Fred Neil, a Florida native who moved to New York and became part of Greenwich Village's folk scene, had little in common with Dylan and the rest of the Greenwich Movement. Neil was one of the most original artists of his era and very little precedents can be found for his art. While Dylan descended from Guthrie, Neil desceded from nobody.

Neil's career started with Candy Man (1961), a Roy Orbison hit. After Tear Down The Walls (Elektra, 1965), a collaboration with Vince Martin, Neil shocked the music world with his first solo album, Bleecker And McDougal (Elektra, 1965), also known as Little Bit Of Rain (1970). Neil shows how a white boy from the south can sing the blues in Blues On The Ceiling and Yonder Comes The Blues, that redefine the very meaning of the word "blues". The Other Side Of This Life and Little Bit Of Rain are tender and spaced-out ballads that predate psychedelia by a few months.

Fred Neil (Capitol, 1967), also known as Everybody's Talkin', features his most famous song, Everybody's Talkin' (but more famous in Harry Nilsson's interpretation), Dolphins, and the celestial Fare Thee Well. The eight-minute Cynicruspetefredjohn Raga employs jazz improvisation and ranks with the masterpieces of acid-rock.

Sessions (Capitol, 1969) is even more experimental. A collection of lengthier songs, it fails, though, to achieve the same magic (except possibly in Merry Go Round).

The Other Side Of This Life (Capitol, 1971) is a live album and also contains some rarities/leftovers.

The Many Sides Of (EMI, 1998 - Collector's Choice, 2006) is a two-disc collection of all Neil's recordings for Capitol: Fred Neil, Sessions, the live album Other Side of This Life, the single with the Nashville Street Singers and six unreleased/alternate songs.

Fred Neil died of cancer in july 2001.