Episode 29 with Johnny Neel (The Allman Brothers, Blue Floyd, Grease Factor, Gov't Mule etc.)
My guest today is Mr. Johnny Neel. How do you describe Johnny Neel? Well he is easily one on the most brilliant musicians I’ve ever worked with- keyboardist, vocalist, songwriter, producer etc…
Maybe start with one part Leon Russell, morph together with Ray Charles and add a dash of Thelonius Monk and a pinch of Art Tatum. Maybe a touch of Jaco’s basslines too.
Johnny is best known for being a former member of the "Allman Brothers Band" after being recruited by Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Johnny on lot's of projects as well as in his band and even on a few of his records including "Late Night Breakfast". He’s always had great players in his band including guitarists Brent Mason, Jack Pearson and Pat Bergeson.
Johnny and myself were in a short lived jam band for a while called “The Grease Factor” (named after my 2nd solo record) which also included Jeff Sipe (Apt 254Q) on drums, Count M Butu on percussion and Derek Jones and Neal Fountain on bass. We did one live record before calling it quits. We also did a short stint together with Blue Floyd (with Mat Abts on drums and Berry Oakley Jr. on bass guitar.)
He's featured on 3 of my 4 solo records- (Hwy 90, Dirty Power and The Grease Factor) and you’ll hear a few clips in this podcast.
Johnny has also played with Gov’t Mule, Blue Floyd, written songs for many country artists and TV/movie soundtracks. He operates his own studio called Straight Up Sound in Nashville, TN.
This episode was recorded in Nashville at his studio on Jan. 30th 2018.