Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Neil was one of the songwriters who for a time worked out of New York City's famous Brill Building. He has often been called a pioneer of the folk rock & singer-songwriter musical genres; his most frequently cited disciples are Tim Buckley, Harry Nilsson, and the Jefferson Airplane, but his most prominent descendants have been Stephen Stills, James Taylor, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. In concert appearances, as well as the liner notes for his 2003 album, Meet Me In Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection, Jimmy Buffett called Neil "one of my heroes." Some of Neil's early compositions were recorded by Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison; he played as a session guitarist on hits by Bobby Darin and Paul Anka. In 1968, Nilsson recorded a cover version of Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'," which became a huge hit a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy.
Neil was an accomplished professional musician atypically inclined to a very modest frugality. "Candy Man", his first of two Top-40-hit compositions, substantially introduced him to a sufficient income stream for life in his early 20's; he became increasingly disinclined to work if he did not feel like it. Consequently his two fully realized albums (see next paragraph) are remarkable for their singularly unpretentious authenticity. His combination of baritone vocal and 12-string guitar remains unusual, and his combo recordings provide his shimmering melodies with muscular grooves; but his exemplarity is that of resolving the apparent opposition between aesthetic integrity and commercial value almost entirely in favor of aesthetic integrity, which gives all of his recordings a unique historical resonance.
He had debts to previous singer-songwriters such as Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry and Hank Williams (Senior); but his approach to melody was more in the manner of Cole Porter and to rhythm very much in the school of Ray Charles. His popularly acclaimed albums are "Bleecker & MacDougal" (also known as A Little Bit of Rain) without drums (1965) and "Fred Neil" (also known as Everybody's Talkin') in (1966), made during his residences in the Greenwich Village section of lower Manhattan in New York City and in Coconut Grove, Florida, respectively.
The reigning web expert in (October) 2005 has been Richie Unterberger. The Rick O'Barry interview at the dedicated website (fredneil.com) claims that a third fully realized album, Neil's "Stuff Sessions" of 1978, was never released by Columbia. The unreleased "Walk on the Water" album was recorded at Bayshore studios in Coconut Grove, with a second set of sessions taking place in NJ with the group Stuff.
After the mid 1970s he ceased to maintain a residence in Woodstock, New York, and spent his remaining decades enjoying life on the shores of southern Florida. His last public performance was in 1981 coffeehouse concert in Coconut Grove where he joined Buzzy Linhardt onstage.
Fred Neil died of natural causes in 2001.
I've Got A Secret
Fred Neil Lyrics
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I've got a secret, I shouldn't tell,
I'm gonna go to heaven in a split-pea shell.
Lordie me, didn't we shake sugaree.
Everything I have, down in pawn.
You know I pawned my watch, I pawned my chain,
I'd of sold myself, but I felt ashamed.
Everything I have, down in pawn.
I've got a song to sing, not very long,
I'm gonna sing it right if it takes me all night long
Lordie me, didn't we shake sugaree.
Everything I have, down in pawn.
When Fred Neil sings "I've got a secret, I shouldn't tell, I'm gonna go to heaven in a split-pea shell," he's not talking about anything religious, but rather about his own death. "To go to heaven in a split-pea shell" is likely a folk reference to being buried in a small pine coffin, an inexpensive option for the poor. The song seems to be about poverty, and how the singer has pawned everything he has just to stay alive. He's ashamed that he's had to resort to this, but he's not alone, as evidenced by the repeated question, "didn't we shake sugaree?", an old hobo term, probably meaning to have a good time with the little you've got.
Neil further talks about how he has pawned everything he owns - even down to his watch and chain - just to survive. He would have sold himself if he wouldn't have felt ashamed. Despite the hardship, he finds solace in music and singing. He has a song to sing, it isn't very long but he'll sing it nevertheless, even if it takes all night long. This song, though brief, represents the hope and persistence that keep him going.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a secret, I shouldn't tell,
I have a secret that I know shouldn't be shared with anyone else.
I'm gonna go to heaven in a split-pea shell.
I am hopeful that I will go to heaven after my life ends, even if it seems unlikely (like fitting a whole person into a tiny split-pea shell).
Lordie me, didn't we shake sugaree.
An exclamation expressing awe or surprise at what has happened in the past (in this case, reminiscing about a moment where the sugaree was shaken).
Everything I have, down in pawn.
Everything that I own is currently held in pawn (as collateral for a loan) and I do not have immediate access to them.
You know I pawned my watch, I pawned my chain,
As an example of what has been pawned, I mention that my watch and my chain are both collateral for previous loans.
I'd of sold myself, but I felt ashamed.
I would have been willing to sell myself (perhaps as a form of servitude or slavery), but the idea of doing so is embarrassing and shameful to me.
I've got a song to sing, not very long,
I have a song that I want to share with others, but it is not very lengthy (either in duration or in content).
I'm gonna sing it right if it takes me all night long
I am dedicated to singing the song to the best of my ability, even if it takes me all night long to do so.
Writer(s): FRED NEIL, ELIZABETH COTTON
Contributed by Thomas I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.