Reviews (page 2 of 8)
Lo pensé y lo pensé, pero al final subió su calificación. Pura música de papá melómano.
I really wanted to make a "My face when listening to this album" joke with the cover but it didn't turn out so bad. Not my jam either but I've had worse. Some of the pieces are surprisingly relatable considering when they were written and the slow simmering sound gives the album a cozy atmosphere. However, the tone is a bit too nihilistic at points and the final song especially bored me. Best songs are The Dolphins and That's the Bag I'm in. 5/10, nothing special in any direction.
First listen
Run of the mill Folksy album. Feels like this was a cut above all the more basic Greenwich village stuff from the early 60's, with a bit more experimentation going on. Some extended songs and good Guitar work throughout. The Raga at the end transforms a somewhat generic album into a pretty good Classic and makes for a welcome change. Not a bad job.
another new one for me and man is this great! "i've got a secret" might be my favorite new-to-me song
If you asked me if I wanted to listen to some moody folk blues, I'd probably have said no. But I enjoyed this, and then I enjoyed it again. Mellow, moody, soothing but powerful voice
More interesting than I thought it would be, but that's not saying much.
I don't want.to read your long reviews I don't want to listen to Fred Neil. Did you know that dolphins expierence orgasms like humans? Someone on sweet, sweet cocaine probably figured it out.
4.0 Surprisingly solid folk-rockish album, I hope it finds a way into my music feeds. The Raga jam at the end was ok too even if it was a bit self-indulgent
Really nice. A great great voice. A nice, casual, easy vibe throughout, good songwriting, good sounds, and an interesting influence from India. I like folk music, and I did not know about him. I’m sure he’ll earn his spot in my rotations over time. Great pick.
Ok as background music. Unmemorable.
Some Quentin Tarantino soundtrack ass music
This record is full of intricate, engaging acoustic guitar work that really does land well with me - it's interesting and dynamic throughout and adds depth to the tracks. Overall though, whilst I like the folk vibe, the record does feel quite middle of the road. It's not hugely impactful or memorable to me, and feels like a collection of decent songs without ever becoming fantastic. 6/10.
Probably the most middle of the road folk album I’ve ever heard.
I thought it was pretty solid! Everybody's Talkin' is iconic. It was a weird shift into the final Raga song though.
randomly very lovely
JL : 3, The Dolphins
Enjoyed a lot of this despite the horrendous album cover.
Had elements of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan which I was not expecting. No standout singles, but overall an enjoyable listen.
With his country voice, Neil sings a mix of country, folk rock, blues that could be called Americana. Subdued, self-deprecating, and very enjoyable.
i’m not convinced that this isn’t tim buckley
id willingly listen to this again, this guy has a great voice
Who is Fred Neil? With every new album I always run over to the Wikipedia page to read about the story behind it while also exploring the singles Fred Neil needed this research to understand why this album was included, his influence was immense and this album was a treat to listen to Shoutout to all of the Dolphins he loved!
You know what's crazy? I started this project before, and this was the very first record I got. I did not enjoy listening to it one bit and I gave it 1/5. This was about 8 months ago. The crazy thing? I legitimately can't remember a single melody, note nothing, just that I knew I didn't like it. Now this time around, this is 8/1089. Almost like I'm being spied on. 1/5. Next
I thought this was fairly nondescript. Some tracks were alright, it blurred together a lot. Some were fairly pleasant. As it drew toward the end of the album the songs seemed to get progressively worse, and the last track was pretty painful and I was pleased when it ended.
Country lounge act
Lounge singer vibe
Fred feels nice to revisit
Haven't heard of him but heard covers of some of the songs here. I'm afraid I like the covers better. At the beginning the album was quite cool but then it went meh 2/5
3.5 enjoyable discovery
1966. Second solo studio album.
pop pop pop
A nice album, perfect as background music.
some nice tracks
I was sceptical at the start, but ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. Some nice songs!
Unfamiliar with this but it seems like something interesting to hear. I liked a lot of other 60s era folk rock. For some reason, wasn’t expecting his voice. Has a deep old fashioned sound to his voice. Definitely hints of country and folk in it all. Some of this is fine and interesting. On some of the songs, some of the guitars clash in a way where the sound is almost muddled between the electric and acoustic guitars. Overall, don’t mind this. Feels very classic yet dated in some ways. Thought I might like this more but didn’t really suck me in and grab my attention. Some of it is perfectly pleasant but it’s just very middle of the road for me. Second half seems to find more that I liked. Thought maybe it was trending to a 3, but think I’ll stick with a 2
Sipping a pint of IPA outside an artsy little boozer in Buxton whilst visiting my mate This is quite nice. Crooner feelings, but with what I imagine were fairly experimental pedal effects for the time. It’s cool.
The bit where this old folk baritone grumbles a harmonica-laden bluesy ballad at me about—of all substances—fucking *cocaine* was more than a little jarring lmao but otherwise I don’t really mind this
5/10… singer - songwriter / folk / *1966
A rare compétent folk album 👌
Rentoa folk rokkia. Joissain biiseissä jopa oudon meditoiva itämainen fiilis vaikka oikeesti ei ees tarkoituksella oo. Tai on melodiat varmaan kun tuo vika kappale on esim tosi itämaisen kuuloinen. Parhaat: The Dolphins, Faretheewell (Fred's Tune)
Sort of like a more bluesy, non-jammy Grateful Dead. One of the better hippie albums on this list, it seems to have some sort of sorrowful self awareness of how it would all end, which gives it a depth that a lot of folk albums from this era lack in retrospect. Ah, this old world may never change This world may never change This world may never change
This is what 1001 albums is all about. Had never heard of this before and it'll be on rotation for a while
Good record.
