In the age of the single download, Jeff Harford rediscovers the album.
His pen could deliver hits and album tracks for his folk scene contemporaries and pop stars, and could inspire dazzling interpretations of his work by greats such as Tim Buckley and Harry Nilsson.
But could Neil stand for more than a fleeting moment in the spotlight himself?
No.
Those who knew Neil paint him as a reluctant hero of the Greenwich Village and Coconut Grove scenes, wary of commercial success and preferring to retreat into the shadows when devotees of his developing folk-rock style endeavoured to seek his counsel.
They also describe him as a singer-songwriter's singer-songwriter and a gifted performer. The likes of Bob Dylan (who backed Neil at the Cafe Wha?), Karen Dalton, Tim Hardin, Richie Havens and Dino Valente shared his stage and his songs, in awe of his compelling, deeply dipping voice and his fresh-sounding mix of blues, folk, jazz and rock.
Nilsson scored biggest with a Neil composition when Everybody's Talkin' went Top 10, while Roy Orbison's cover of Candy Man and Jose Feliciano's version of Little Bit Of Rain are but two other examples of how his talent fed the success of others. Fortunately, the reclusive Neil left behind a small cache of his own recordings that have belatedly attracted the attention they deserve.
Bleecker & MacDougal (1965) followed a 1964 collaboration with Vince Martin entitled Tear Down The Walls. It is characterised by a masterly fusion of progressive folk and blues that placed Neil outside the established camps and pointed towards a future where genre boundaries would be increasingly blurred. It also contains a few gems of minimalist balladry, most notably Little Bit Of Rain (where his luxuriant vocal plumbs sonorous depths) and an evocative rendition of folk standard The Water Is Wide.
Both Bleecker and the eponymous 1966 album that followed are fitting tributes to one of folk-rock's most underrated but influential talents.
