Fred Neil – Fred Neil (1966)
[Album 802/1001]
You know those people with two first names?
When it comes to music, there are likely 3 categories of these folks:
- The ‘Geoff Stephens’ of the world. The music enthusiasts, the people that appear on the 1001 list…(checks list)…0 times!
- The ‘Bob Dylan / Paul Simon / George Michael / Elton John / Ray Charles’ club. The double-first-named bunch that appears a bunch of times on the 1001 list.
- The ‘Fred Neil / James Taylor / Billy Joel’ association. Your two first names make but a single appearance on the 1001 list. But you enter & exit the list in style, demonstrating solid musicianship throughout and keeping the listener engaged for the duration of your stay.
…..
Verbalize the Positive
With this album, Fred also came ever so close to joining the elusive song/album/artist trifecta.
By including the songs Faretheewell (Fred’s Tune) and Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga on the album Fred Neil by Fred Neil, I suppose that would count as something like 2.5/3!
I was expecting to see a list of top 5 musicians with two first names and I pretty much got it.
I think I initially planned on doing a Top 5 – and it evolved into this!
The Top 5 would probably look a lot like the artists with 2+ albums on the 1001 list, though William Joel should join that group (surprisingly, only The Stranger is on the 1001)
It must be super annoying to have two first names. I mean, how many times have you been called Stephen? Probably too many to mention. I don’t have too first names but still I get people calling me Rob.
I think I’ve become desensitized over the years – to both that & the many variations students swing and miss with on the last name (Steven / Stevens / Stevenson…)!
The “Geoff Stephens of the World” would be a great name for a band!
I’d buy that Band T!
So would I!
If he wrote them… aren’t they all Fred’s tunes? Just sayin’.
A good point – it would seem redundant for me to title every post, Geoff’s post!