I was more familiar with the Tim Buckley and Nilsson Schmillson covers than this guy though I vaguely knew about him. Dolphins a truly great track and sounds a bit different than everything else. Eventually all the melodies kinda bleed into eachother and the singing stays pretty (too) similar, but some good stuff here.
all decent except finale
This album has convinced me that some of these are on here just because one of their songs was used in a soundtrack.
outside of his distinct voice, I cant really pin anything here that sticks out to me. Good harmonica skills I guess? Its pretty basic folk rock.
Aggressively mediocre. I have no idea why this is on the list
This gets bumped up massively because I loved Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga so much
This folk-rock album is good, but not great. There are a song or two that are definitely enjoyable, but there are more songs that I would skip than listen to on a second listen.
Chill, bluesy folk, cowboy vibes. Great in the background. Wasn’t a huge fan of that last song… Rating: 6/10 Favorite Song: Everybody’s Talkin’
2.5/5 Favorite Songs: The Dolphins Everybody's Talkin' Sweet Cocaine
eh. this is just some whatever 60's folk rock. really nothingburger.
I'm coming back to review this album, and I swear I don't remember listening to it, which is funny because I have listened to parts of it twice (it's that forgettable). I know that this is a stepping stone for other great folk artists who succeeded and took inspiration from him, but it really feels like a million other albums I have heard on this list.
Not the worst folk/country album I've heard on this list. Found it tolerable because it leaned toward blues. 2*
Pretty average folk country with an absurdly unnecessarily long closer that was a cool idea for about a minute and then just kept going. Eh.
Meh. Not too bad.
Liked it more than I thought I would for a late 60s folk album.
dreary
I hear the positives’ in Fred Neil’s self-titled album, and why it failed to connect in 1966, then received a mini-reappraisal fifty years later. Like Tim Hardin, Neil sits in between the folk boom of the early 1960s and the singer-songwriters who found a place at the top of the charts in the early 1970s. As expected traces of Bob Dylan’s influence can be felt. Coming in the wake of Dylan going electric, Neil incorporated drums and electric guitar. They sit in a much quieter place than Dylan’s raw, and wiry version of folk-rock, which he delivered with wild abandon at the time. Neil, Hardin and later Bobby Darin kept the instrumentation to a minimum, and had no hints of rock and roll in his sound. The best songs stick to this minimal style that highlights Neil’s baritone (or is bass?) vocals and lyrics. On the most famous songs, “The Dolphins” and “Everybody’s Talkin’” Neil delivers a gentle sadness and philosophical tone to make for poignant stories. Lesser known tunes, “Faretheewell” and “Everything Happens” take the same approach with pleasant results. The album slips when Neil moves away from this style. He adopts a blues style on several songs that ill suits his straightforward weariness. He handles “I’ve Got a Secret” fairly well, perhaps due to its story matching Neil’s originals. Down-low traditional, “Sweet Cocaine” and the Neil original “That’s the Bag I’m In” lack the vocal and musical punch to fit the lyrics. Overlooking his take on the Indian ragas in “Cynicrustpetefredjohnraga” takes some doing. Akin to ignoring some of Hollywood’s outdated tropes. I can see why Neil has been rediscovered. In the 21st century with the ability to easily pluck the material from an artist’s record, Neil’s best writing and singing makes for top flight listening. Going old-school through an entire album causes a drop-off in quality.
What a creepy album cover. Whose kid is that?? Where did you get that kid from Fred, apparently it’s not yours. The most interesting thing about this album is the fact that Fred Neil completely left the public eye to focus on his love of dolphins, and no, I’m not even remotely kidding about that. It’s hilarious, look it up. Bro has an entire song on the album, the first song on the album in fact, fantasizing about his immense love of dolphins. I’ll be honest, I need to fill this review with some filler, because this album is pretty boring and I don’t know how much I realistically have to say about it. Sure, “The Dolphins” has a cool sentimental meaning and it’s a pretty song. I love dolphins as well. Maybe not as much as Fred Neil loves dolphins, but they’re cool as hell, and they’re very smart. However, he makes it all sound just so unremarkably boring and I just don’t care all that much. The good news, is that being an album from the 60’s, this album is only 38 minutes long, and you REALLY feel every second out of those 38 minutes. Mostly you feel like they should be over by now, and why is this song still going, oh god it’s so boring, but whatever. I digress. Sam Neil doesn’t do much for me. The songs are nice and peaceful. They aren’t bad. He’s also got a pretty good voice. But I know I sound like a broken record at this point, they’re unbelievably boring. I don’t think I’ve pointed out enough how boring these songs are. His voice and the very basic Folky tunes in the background lend themselves well to being very boring unfortunately. Every once in a while he’ll get a little more exciting and a cool riff will materialize, like on “That’s The Bag I’m In”, but they’re few and far between, and still not tremendously remarkable even then. In fact, the single little moment on “That’s The Bag I’m In” makes it my favorite song on the album by far, and it’s not even close. Calling “Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga” my favorite would kind of feel like cheating in my opinion, as it’s clearly meant to be experimental and doesn’t reflect the artist’s work as a whole. That would be like marveling at the frame of a painting, you’re really not supposed to do it, even if it’s better than the actual painting it’s surrounding. It is actually a pretty great Raga jam though and might be my favorite song. Damn. Going to break my own rule here and say they’re both my favorite actually. This is such an unremarkable album as a whole though and I will not be returning to it. I gave it a shot. It’s perfectly fine at best, never truly terrible, but it’s boring the entire way through, and that’s worse sometimes. Do I give this a high 2 or a low 3?? Hmmm… I’m not entirely sure. I don’t dislike any of these songs, personally. I just don’t love any of them either, and it didn’t really grow on me. Tough choice with this one today. I guess you’ll find out when you’re looking at the review. Maybe I’ll flip a coin. I truly can not decide if this is a 2 or a 3. Both make such a strong case. I’ll compare it to the other 2’s and see what I feel like at the end of the day. Ok, after listening to it with better headphones, and after some more time with it, it grew on me a bit more. It’s a 3.
