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Subject: Fred Neil has apparently passed away From: Tedham Porterhouse Date: 08 Jul 01 - 05:19 PM I've heard from several people that Fred Neil was found dead at his home in Florida yesterday. |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Amos Date: 08 Jul 01 - 05:25 PM A sorry passing -- one of the starters. Dylan's reminiscence of him: BOB DYLAN: I used to play in a a place called Cafe Wha?, and it always used to open at noon, and closed at six in the morning. It was just a non-stop flow of people, usually they were tourists who were looking for beatniks in the Village. There'd be maybe five groups that played there. I used to play with a guy called Fred Neil, who wrote the song "Everybody's Talking" that was in the film "Midnight Cowboy."
Fred was from Florida I think, from Coconut Grove, Florida, and he used to make that scene, from Coconut Grove to Nashville to New York. And he had a strong powerful voice, almost a bass voice. And a powerful sense of rhythm ... And he used to play mostly these types of songs that Josh White might sing. I would play harmonica for him, and then once in a while get to sing a song. You know, when he was taking a break or something. It was his show, he would be on for about half an hour, then a conga group would get on, called Los Congeros, with twenty conga drummers and bongoes and steel drums. And they would sing and play maybe half an hour. And then this girl, I think she was called Judy Rainey, used to play sweet Southern Mountain Appalachian ballads, with electric guitar and small amplifier. And then another guy named Hal Waters used to sing, he used to be a sort of crooner. Then there'd be a comedian, then an impersonator, and that'd be the whole show, and this whole unit would go around non-stop. And you'd get fed there, which was actually the best thing about the place...
( Bert Kleinman Interview, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, NYC, NY, Jul 30, 1984.) |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Amos Date: 08 Jul 01 - 05:28 PM Here's a partial listing of his remarkable career. I trhink you'd have to say e was one of the real movers of the movement when it was a-buiilding. A |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: TishA Date: 08 Jul 01 - 06:18 PM Fred Neil's music meant a lot to me in the sixties. I had been thinking about a couple of his songs lately and wondering what became of him. What a great and singular voice he had. He will be missed. Chip A. |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Lonesome EJ Date: 09 Jul 01 - 01:38 AM THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS LIFE Fred Neil-Third Story Music Co. BMI Would you like to know a secret, just between you and me. I don't know where I'm goin' next, don't know where I'm gonna be.
Refrain:
I think I'll go to Nashville, down to Tennessee, (Refrain)
I don't know what I'm doing half the time,
(Refrain)
My whole world's in an uproar, my whole world's upside down,
And that's another side to this life, I've been leadin',
Would you like to know a secret, just between you and me.
And that's the other side to this life, I've been leadin', Great tune that a lot of people including Jefferson Airplane and Gram Parsons covered back in the day. Sail on sailor. |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Wesley S Date: 09 Jul 01 - 10:54 AM If this is true he will be greatly missed. There were some of us that hoped he would come out of retirement and record again but I guess that will never happen now. What a huge voice and 12 string guitar sound. I'll bet that Fred and Travis Magee have found a good fishing hole together. Skipping over the ocean like a stone. "I've been searching for the dolphins in the sea. And sometimes I wonder if you ever think of me" |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Tedham Porterhouse Date: 09 Jul 01 - 11:01 AM Wesley, Fred walked away from performing and recording about 30 years ago. In that sense, he's been missed for a long time. Fred was a junkie and needed to get away from the performer's life to get himself clean. He knew that if he didn't do something else with his life, he probably would not have made it to 40. His friends Tim Hardin and Tim Buckley ended up dead, Fred found the dolphins and lived for another 30 years. |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Wesley S Date: 09 Jul 01 - 11:11 AM Then let's hope he got his wish and died clean. Do you know where we can find an obit? Where did he die? |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Tedham Porterhouse Date: 09 Jul 01 - 11:22 AM Wesley, I haven't seen any published obits so far. The news was passed on to me by mutual friends who had heard from Vince Martin, Fred's old duet partner. Fred was found at his home on one of the Florida keys south of Miami. |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Tedham Porterhouse Date: 09 Jul 01 - 01:14 PM Reuters is now reporting the death of Fred Neil. