend_5-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  Interested in dolphins since the mid-1960s, when he had begun visiting the Miami Seaquarium, with Ric O'Barry in 1970 Neil founded The Dolphin Research Project, an organization dedicated (according to Neil himself) to stopping the capture, trafficking and exploitation of dolphins worldwide.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brend_5-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  Increasingly involved in that pursuit, Neil progressively disappeared from the recording studio and live performance, with only occasional performances in the rest of the 1970s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brend_5-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5] ==Later life and death<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Neil left Woodstock in the mid-1970s and spent his remaining decades on the shores of southern Florida, involved in The Dolphin Project. After playing with Stephen Stills at New York City's Madison Square Garden in 1971, Neil began a long retirement, performing in public mostly at gigs for the Dolphin Project Revue in Coconut Grove, although in 1977 he played a benefit show for the Revue in Tokyo. A live date occurred in July 1975 at The Montreux Jazz Festival,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  when Neil played with his core group of John Sebastian on harp, Harvey Brooks on bass, and Pete Childs on guitar. Michael Lang, one of the organizers of the 1969 WoodstockFestival and a 1970s Coconut Grove scene habituée, tried unsuccessfully to release this as a live LP. His last public performance was in 1981 at an outdoor concert at the Old Grove Pub in Coconut Grove, where he joined Buzzy Linhart for one song and stayed onstage for the rest of the set.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Many of Neil's 1970s recordings remain unissued, including a 1973 session with Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina and some Woodstock recordings with guitarist Arlen Roth. In a later interview, Ric O'Barry claimed that Neil recorded two albums of all cover songs between 1977 and 1978 that were buried by Columbia Records.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  According to Barry, he produced the first of the recordings in the sessions in Miami. Neil was joined by Pete Childs on guitar, John Sebastian on harmonica, and Harvey Brooks on bass. The second album was more fully arranged, with Neil accompanied by the New York session band Stuff and some old friends like Slick Aguilar. The songs on these albums were written by Bobby Charles, John Braheny, Bobby Ingram, and Billy Roberts (composer of "Hey Joe").

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Neil died of natural causes in 2001, as he battled skin cancer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Dead_1-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[1] ==Legacy<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Neil gained public recognition in 1969, when Nilsson's recording of "Everybody's Talkin'" was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy; the song became a hit and won a Grammy Award. He was one of the pioneers of thefolk rock and singer-songwriter musical genres,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  his most prominent musical descendants being Tim Buckley,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]  Stephen Stills,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-UnterbergerTurnTurn_15-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]  David Crosby and Joni Mitchell.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height:1;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]  His most frequently cited disciples are Karen Dalton, Tim Hardin, Dino Valenti, Vince Martin, Peter Stampfel of the avant-folk ensemble The Holy Modal Rounders, John Sebastian (The Lovin' Spoonful),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-UnterbergerTurnTurn_15-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]  Gram Parsons,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]  Jerry Jeff Walker,Barry McGuire,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-UnterbergerTurnTurn_15-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]  and Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-UnterbergerTurnTurn_15-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15] <sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height:1;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]  Some of Neil's early compositions were recorded by Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison. He played guitar on the demo version of Bobby Darin's 1958 hit "Dream Lover," and was a demo singer on a late-1950s Elvis Presley movie soundtrack session.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height:1;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In Fred Neil's Rolling Stone obituary Anthony DeCurtis wrote, "So why is Neil a hero to David Crosby? Because back when Crosby was an aspiring folkie who just arrived in New York, Neil bothered to take an interest in him, just as he did for the young Bob Dylan, who backed Neil on harmonica at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. 'He taught me that everything was music,' Crosby says."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In his memoir, Richie Havens recalled Neil and then-partner Vince Martin's ability to make an entrance through the audience, sans microphones, and get the audience up and clapping by relying only on their harmonious vocals.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height:1;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed] ==Discography<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Selected songs<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * 1965: Tear Down the Walls (Elektra) with Vince Martin
 * 1965: Bleecker & MacDougal (Elektra) reissued in 1970 as A Little Bit of Rain
 * 1966: Fred Neil (Capitol) reissued in 1969 as Everybody's Talkin'
 * 1967: Sessions (Capitol)
 * 1971: The Other Side of This Life (Capitol) live and alternate versions
 * Compilations
 * 1986: The Very Best of Fred Neil (See for Miles)
 * 1998: The Many Sides of Fred Neil (Collectors' Choice)
 * 2003: Do You Ever Think of Me? (Rev-Ola)
 * 2004: The Sky Is Falling: The Complete Live Recordings 1965-1971 (Rev-Ola)
 * 2005: Echoes of My Mind: The Best of 1963-1971 (Raven)
 * 2008: Trav'lin' Man: The Early Singles (Fallout)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Great_Rock_Discography_9-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]
 * Anthologies including tracks by Neil
 * 1963: Hootenanny Live at the Bitter End (FM)
 * 1964: A Rootin" Tootin' Hootenanny (FM)
 * 1964: World of Folk Music (FM)
 * "Candy Man"
 * "Everybody's Talkin'"
 * "Ba-di-da"
 * "Tear Down the Walls"
 * "The Dolphins"
 * "Green Rocky Road"
 * "The Other Side of This Life"
 * "Country Boy & Bleecker Street"
 * "That's the Bag I'm In"
 * "Blues on the Ceiling"
 * "Wild Child in a World of Trouble"
 * "FareTheeWell"