Usually I'm underwhelmed by these Greenwich Village folkies, and especially when they try to play the blues, but for whatever reason this one works for me! And yet, apparently he didn't have all that much success in his time? On the other hand, the Fabs' version of "That's the Bag I'm In" (featured on the first Back from the Grave compilation) is so much better than this original version that it's not even funny.
Nice
Possibly because of what I've been listening to recently, but for me the top track was the long acoustic one at the end.
I liked his voice
I should have listened to this while it was raining. This is a rainy nap album. I recognized "The Dolphins" from a cover, I think the "The The" version is what I'm most familiar with. I did not like the percussion on this original version. This was not an album for me.
Somber folk. Should probably revisit
Boring country album. I didn't hate it, but it was a hard listen.
Not the most exciting, but a solid country album.
Bon album, pas ce que j’aime
Some good ones on here
Woah didn’t expect that, that was cool, the intro track (The Dolphins) had shimmering guitar and powerful voice! That’d be my standout but i was a bit lukewarm on the rest of the album, still solid though.
Pretty good background folk rock; I wasn't listening closely but I enjoyed what I heard.
I don't know this singer. I got bored with the vocals. An OK album at best.
What a find - Dolphins, Everybody's Talkin and the rest.
Was ready to write this one off but holy shit. Definitely a foundational musician for so much of the singer songwriter music in the late 60s early and mid 70s.
I can appreciate its historical value, sure, but... yeah.
Good music, nothing revolutionary.
Žao mi je ali razumijem zašto "He is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material". Everybody's Talkin' je banger u Nilssonovoj izvedbi u 6. epizodi 1. sezone Black Books. Zezam se, nije toliko loš album, samo je baš previše folkast za mene.
Dreamy, not too bad
A really distinctive voice. Sort of the pre tom waits. In
I liked the parts I liked and didn’t like the other parts.
Completely fine
A lot of mid albums currently. This is ok, but nothing exciting.
Took me a few songs to recognise the voice before his big hit came on
Pretty and soulful and someone I had never heard from before. Glad I was able to experience something new but I am not sure he was different enough to push me up higher.
I've never heard of Fred Neil and am happy I now have. I thought this was pretty great. He sings with a lot of soul, and I thought his voice and song compositions were rather captivating.
Meh - 3
I know everybody's talkin' from midnight cowboy. The one on this album is a different version but still a great song and I think my favorite on the album. He's got such a nice rich voice.
3.5
Solid 60s folk that sounds like a mix between Dave Van Ronk and Scott Walker.
“Everybody's talkin' at me. Can't hear a word they're sayin’. Only the echoes of my mind.” -a dolphin-obsessed poet who tugs at the heart strings.
Goh, dan krijg je na the beatles weer een rock album uit de jaren 60. Wel van een naam die mij onbekend is.. Maar ik laat mij graag verrassen! Meestal ligt dit tijdperk mij wel. Eerste nummer heeft de manier van zingen wel wat weg van Elvis. Goede stem iig! Heel interessant album. Niet echt rocky, maar luistert prima weg. Neig naar 3 sterren, maar dan in ene dat laatste nummer... Fantastisch haha. Ging helemaal op de John Lennon tour. Ik vond mooi. 4 reten.
Poeeeh, das een diepe stem Fredje! Klinkt wel lekker, prima gitaar er ook bij. Eerste nummer, The Dolphins, is daardoor echt heel mooi. Lijkt ook een hele goede recording te zijn want het tweede nummer is eerlijk gezegd meteen een stuk minder. Daarna is het meteen weer meer een country nummer in plaats van een bijna soul plaat. Fred heeft een heerlijke stem, de nummers waar er eigenlijk bijna niets gebeurd buiten hem en zijn stem? Dat zijn dan ook meteen mijn favoriete nummers. De mixing lijkt helaas niet altijd consistent te zijn waardoor de muziek een stuk dieper klinkt op sommige nummers dan op anderen. Dat is wel interessant gezien dat een recording issue lijkt? Maar ik heb me hier prima mee vermaakt. Ben nu geen Fred Neil fan geworden, maar zal niet snel zijn muziek afzetten. Gezien de andere reviews laat me dit wel weer zien hoe ontzettend belangrijk een goede zanger kan zijn. Waar Bob Dylan briljant schrijft maar niet kan zingen heb je hier eigenlijk het tegenovergestelde met een matige schrijver maar een heerlijke stem. Tsja, ik heb dan toch liever dit. Ik ben een simpel man. Prima album, lekkere lengte ook en best een prettig instrumentaal nummer om mee af te sluiten! FAVO: The Dolphins, Everything Happens,
Not an artist I was familiar with but ok.
First song was called "The Dolphins." Don Shula would be disappointed. 1.5/5.0: Bad
i was already writing my one star review when the last song came on and pulled it from the depths. it had a few interesting parts before that but for the most part it was atrocious
A nice palate cleanser.
Folks not normally my thing, but I enjoyed parts of that.
