„Fred Neil’s self-titled second album was a languid and fluid gem that continues to stand outside of time decades later“, Steve Leggerd writesin a review of the reappearace of this long-lost album. I found it at „Weirdo Records“ in Cambridge, Boston, a really weird, terrific and small (very small) record store on 844, Massachusetts Avenue.
„The beautifully sad, introspective songs of weary modern urban disaffection that Neilbrought to these sessions in 1967 are among the best he ever wrote, and the perfectly balanced electric instrumentation is the perfect counterpoint to Neil’s calm, wearied basso voice that pulls things along here at a decidedly unhurried pace, and the songs themselves seem to drift organically into being as he sings them, until listening to this album begins to feel like floating“, Steve continues to write. I had not so much time left because of my flight back, otherwise I would’ve stayed there much longer. Iranian rock music between 1973-78? No problem, you’ll find the, well, weirdest records of the world in this tiny store which is run by a lady with cool enthusiasm.
The great thing among such record shops that it makes you sensitive for sounds and styles outside the common or modern or trendy fields of music transporting you forwards and backwards in time. I mean, Fred Neil, an outsider of the folk scene, never was interested in the commercial side of things. But, gosh, what songs! Steve Leggard comes to this conclusion: „“The Dolphins“ and „Everybody’s Talkin'“ — a huge hit in a cover version by Harry Nilsson — are classics by anybody’s definition. Long out of print, „Fred Neil“ is reissued here straight and unadorned. All these years later, it remains a haunting and reassuring masterpiece.“