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010709/re/people_neil_dc_1.html |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Mudlark Date: 09 Jul 01 - 03:23 PM oh, man, this has been a hard year. Such a great voice, as thick and rich and satisfying as homemade fudge sauce.... |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: GUEST,Janice in NJ Date: 09 Jul 01 - 03:51 PM Oh my goodness! It must be more than 35 years since I saw Fred Neil for my own and only time. It was somewhere in the Village, maybe the Gaslight. He opened for Odetta, then she called him back and they did a couple of songs together. I could swear that she looked at him like she was in love with him. What a fine performer he was! |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: GUEST Date: 10 Jul 01 - 04:49 PM It was reported on the radio today in Miami that Fred Neil had been suffering from lung cancer. Since the death of Fred Neil, approximately 3300 other Americans have also died of smoking-induced illnesses. |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Justa Picker Date: 11 Jul 01 - 11:46 AM From CNN's website: SUMMERLAND KEY, Florida (AP) -- Folk singer Fred Neil, who had such hits as "Everybody's Talkin' " and "Candy Man," was found dead Saturday of natural causes in his home. He was 64. Neil started his music career in 1955 when he moved from St. Petersburg to Memphis, Tenn. He released his first single, "You Ain't Treatin' Me Right/Don't Put the Blame On Me," two years later. The singer became a cult favorite in New York City's Greenwich Village folk scene after Roy Orbison released a blues recording of Neil's "Candy Man" in 1960. Neil released his first solo album, "Bleecker & MacDougal," in 1965. After moving back to Florida, Neil took an interest in protecting dolphins. He frequently visited Kathy, the star of the television show "Flipper," and wrote a song called "The Dolphins," which was released on his 1967 album "Fred Neil." Billy Bragg delivered a haunting cover of the song on his 1991 album, "Don't Try This at Home." In 1970, Neil co-founded the Dolphin Research Project to help curb the capture and exploitation of dolphins worldwide. His last big hit came in 1969 when the film "Midnight Cowboy" featured singer Harry Nilsson's version of Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'."
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Sarah2 Date: 11 Jul 01 - 01:42 PM Hell. I adored his voice, loved his songs. Still have a 33rpm of "Tear Down the Walls" with Vince Martin. I play it one time every few years -- so I can tape it again whenever I wear the tape out. They were something else. Spent an exhorbitant amount on a CD relese of "Bleeker and McDougal" not long ago. But Fred Neil fans will do that kind of thing...May the dolphins dance for him now. Sarah |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: iamjohnne Date: 15 Aug 01 - 11:49 PM I dont have a clue who or where you are, but we share a common interest. Rolling Stone has a very nice commentary on Fred Neil written by Richie unterberger. He quotes David Crosby about Fred. The Miami Herald also has a nice obit. Published about the 8th of July I think. I was a teenager in Miami back in the late '60s. I used to go hear Fred sing with vince Martin and jon sebastion and Bob Ingram at the Gaslight South in coconut Grove. I have just recently bought the cd that is out and now I am saddened to find he passed away. He sang the songs of my youth. I used to sing my kids to sleep with "Bs Di Da" |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Melani Date: 16 Aug 01 - 11:32 PM Hey, jamjohne, I saw what I think was his last show at the Gaslight in late 1967 or early '68. The Gaslight closed down soon after that, and became a restaurant called the Feedbag and a health food store called the Oak Feed Store. (Remember the O.K. Feed Store on U.S.1? Oh my God, Miami nostalgia?!) It was the only time I ever saw him live, and I'm sure glad I had the chance. And while I'm engaging in Miami thread creep, did you ever manage to catch Michael Smith at the Flick when he was part of the Flick Trio? He was known as Mike then, and generally very silly. We saw him here in the S.F. Bay Area a couple of years ago, doing a bunch of serious, beautiful stuff like "Margaret and the Dutchman," and I couldn't believe it was the same guy. (Well, I hadn't seen him since about 1970!) I really wasn't sure, until he told the story about tuning his guitar to the Miami phone system dial tone. We asked him about his apparent personality transplant, and he said the Flick wanted a comedian and he needed a job. So now he is doing what he really wanted to all along. So much for thread creep. A friend of mine used to berth his boat next to Fred's, and was always chasing strange people off his own deck when they mistook it for Fred's. I'm glad to hear that he cleaned up his life in the end. |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Allan C. Date: 17 Aug 01 - 12:21 AM Sarah2, that album was my introduction to Fred Neil as well and what the jacket described as being his "subterranean rumble". I don't know if he had a hand in writing "I'm A Drifter" (perhaps you could tell me?) but I have enjoyed performing that song from the album for many years. For that alone, I thank him. Nobody (not even Hank, IMHO) ever did "Weary Blues From Waitin'" any better than Fred (& Vince). |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Sarah2 Date: 17 Aug 01 - 01:18 PM Allan C., The back of the album says: I'M A DRIFTER (Edmonson, Carte Music BMI) 2:27 ...so I'd guess not. I'll always think of it as a "Fred Neil song," though. Sarah |
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Subject: RE: Fred Neil From: Wesley S Date: 17 Aug 01 - 01:40 PM That was Travis Edmonson of "Bud and Travis" if I'm not mistaken. But I'm often mistaken - just ask my wife. Wesley - formerly of Indian Rocks Beach and Maderia Beach - the west coast of Fla. |
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