I’d never heard of Fred Neil, really cool voice certainly has a spot in the canon of singers of the time
ja wel leuk
Jamais écouté avant. J'ai l'impression que cette liste a un faible pour les singer-songwriters folk-rock des années 1965-1970. Et je ne m'en plains pas, je découvre album après album que j'y suis également très sensible. Pour ce qui est de Fred Neil, que dire ? Que je ne le connaissais pas avant d'écouter cet album (même si je connaissais vaguement Everybody's Talkin' sans être capable d'exactement situer...), d'abord. Et que découvrir de nouveaux artistes est toujours un bonheur. Que l'album s'écoute très bien, également, dans une veine mélancolique et urbaine teintée de blues qui, sans être d'une originalité folle, déçoit rarement. Une jolie découverte, donc, mais un album sommes toutes assez standard, à l'exception d'un raga de fin inattendu, mais qui m'a laissé dubitatif. On est quand même loin de Blonde on Blonde, sorti quelques mois plus tôt, mais la barre est haute... Pas un chef-d'œuvre, mais un album qui a toute sa place dans un paysage folk-rock à l'époque surpeuplé. C'est déjà pas mal. Top : Everybody's Talkin' Flop : Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga
Such a beautiful voice and Everybody's Talking is a great song - but I like the Harry Nilsson version better and I like the covers on this album better than the originals. I think he is cool and this album is not that great.
Not bad but none of the songs really stood out
👌🏼⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
That last song felt pretty out of place in the context of the album. Did enjoy it as a album to listen to in the background but probably won't come back.
Det her va nesten akkurat sånn som æ forventa da æ så omslaget, og heller ikke mer interessant enn æ tenkte.
Surprised by how much I liked this. I'd never heard of it but knew a few of the songs from cover versions, so it was good to hear the originals. Nice wistful folk rock, and he has a beautiful voice.
Maso
Had no idea what this would be. First song and a few others were excellent, but the rest were not memorable.
Hadn't heard this before but quite enjoyable. Will listen again. High 2s.
I was surprised to learn that I’ve heard covers of like half of these songs and never knew they were all written by the same guy. Unfortunately I think I prefer the covers to Fred Neil’s original version in every case
This is cool. I hadn’t heard of Fred Neil but these were good songs.
Need more context to get it. Everybody’s Talkin’ is a cool song, but the overpolished vibe of the recording and performance is wack
Tuesday, 7 July, 2026 Great side two! Sweet cocaine and green Ricky road are great tracks.
This had that 60s nostalgia, pleasantness and vibe to it that I enjoy. Great coffee shop record.
I was expecting some normal folksy stuff like Dylan or Simon and Garfunkel. What I got was a fascinating bluesey mix. I'm not sure why it's considered folk. Fred Neil is very good. I added that's the bag i'm in to my playlist. And of course "sweet cocaine" because it's funny. The album is fantastic.
Called Folk in the Wikipedia page, it sounds very old school country western to me. Seemed to be good songwriting and performance here. Not my jam.
Listened before?: nope The Dolphins - 4/5 I've Got a Secret (Didn't We Shake Sugaree) - 3/5 That's the Bag I'm In - 4/5 Badi-Da - 3/5 Faretheewell (Fred's Tune) - 3/5 Everybody's Talkin' - 4/5 Everything Happens - 3/5 Sweet Cocaine - 3/5 Green Rocky Road - 3/5 Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga - 2/5 Average score: 3.2/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I never heard of Fred Neil before today and I never would have listened to him without this project. This sort of thing is why I'm doing it. It's not a great album, but it is definitely a good one and something I'd be glad to listen to again.
Easy listening.
No standouts
Very interesting!
"The Dolphins" has been known to save lives
Surprisingly lovely in places.
I had only heard the one song before. Interesting stuff.
So this is what folk music sounded like before Dylan. Thanks, Bob.
I think it’s ok, doesn’t knock my socks off and a very famous song that was recorded and performed better by an artist later on
Mellow vibes. I'm more familiar with the cover of Everybody's Talkin', but this was alright. I probably won't listen again though.
Quite liked this, it's definitely not standing out a ton but it's just a hell of a vibe
Not to cliche this, but it really is just some classic 60s singer-songwriter stuff. Not that that means it's bad, just that I've heard plenty of things like this before. It is quite good, though. There's a little bit of country twang and bluesiness to it, and it actually elevates it a little bit. I don't really have a whole lot to say about this one, other than that it was nice. Favorite Song(s): I've Got a Secret, Everybody's Talkin
Best Track - "That's The Bag I'm In"
Did not expect to listen to the entire album tbh. Initially felt outdated due to the time gap but holy shit it was pretty good. Some parts were very outdated though. Felt like I was playing red dead due to the texan/cowboy influence. Can listen again but no songs really stuck out to me. Review - 7/10
I didnt mind this one. Nothing particularly special though.
An interesting intersection between country and mid 60's psych rock
Better than I expected.
surprised that i know some tracks of this, probably through some film soundtracks but i can't recall what. anyways, it got a nice feeling to it but overall, it's a bit too downtempo moody/bluesy for my taste.
I did not like this. It was country-ish. Apparently he wrote the song Everybody’s Talkin’, but I only know Harry Nilsson’s version.
65
Næs lög og alveg töff rödd. Everybody's talkin' er samt mun betra með Nilsson, og ég veit ekki með þessa rögu í lokin. 3,7.
I enjoyed this, it had a nice pace to it and it didn't overstay it's welcome. Wasn't expecting Dolphins on here either.
liked one song
I'm not the biggest fan of folk music, so much of it is just the same bland dude with a mediocre voice and an acoustic. The best song here was done much much better by Harry Nilsson. It’s not bad but I really didn't enjoy it at all
Fairly boring by the standards of folk rock of its era.
khad ni echt de energie om veel te luisteren maar het leek wel aight.
