Neal Casal (CRB, Circles Around the Sun, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals) R.I.P.*

Yeah, they had those songs down tight after playing 120 shows in 2011. Very few overdubs, especially on Big Moon Ritual. Pretty much just brought their live presentation to the studio on those first two albums.

On the flip side, Chris said Phosphorescent Harvest (which I think was recorded during breaks in TBC's 2013 tour) had more overdubs than any record he'd ever made.

 

Since I had never really dug into his solo work before, I tossed on a Spotify mix of his solo albums to get a taste of that. Spent some time last night with CRB, I think I'm going to play the more recent Hard Working Americans live album and the first GospelbeacH record tonight.

Wish I still didn't feel so icky about Ryan Adams, otherwise some Cardinals might make it into the rotation.

 

Sad to see that most of his solo Discography is out of print in the us at least and now going for gouging prices. I’ve got a good chunk, but there’s a bunch I was never able to find, since he was bigger in the eu than here.

 

Nice, enjoy. It's a fun record and I love the cover art, too. Was already looking forward to Neal returning to the fold for their new one in October.

 

Yeah, the cover art sold me - love it!

Had they not recorded the new one just yet? It's noted as coming soon on their website, complete with cover art, so I'd assumed it was closer to done than anything else.

 

Yup, due out Oct. 4. Neal plays and sings.

GospelbeacH Takes It Back to Laurel Canyon With 'Dark Angel': Premiere

 

I downloaded a Jambase podcast a few weeks ago with a Neal interview from the summer, but hadn’t got round to listening to it until now.

Man, he was just so in love with music, talking about getting his first guitar for Christmas when he was about 12, and just talking about his development down the years and influences.

Great listen, makes his death seem even more confusing and sad.

 

On the day he passed, CATS linked to a new Neal podcast interview. Was going to give it a listen later. Just can't now.

 

Did the whole CRB studio catalogue at work yesterday, Big Moon Ritual is special. It's the perfect balance of song craft and exploration by the band. That said, there's nary a weak link over all the albums, the band was so great and the ability to weave so many dense sonic textures continued to surprise me. Whenever a new album came out and I didn't feel it like BMR I would pop it on the headphones and instantly get it!

Did some heavy binging on some live CRB too, Star or Stone from November 3, 2015 in Asheville, that solo is wild.

Wrapped up my evening with a book and Sweeten the Distance. The opening three tracks on that album are perfection.

 

I’m sure it’s very difficult for anyone closer to him at all to listen to interviews, understand you saying that.

Many people here have posted about what a decent, friendly human being he was, and he just comes across as exactly that. Sort of guy you could share a few pints with and just talk music.

 

I went down a Youtube Ryan Adams & Neal rabbit hole. There's quite a bit of just the two of them performing together mostly in Europe. It looked like playlists were being assembled as I'd go back and look for more. Some are pretty lo-fi, like they were 2 generation VHS transfers, but the music still shined through. Also the Austin City Limits from 2005. Hadn't seen the CRB Rockpalast show either until last night.

I didn't find out about Neal's death until the day after as we had gone to the coast to escape the heat. I started early yesterday morning hearing a body bag being zipped up for a neighbor who had died in the night. He was a nice guy, and that'll discombobulate you some, and so early afternoon while on the computer when I saw Neal's name in a headline and clicked I wasn't reading carefully so I thought was going to read something about his many upcoming projects.

Well, I've been stuck for about 5 minutes on what else to say, so other than what's already been said here, it's just damn sad, and I feel selfish about the future music we'll miss out on, and getting to hear him play.

 

Wow - sweet jam. In everyday life, there's so little time, so much music, the cost of travel and tickets that keeps me from checking out so much music. I'm feeling especially regretful that I didn't make more of an effort to get out there and see this stuff. Watch Late Guitarist Neal Casal Rip Blazing Solo, Perform With Bob Weir at Final Gigs

 

And there are/were plenty. Please add if I'm missing anything:

GospelbeacH-Let it Burn
CATS/Joe Russo EP (out Oct. 18)
In-progress CATS LP w/Jim Scott producing. I can not believe it was just last week I was looking at pics from the session.
Shooter Jennings LP
Betty's Blend Vol 5 (Europe 2019?)
I think I recall Neal had recently completed some other production work but I can't recall the artist.

 

Zephaniah Ohora is the production credit. That's going to be a great album. His first was a real country gem, can only imagine Neal made things better as he was apt to do.

 

I was able to locate this...

mega.nz/#F!tE90gaxY!NOHFAGNTYXNjSGwTbDB_UQ

It includes everything with an "x" next to it.

Studio albums
• Fade Away Diamond Time (1995) x
• Rain, Wind and Speed (1996) x
• Field Recordings (1997)
• The Sun Rises Here (1998)
• Basement Dreams (1999) x
• Black River Sides (with Kenny Roby) (1999)
• Anytime Tomorrow (2000) x
• Ran on Pure Lightning (with Shannon McNally) (2002)
• Return in Kind (2004) x
• No Wish to Reminisce (2006) x
• Roots and Wings (2009) x
• Sweeten the Distance (2011) x

Compilations
• An introduction to Neal Casal - maybe California (2003)
• Leaving Traces (2004) x
• All Directions (2008) x

Then there are these..
Skifflin', by The Skiffle Players
Piffle Sayers EP, by The Skiffle Players
Skiff, by The Skiffle Players

 

Damn, looking through his Tumblr (page 8) Neal was at my very first concert ever and my first Dead show too.

