The Many Sides of Fred Neil

Fred Neil's most famous songs are best known in versions by other artists: Harry Nilsson singing "Everybody's Talkin'," Tim Buckley taking flight with "The Dolphins." This collection features the music Neil made between 1967 and 1971 for Capitol Records. (That would be three albums—Fred Neil, Sessions, Other Side of This Life—a single from 1963, and six previously unreleased cuts.) While Neil's 1965 solo debut, Bleecker & MacDougal, captured his folk and blues repertoire, The Many Sides is as breathtaking as the works of Buckley, Van Morrison, Terry Reid, and other singer/songwriters with roots in the exploratory world of '60s folk. Neil's voice, as deep and resonant as John Lee Hooker's, turns from the blues to a personal vision that's haunted at every turn. His 1963 single, "Long Black Veil," recorded with The Nashville Street Singers, indicates the dark side of his vision, yet the recording is far more upbeat than those of his later, mature work, which includes the weightless "Faretheewell (Fred's Tune)" and the heartmelting, previously unreleased "December's Dream." Canned Heat's Al Wilson joins for "Ba-De-Da," another unique Neil masterwork.