First time hearing this I like the sound of it so far, it's a bit of folk and a bit of rock nice slow enjoyable songs with nice vocals and nice instrumentation , I enjoyed this one
Not bad, but kind of boring. It felt like the songs never really went anywhere.
This was one of those surprise historical albums. I had no context for Fred Neil, as an artist. However, as the album continued forward, I realized I knew most of his songs, just not performed by him. I had just listened to everybody’s talking by Harry Nielsen the previous week. Green Rocky Road was also Van Morrison song. And even a song Cynicrusttpetefredjohn Raga was covered by Metallica on their Live Shit! Album between guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newstead during their solos. I have to admit, I admired this album. Sometimes you have to step away from the tree and admire the roots.
Random thoughts: * Oh great, another crooner, 1001's Achilles heel. * It started off pretty good and better than I expected, then we got to Everybody's Talkin'. Whoa! Stop the presses. This is the original. Everyone knows the Nilsson version but this is the OG! * Then he drops Sweet Cocaine. What?!?! * Then we get some great closers in Green Rocky Road and the Raga. * This was a worthy inclusion and I respect giving Fred Neil his dues by putting him on 1001. Definitely go read up on him. He was an immense talent that didn't want the spotlight.
Some more decent folk. Nice
Some good songs, some kinda meh.
Calm little passive listen, not really my typa music i wouldnt listen to this often but this was okay to hear not bad
I love the mournfulness of his chimey electric and his poor-man's Roy Orbison-croon, his loungy country-loser delivery. I hear as much early VU in this as I do Greenwich Village, both happening on different blocks in NYC at the time. It makes for a bit of a melancholy bummer befitting the bus ride in Midnight Cowboy where Harry Nilsson songbirded up "Everybody's Talkin'" I like it a lot.
So nice to be introduced to an artist I’d never heard of when it’s as good as this. Neil’s voice oozes authenticity and heartache, and the songs are terrific, quintessentially and timelessly American. I recognized “Ba-Di-Da” because Mark Lanegan did a very good cover of it. Really psyched to discover this.
Nice one.
Fine but did not seem notable to me.
Favorite Track: That's the bag I'm in
You can ask The Dolphins about this one but I think they might be on that Sweet Cocaine. Everybody’s Talkin’ about it like it’s a Merry Go Round. But That’s the Bag I’m In.
El album es largo, sin contar como la parte 2 que tiene, y sinceramente, se me hizo un poco corto a la vez. Aunque la voz sea muy buena, la instrumental la siento repetitiva, puede ser bueno escuchar al artista porque es algo muy trabajado su labor de vocalista, pero quitando eso, las canciones no siento que sean la gran cosa. Pese a esos puntos, siento que igual tiene su toque el album, pero no es gran cosa, llegaría como a un 2.7
Not bad
Now I know who did that song
I enjoyed this
Folk-rock, bordering on crooning, which, while perfectly fine, didn't blow me away
I don't enjoy country too much, but I'm into folk, and this was a combination of both. I liked the melancholy sound of the music, though there was too much harmonica for me. An okay listen.
Everybody’s Talkin’ is a great song (did this inspire Jimmy Buffett to make Margaritaville?) and Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga was an incredibly interesting instrumental passage. The rest of this I could probably take or leave. His voice is great, but I don’t think the songs do enough.
When to listen: quiet rural day. I’d heard a few songs on this album but never the whole thing. Love Everybody’s Talkin.
:OK
Shit
who? anyway i only care about approximately two celebrities called fred or freddy or freddie and this guy is not one of them. also i care about only two or three celebrities called neil (with one being a massive jerk who at least have some good artistic output), and this dude is neither as good as any of the freds or as good as any of the neils. although if i squint harder i could see him sounding like one of the freds. but still 3/5
It was ok. A little too boring. Couple great hits though
good!
This was a nice surprise
Look, I can't be objective about this. I just really don't care for folk music. It just isn't my thing. That said, he's got a beautiful voice, it's got a serious country vibe, reminds me of Orville Peck. The album cover is kinda cringe. It's crazy how crystal clear the recording is.
Great songwriter. Didn’t know his work prior.
Enjoyable blusey music. Vocals kinda ruined it for me. 2.5/5
I liked the bluesy, weary but not too heavily laden feel of this. The experimental closer didn't quite work for me with everything else though, and everything else is a little slight. But unlike my last 2 albums which were a bit of a chore, these songs feel like they make more sense listened to as a package than bits and pieces. Take the raga out and that's only 30 minutes. Most importantly though, Everybody's Talkin' is such a beautiful song that probably only makes me cry because of Midnight Cowboy, but does that matter? And Fred Neil is to thank for that so he gets a thumbs up from me. I might prefer the Nilsson version but it's gorgeous here too and fits perfectly into the album.
7/10
This was ok, probably wouldn’t listen to it again—maybe the song about dolphins, but that’d be it. 3/5
Fine but falls off
nice deep voice but nothing special to get into this group
Kind of somewhere between Neil Diamond and Harry Nilsson, but less interesting than that comparison would make you assume.
Tremenda portada. Muy muy buena música.
Almost Johnny cash
Ver dull folk.
I mean, for a Folk music album, it was not that bad. 5/10
meh
Fun to hear a previously unknown singer songwriter. Pretty good. I will likely never listen to it again though.
Mid 3.5. Tem ótimas músicas, mas a produção não é tão cativante, e a interpretação de Neil não é tão potente.
Not bad but nothing I would remember. This type of music really washes over me like background music which is not a bad thing when you want to reach a mood. The last track is really the weak point and is mostly a tension rid jam session. I wouldn't call this a "must hear" but it's nice and not insufferable(except the last track) as other albums on this list.
Never heard of him but did know one song. That’s all I have to say about that.
