Bleecker & MacDougal, issued by Elektra

Elektra Records

Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

 in 1965, is the debut album from Fred Neil

Fred Neil

Fred Neil was an American folk singer-songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer, and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being...

, a pioneer folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 musician. The recording, which unlike many folk albums at the time featured electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 backing, had a significant influence on the folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 movement. Guest musicians included Felix Pappalardi

Felix Pappalardi

Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.- Early life :Pappalardi was born in the Bronx, New York...

 on bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

, a young John Sebastian

John Sebastian

John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...

 playing harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

, and Pete Childs

Pete Childs

Peter Pierre Childs was an infielder in Major League Baseball in 1901 and 1902. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Orphans, and the Philadelphia Phillies.-External links:...

 on dobro

Dobro

Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...

 and electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

.

Except for one track, all of the songs on the album were written by Neil. Bleecker & MacDougal was reissued as Little Bit of Rain in 1970.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Fred Neil; except where indicated

1. "Bleecker & MacDougal" – 2:14
2. "Blues on the Ceiling" – 2:24
3. "Sweet Mama" – 2:35
4. "Little Bit of Rain" – 2:23
5. "Country Boy" – 2:27
6. "Other Side to This Life" – 2:56
7. "Mississippi Train" – 2:14
8. "Travelin' Shoes" – 2:18
9. "The Water is Wide
   The Water Is Wide (song)
   "The Water Is Wide" is a folk song of Scottish or English origin that has been sung since the 1600s and has seen considerable popularity through to the 21st century...
   
   " – 4:18
10. "Yonder Comes the Blues" – 1:52
11. "Candy Man" (Neil, Beverly "Ruby" Ross) – 2:29
12. "Handful of Gimme" – 2:15
13. "Gone Again" – 3:13

Personnel

• Fred Neil
  Fred Neil
  Fred Neil was an American folk singer-songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer, and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being...
  
   - guitar, vocals
• Pete Childs - dobro, guitar, baritone guitar
• Felix Pappalardi
  Felix Pappalardi
  Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.- Early life :Pappalardi was born in the Bronx, New York...
  
   - bass
• Douglas Hatfield - bass
• John Sebastian
  John Sebastian
  John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
  
   - harmonica

Production

• Producer: Gordon Anderson
• Production Supervisor: Jac Holzman
  Jac Holzman
  Jac Holzman was the founder, chief executive officer and head of both Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records.-Biography:He founded Elektra Records in his St. John's College dorm room in 1950 and Nonesuch Records in 1964...
  
  
• Recording Engineer: Paul Rothchild
• Art Direction: William S. Harvey
• Photography: Mort Schuman
• Liner Notes: Skip Weshner