VINCE MARTIN & FRED NEIL Tear Down the Walls
The rumbling baritone of Fred Neil and Vince Martin's earthy tenor... It's a vocal blend every bit as impressive as the great duos in music history: the
Everly Brothers and Simon & Garfunkel — with a Greenwich Village twist, of course. Put Neil and Martin, a pair of New York City folkie legends-in-themaking,
into a recording studio with a young, pre-Spoonful John Sebastian on harmonica
and Felix Pappalardi (later to produce Cream and the Youngbloods) on guitarron
(an acoustic Mexican bass guitar) and magic is inevitable. This, of course, is Fred
Neil in 1964, well before he just walked away from the folk scene and split for Florida
and premature retirement in 1971, to remain an enigma until his recent death. Every
recording by this compelling, monstrously talented singer/songwriter should be cherished
like spun gold. From the original Elektra Records stereo master, Tear Down the
Walls is one of Neil's first studio sessions — and is undeniably also one of his best.