It’s fine. Very tame but that’s the era as well I guess. Production at times is not great.
4/10
Mm no es mi estilo, muy depre
Good stuff, Sweet Cocaine is one of the best songs ever. 4/5.
Poor man's Harry Neilson.
The album would have been much better, maybe even a classic, if Fred Neil had paid more attention to his singing style.
I actually liked the bluesy, folksy, country tone of the album. It was nice easy listening and it made for a nice relaxing background type of music. The last song, Cynicrustpetefredjohn Saga actually had a touch of 60s psychedelia that was pretty interesting. I don’t know that I need to put this on any playlist, but I’m glad that I listened to it.
Fine I guess? Everybody's Talkin' is of course an all time classic, and a few other songs were decent, but I didn't really hear anything remarkable imo. 2/5.
Yeah pretty mid. Would give 5/10 but -1 for the harmonica. 4/10
Crooning psychedelia? No thanks
Neil was a folk-rock pioneer. He was influential to and mentored artists like Bob Dylan, Tim Buckly, Steven Stills, David Crosby and Joni Mitchell. Given that he directly worked with these household name singer-songwriters, it is somewhat surprising that many, including myself, have never heard of him. This was largely by design, the dude simply did not want to be famous, so his notoriety largely remained with the many artists he inspired. Now, thanks to this project I have been introduced to an important piece of rock history. I can appreciate that, in fact, that is why I’m here. Neil was a wonderful bass-baritone voice that really drew me into his music. Absurdly obvious, but a captivating voice is critically important for singer-songwriter music, yet this is often where music in this genre falls flat. This was not true with this music. Another great discovery. This is great country-folk music with an important history. I will revisit the record again the next time I’m in the mood to listen to chill music.
Nothing about this album is things that I should like, if I think about it. But it FEELS good. I can't explain it. Maybe it's just the best done version of all of these things I don't typically like (sad slow songs, difficult to understand country twang, sometimes repetitive lyrics). But I was digging this.
Nice recording. Easy to listen to. Enjoyed it. Kind of covered a variety of styles of music. Way cool to hear the original version of Everyone's Talkin'. I always thought Harry Nilsson wrote it.
Kick open the saloon door, knock the dust off a glass, drink down some whiskey. Reflect on the family you left at home while chasing the life of a drifting cattle man. This isn't Western music per se, but gives me those feels.
This is straddling the line between 2 and 3. It's mostly based on Neil's voice. When it gets slurred and/or nasally I really don't like it. Otherwise, he's got quite a nice voice that really works well with the music. The music itself is just fine. TIL "Everybody's Talkin" was not written by Nilsson.
Folk-rock, and good with it. There's a seam of realism and pessimism a mile wide running through this, but don't let that put you off, goodness me no. You might recognise Track 6, "didn't someone else sing that?" - yes, Nilsson's better-known version is a cover of Fred's song. Didn't know that, did you? Nor did I. A solid 3 from me.
Not quite what I expected from a guy I’ve never heard of before, but who knows his way around coming up with a sorta disconcerting album cover. The record itself is decent; it kinda has a darker Chris Isaak vibe at points. Honestly, I was not looking forward to this one at all, but I’m enjoying it as I go. 7/10
Yeah, really not feeling this one. Bookended by two awful tracks that could almost be parodies. There are some decent tunes in there but his delivery is not it. A case in point being how much Better Nilsson’s version is.
Bodied by Nilsson and the last track is way too long. First one is quite nice. The rest is forgettable.
Really cool sounds here. This crooner is an obvious influence on The Jefferson Airplane. Probably influenced by and influence on Johnny Cash & Elvis Presley. A 4.
Man this generator better stop giving us bullshit im getting burnt out. This is 60s Singer/Songwriterism with all the bad parts (white boy blues, awkward producer arrangements) and none of the poetry that made it what it is.
Idk I liked this
when i was 17 years old, i decided that i should listen to the entirety of pitchfork's list of the 200 best albums of the 1960s. it's not a perfect list (inherent feature of lists, to be fair), but it introduced me to a lot of kinds of music i had never encountered before - free jazz, krautrock, chanson.... and also folk music. both of my parents really only cared about pop and rock, and although it's impossible to grow up in the united states without absorbing the various cultural impact of the greenwich village folk scene, i don't know if my high school self could've really told you about any folk songs besides 'this land is your land' and 'blowin in the wind.' anyways... all that to say that i have heard fred neil's self titled album, because pitchfork decided that it was the 135th best album of the 1960s. all i really remembered about it was that it had the original recording of 'everybody's talkin,' later popularized by harry nilsson in the version he did for Midnight Cowboy (sidebar: i saw this movie a couple weeks ago and it's as great as everyone says it is). on second listen, i think it's a decent little folk rock album. neil's got a very interesting voice, and his version of everybody's talkin is very nice, even though i think nilsson's clears. his vocal performance on 'that's the bag i'm in' is pretty fun, and the raga jam to close out the album is a cool and unexpected touch. like dave van ronk, though, fred neil would be outshined by the younger greenwich village denizens he mentored. still a worthwhile listen, imo
girl. what? i mean. it's fine. nice even. every song sort of sounds the same but he's not bad at it. better lyricist than cat stevens i can tell you that much. i'm too bored to have an opinion. 2.5. "cynicrustpetefredjohn raga" is worth .8 of that.
me aburrio mucho la verdad. no me molesto, epro me aburrio
Not a favourite of mine but I still enjoyed it
Sixties, walker-esque precursor to Tim Buckley, good baritone bass voice. Worth a second listen.
This is his sophomore album and a great improvement over his debut. A perfect example of folk/blues. One of the many highlights is definitely Everybody's Talking which was a huge hit as a cover by Harry Nilsson back in either 69 or 68. It was basically the theme song from the movie Midnight Cowboy.
