Fred Neil (1936-2001) was an American folk singer who, despite writing several songs which garnered success for others (such as “Everybody’s Talkin'”, famously covered by Harry Nilsson), never achieved much success of his own. Nevertheless, he remained a tremendous influence and an important part of 20th century pop music history.

Born in Cleveland, Neil was raised the son of a traveling Wurlitzer jukebox salesman (and often accompanied him on his national route). This deep exposure to music since childhood allowed Neil to fit in well with the other composers of the Brill Building, where he worked as a young man penning songs for artists like Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison.

He became a stalwart figure in the nascent NYC folk scene, mentoring and lending assistance wherever he could to artists like David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Karen Dalton, Barry McGuire and Paul Kantner.

In the mid-60s, Neil began recording for Elektra and Capitol Records. In 1966, he released the album that most view to be his best: the self-titled Fred Neil. This album features his two most recognizable songs: the aforementioned “Everybody’s Talkin'” and “The Dolphins”, famously covered by Tim Buckley and Linda Ronstadt.

Dolphins were actually a passionate subject for Neil, who founded the Dolphin Research Project in 1970 in an attempt to combat dolphin trafficking and fishing. Over time, his efforts in this field sidelined his music career, and he rarely performed from 1970 on. His final performance was in 1981, when he joined friend Buzzy Linhart onstage for one song at a Coconut Grove pub.

Fred Neil died in 2001 at the age of 65 after a long battle with skin cancer.