Fred Neil

Fred Neil ( born March 16, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio; † July 7, 2001 in Summerland Key, Florida) was an influential white American blues and folk singer and songwriter of the 1960s and early 1970s.

Life and work

Growing up in Saint Petersburg, Florida, Neil was one of those songwriters who worked for a time in New York's famous Brill Building. He was often referred to as a pioneer of the songwriting; his most quoted students were Tim Buckley, Harry Nilsson and Jefferson Airplane, the most prominent James Taylor, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. In the early 1960s he played regularly in Greenwich Village, with among others Bob Dylan and Karen Dalton.

Neil's early compositions have been recorded by artists such as Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison; he played with as a studio guitarist on hits by Bobby Darin and Paul Anka. Harry Nilsson in 1968 recorded a cover version of Neil's song Everybody's Talkin ' on ', which is a worldwide hit was a year later, when she was part of the soundtrack for the film Midnight Cowboy.

The mid-1970s gave Neil his former home in Woodstock, New York, and spent the rest of his life on the beaches of southern Florida. His last public performance was on in a coffee house in Coconut Grove in 1986.

Fred Neil died in 2001 in Summerland Key, Florida, to cancer.

List (selection) by Fred Neil songs and artists that they covered

• Candy Man - Roy Orbison (1961 )
• Everybody's Talkin ' - Harry Nilsson ( 1969), Roger Miller ( 1970), Stephen Stills (1991 ), Jimmy Buffett (2003), The Beautiful South (2004) and Madeleine Peyroux (2006)
• A Little Bit of Rain - Karen Dalton (1969 )
• Tear Down the Walls - Vince Martin ( 1964)
• The Dolphins - Tim Buckley (1973 )
• Green Rocky Road - Blue Orchids (2005)
• The Other Side of This Life - Jefferson Airplane