I didn't dislike this; Everybody's Talkin' is a good song, even if the Nilsson version is better. And the bouzouki added a nice touch in a few tracks. But Neil's voice is a little too smooth for me. Low three.
Dull. And, since his biggest hit was performed by someone else for a movie, it makes me less engaged. I'm guessing this guy is like a low rent Leonard Cohen: an artist that inspires other artists, or at least an artist cover and make better.
Very easy listening. It's a darker and more mysterious side of folk, which I appreciate it. Had not heard of this artist before, but I enjoyed this one.
4/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/fred-neil/fred-neil/ Had never ever heard of this man, but it’s actually quite nice! Strong voice, good instrumentation. Alll you want from a folk record.
# Album Name: Fred Neil # Artist: Fred Neil # Rating: 4/5 # Comments: Nice voice. Very good actually. Love the mix of acoustics and the vocals. Very well suited. Some good tunes on the album. # Top Tunes: Dolphin / Bag im in / Everybodys talkin / Sweet cocaine / Green rocky road # Would I listen to it again? Yes
Unremarkable. Just some other 60s guy. Did bro have a stroke with the last song title? 3/5
All the covers of Everybody’s talkin are better than the original but I guess I have to give him some credit for writing it
I don’t know, Lou Reed, Neil Diamond and Leonard Cohen influenced this guy? This is like, I want to quickly skip through the songs but it holds me back from doing it. And I really don’t know why. I can barely like it but I also just don’t feel it. I don’t try to lead anyone astray. It’s a mood album.
That's the Bag I'm In speaks to me on multiple levels.
Good
Pretty good for 1960s standards.
Hot dang! This opens with an absolute favorite Beth Orton/Terry Collier duet that I hadn't realized was a cover. This original is wonderful! I never heard of Fred Neil, but great voice, great song writing. Leans pretty have country but I'd say "in a good way", pushing toward Johnny Cash with his baritone voice, but more like John Prine or David Bromberg in content. I will look for this album again.
This confuses me, and makes my head hurt Messed up my Saturday morning Nothing for me here
Definitely on the more boring side of folk but I like the more rock songs, it's short enough where it's not overly boring
Everybody's talking about it - good The rest
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Cheesy sound.
I feel like vocally, it perfectly matched the genre, but the songs themselves weren't that good
Thanks for your contributions to folk music, I guess, but this didn't do it for me. 2.2
Everybody’s talking is the best song, but not as good as Harry Nilsson’s version. When does *he* appear on this list?
inspiration for orville peck
Listenable.
Okay, fine.
Enjoyable
Vibras western chill. 3/5
Criminally boring but not obnoxious
Неожиданно очень крутой альбом, фолк-блюзовый, теплый и южный. Собрание романтичных, позитивных блюзовых композиций завершается длинным инструментальным треком с арабскими мотивами. Это кайф
pa relajar
Amzing
5/10 - there's a hit song here but the rest is ok
Goods songs. But the best - Dolphins and Green Rocky Road have been sung better by others.
the album is good, but his wikipedia article give it quite a lot of context as to its inclusion. very influential to many artists on this list: dylan, crosby, stills, parsons. did not know nilsson was not the writer of "everybody's talkin'".
struck by the deep well of loneliness running through this record, its slow, steady night-drive crawl. it starts melancholy and drifts further downwards, towards something loose and strange, a different kind of night. not every song here sticks for me, but even throwaway tracks are very well rendered by Neil's emotive, elastic voice, an instrument he can calibrate perfectly, never oversinging. there's something focused about the atmosphere of this record that makes it stand out to me, especially for the era - it feels cohesive and considered, a long dark night of the soul in miniature. wonderfully moving stuff!
Great oldies sound, a bit of country or folkish vibes i liked it!
Seems like a good songwriter but the performance is not at the same level. 3 stars or C+.
Not my style.
3.4/5 charming stripped down rock w country n r and b flavor
Dull
Wonderful voice and great lyricist.
I really liked this.
Cool
It really felt like the same song multiple times
Hey it's that one song everyone knows. I can't say I actively disliked this album but I was thoroughly bored by it.
Meh. That's the bag I'm in, great. Respect for the weird one at the end
Was a bit something and nothing. Can see why it was removed in the updated version of this list. Not especially interesting for me.
High expectations but this didn’t hit. It’s a shame, his voice is amazing. But not the one.
Nice folk album, could be a bit more refined in my opinion, nice to see the orignal version of Everybody's Talkin's. 1. Everybody's Talkin' 2. Sweet Cocaine 3. The Dolphins
I bet old people love this guy.
Wow I really enjoyed this one. Great chilled folk/country vibe and terrific vocals, particularly in that lower register. Decent enough variety for the genre as well. A shame it was removed from later editions of the book, this is one of my favourite surprises.
easy listening. the raga at the end bumps a half star
Not bad but didn’t enjoy
Has its moments but is a one and done.
Oh yay more folk rock Vocals are pretty excellent on this one, definitely the main takeaway I had on this one. Sweet Cocaine and The Dolphins were probably my picks, I just think there’s some interesting stuff going on musically in those two. Biggest complaint I had about this one was the lack of variety, where so many songs bleed into each other. This is one where I do think the instrumental sections don’t actually add a whole lot, where that last song just felt like it took everything I liked about the rest of the songs and didn’t do anything. Never heard of the guy but apparently he’s one of the pioneers of the genre so fair enough. Gotta lot of respect for the guy’s efforts with dolphin conservation though, seems like a cool guy but I just don’t think I’ll ever like his music genre.
