A Florida music legend, Fred Neil got his big breaks down in Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan, where his legend followed him back to Florida where he passed away in July 2001. Two amazing things about Fred besides his music was he played with Buddy Holly and actually wrote a song for Buddy called “Come Back Baby” and that a key to his early success in both NYC and Florida was his featuring Buzzy Linhart on vibes in one of his group lineups. The music is still great and Yesterday & Today music features several covers of “The Dolphins”, “Everybody’s Talkin’”, “The Other Side Of This Life”, “The Bag I’m In” and many more with a nice effect being the revival of lesser known but equally cool Fred Neil classics. Fred’s legacy is suitably revived in 2021 again on a newly remastered of Everybody’s Talkin’ – A Tribute To Fred Neil, which Y&T first released the 14-track version just a few years ago. The album was a success and the new pressing features four bonus cuts to boot and is a fundraiser for Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, started by Fred and Stephen Stills way back in 1970.

Featuring cover songs of their favorite Fred Neil songs from artists based in a variety of states including Florida, Everybody’s Talkin’ – A Tribute To Fred Neil, the 18-cut, hourlong version kicks off Eric Anderson on one of two covers of “The Dolphins”, with this version recorded in Woodstock NY that features Anderson’s vocals and electric guitars backed up by a full band including music great John Sebastian, Artie Traum and band. Other highlights include Arlan Feiles with “Ba-De-Da”, Rodney Crowell with “Candyman” and Mary Karlzen bringing in “Tear Down The Walls”. Those unfamiliar with Fred Neil’s classic music from the 1960s will note his songwriting for Buddy Holly, Harry Nilsson, It’s A Beautiful Day, Buzzy Linhart, Jefferson Airplane and will have a revelation. With excellent liner notes and artwork, as well as four bonus tracks on the 2021 repressing, Everybody’s Talkin’ – A Tribute To Fred Neil sounds great and should win a Grammy or something like that.