Liked the cocaine song, can't remember anything else
I liked this album, I liked his style. I had no info, so it was a cold listen. Tried to peg the genre, the decade, maybe where it was recorded just by ear. From his voice, it had to be country. At first, figured early sixties. Gave of a Nashville odor. And I was right for the most part. Biggest song on there that I knew was Everybody's Talking, which was made famous in Midnight Cowboy (best picture Oscar, 1969). But found out that someone else's version was in the movie Either way, it was good. I'll give Fred a listen on his other albums. Unexpectedly good.
Just a cool vibe to listen to. I didn't really think I would like listening to this kind of music, but I shocked myself. I really enjoyed listening to this album, each song actually felt different from each other and it was a very interesting album to listen to.
I really wanted to love this album. I really did. But, it didn't speak to me in the way I hoped it would. I was left feeling underwhelmed and wanting. I asked myself why? Was it the songwriting? No, it was excellent. The singing? No, it was solid. Was there too much harmonica? Maybe, but I'm just not big on harmonica. So why didn't I love it? I have no idea. Maybe it’s because you've got it all, half baked blues, half baked raga rock, half baked, plain ol' folk rock, all of which I would never be able to pick out of a line up. It's inoffensive in a sense, all in one ear and out the other, but it is a waste of time in its truest form, so it is a pain to sit through all forty minutes of. I think some plain folk music would've worked better, and maybe that's what Fred Neil was doing before this album, but this is just rough, a bore.
Overshadowed by Dylan & Cohen, i.e., the obvious candidates, as well as other lesser known tho still celebrated entities like Dave Van Ronk, not to mention Harry Nilsson, whose cover of 'Everybody's Talkin'' endures as the one everybody's still talkin' about, Fred Neil is the definition of an obscure artist. Like Jackson C. Frank, known by those in the know but too obscure to be a cult figure, Neil sings for himself & himself alone. I mean, who the fuck sings about dolphins except for a fucker w/ a personal attachment to the animal & who could give a damn if you've got one too. Fortunately tho, his voice is heartbreakingly gorgeous, & tho not every track here matters, those that do, especially the quieter ones, are stunning, essential, & real.
Good
no es mi estilo, realmente siento que es muy repetitivo
My first time hearing this album and being introduced to Fred Neil. I really enjoyed the guitar sound. He's got a unique voice. Slow tempo.
Folksy with a tinge of blues. The defining feature is Neil's low voice that has a sad resigned trait. Most of the lyrics are related to being tired of society and longing for an escape to nature which I think is generally relatable. Learned the origins of Everybody's Talkin' and I agree that Nilsons is my preferred version. Seems he was very influential but I probably wouldn't listen outside needing some introspective tunes for a cloudy afternoon.
I feel like this could be a Bob Dylan album the way the writing hits me. But he also reminds me a bit of Leonard Cohen in his singing style, and that he has a very deep, baritone voice. This was very good overall. It was loungy, but also had some psychedelic vibes, and you could hear the rock and roll sound starting to form. I think this was ahead of its time for 1966.
Solid folk record. The last track is quite surprising.
he seems like a chill guy, didn't love every song but it as all a vibe and I can't complain
Not really my vibe Favorite song: sweet cocaine
This was as smooth and clean as a homeopathic milkshake. And by that I mean it had very little to it. It was nice in parts, but it just lacked... anything. And the cover is creep as hell.
Aw man, I read about this album before I started it and it sounded intriguing. It wasn't. He has a fine voice I guess, but I'm a style I like, I guess I like my folk a bit less smooth. Everybody's talking is probably a great song but I really dislike it (heard it too much one day years ago and never got past it). Don't care for any of this.
It's like a psychedelic Johnny cash.. this was a weird one and kind of hard to put my finger on. Had to listen to the whole album before letting myself form an opinion. A bit of a fever dream blizzard mashup of country, folk and psychedelic influences. Some tracks i liked more than other but his influence on the genre makes me lean toward a favourable review.
This was decent. Some psychedelic folk music. I enjoyed it, but I doubt I’m really going to revisit it any time.
Awful
its fine Will I listen to again: 1%
Interesting. Hadn’t really heard of this album.
Nice enough album. Woke up early in a cold cottage in the West of Ireland and laid in bed and listened on my headphones. Good to hear the original version of Everybody's Talking but otherwise fairly forgettable. 3 stars
This album was a mixed bag. There were some tracks that I really liked and some that I could have lived without. Fred's guitar playing is quite solid and his voice fits the music better in my opinion than Bob Dylan. He lands somewhere between Dylan and Johnny Cash on this album with better guitar chops than either one. The mixing is solid and it's very well written. I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to this one again, but I certainly won't turn it off if someone puts it on.
It is my honest opinion that almost every folk album from the 1950s & early 60s is virtually indistinguishable from each other. They are all pleasant, but completely generic and forgettable.
I had no idea that this was the guy that originally wrote "Everybody's Talkin". I definitely prefer the Nilsson version but this one is good too. That's about all that I got out of this album. Favorite track: Everybody's Talkin'
The artists that Fred Neil influenced are all way better than Fred Neil. This album is a creeping yawn that never satisfies.
It was fine. Pretty boring overall Standout songs: Ba - Di - Da Green Rocky Road
I didn't like this. His lyrics are neither poetic nor remotely profound. Everybody's Talkin to me is one of the worst songs on the Forest Gump soundtrack but that version is better than this one.
Dig the voice. Baritone, mellow and enunciated in an era of increasingly strident tenor screams. Lyrics were above average. Playing and sing were not his forte. There is a reason Harry Nilsson scored the hit with Everybody’s Talking. I really appreciate this discovery but will probably not seek him out again.