Def Leppard/Tesla 10/17/87
Dead 6/15/92 (his ticket is 6/14 but I'm guessing he went to both nights)

 

Deren is a great guy and has a talented way with words.

 

Heavy. com = ghouls for pay

Not the only site like that, of course. And then there's the "recycled rock gossip" crapola, with clickbait headlines directing people to thin-gruel "scandalous" rock trivia dating back as far as 40 or 50 years, only tarted up with pearl-clutching judgement this time around. The stories read like Church Lady impersonations written by Manhattan club kids, i.e., tired. And they'll probably get around to trying to dine out on this tragedy before long.

I saw the heavy. link in my own searches, but I've clicked on that site and similar ones too many times already, and would not have done it again except for reading comments here. I did not get much info from the link, other than the usual rumor mill material. Any anonymous rando/randette can say anything about anyone.

The guy's death doesn't add up, to me. Admittedly, that's my default attitude about suicide. But the trajectory of this one is so weird that I'm seeking as many data points as I can turn up.

 

There's a lot in that essay for anyone who cares about their own role as an attentive audience participant drawing authentic value from music, as opposed to merely consuming it as a disposable product or an egocentric pleasure cruise experience. The art of audience is a role that includes possessing insight into the challenges of creating and performing music and the demands on the people who do that work, rather than the superficiality of turning singers and musicians into objects of fantasy to be worshipped, treated as a servant class, or otherwise objectified and taken for granted. The wisdom and compassion of that elegy have a lot to teach on that score.

 

The You Tube rabbit hole has been deep the last few days and won't list everything, anyway this was new to me, beautiful stuff.

 

I’m thinking I’m going to catch up on finding and listening to some of Neal’s work I might have missed. I’ve got a decent chunk I think, I know I missed some stuff, but man, I was wrong and am totally out of my element.

This guy was FAR more prolific that I ever knew. Look at this list of collaborations and it’s mind boggling.

And, too bad so much of it all OOP or hard to find and expensive.

Go Neal! He must have pretty much only played music, with some photos and surfing during breaks.

Anyone heard Hazy Malaze - I totally missed them?

Studio albums

• Fade Away Diamond Time (1995)
• Rain, Wind and Speed (1996)
• Field Recordings (1997)
• The Sun Rises Here (1998)
• Basement Dreams (1999)
• Black River Sides (with Kenny Roby) (1999)
• Anytime Tomorrow (2000)
• Ran on Pure Lightning (with Shannon McNally) (2002)
• Return in Kind (2004)
• No Wish to Reminisce (2006)
• Roots and Wings (2009)
• Sweeten the Distance (2011)

CompilationsEdit

• An introduction to Neal Casal - maybe California (2003)
• Leaving Traces (2004)
• All Directions (2008)

With Hazy MalazeEdit

• Hazy Malaze (2003)
• Blackout Love (2004)
• Connections (2009)

With Ryan Adams and the CardinalsEdit

• Easy Tiger (2007)
• Follow the Lights (2007)
• Cardinology (2008)
• III/IV (2010)
• Class Mythology (2011)

With Chris Robinson BrotherhoodEdit

• Big Moon Ritual (2012)
• The Magic Door (2012)
• Betty's SF Blends Vol 1 (2013)
• Phosphorescent Harvest (2014)
• Try Rock N' Roll, EP (2014)
• Betty's Blends Vol 2: Best from the West (2015)
• Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel (2016)
• If You Lived Here You Would Be Home by Now (2016)
• Betty's Blends Vol 3: Self Rising Southern Blends (2017)
• Barefoot in the Head (2017)
• Raven's Reels Vol 1 (2018)
• Servants of the Sun (2019)

With Hard Working AmericansEdit

• Hard Working Americans (2014)
• Rest in Chaos (2016)
• We're All in This Together (2017)

Album collaborationsEdit

• Blackfoot - Medicine Man (1991) - Guitar, vocals
• Piss & Vinegar: The Songs of Graham Parker - Black Honey (1996) - Various artists compilation, vocal, guitar
• James Iha — Let It Come Down(1998) — Guitar and harmonies [53]
• A Christmas to Remember — Cora Jones (1998) — Various artists compilation, Casal's original song, vocals, guitar and percussion
• Angie Mckenna - Looking East - Production, guitar, piano, vocals (1999)
• Todd Thibaud — Little Mystery(1999) — Guitar
• Bill Kelly - Jumbo - Guitar - (2000)
• Lucinda Williams — Caravan of Dreams (2001) — Guitar[54]
• Amy Allison - Sad Girl - Guitar -(2001)
• Duncan Sheik — Daylight[55](2002) — Sang harmonies
• Ileen - Bride Pt.2 - guitar (2002)
• Dayna Manning — Shades (2002) — Guitar
• Robert Randolph and the Family Band — Unclassified[56] (2004) — Sang harmonies
• Tift Merritt — Tambourine (2004) — Guitar and harmonies
• Mia Doi Todd — Manzanita[57](2005) — Guitar
• Emily Loizeau - L'Autre Bout du Monde - guitar (2005)
• Willie Nelson — Songbird (2006) — Guitar
• Minnie Driver — Seastories[58](2007) — Guitar
• The Music Of Jason Crigler - guitar - (2008)
• Danny And The Champions Of The World - Harmonies (2008)
• Clarence Bucaro - Til Spring - guitar (2009)
• Gin Wigmore — Holy Smoke[59](2009) — Guitar
• Mark Olson — Many Colored Kite[60](2010) — Guitar and bass
• Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion — Bright Examples [61](2011) — Guitar and piano
• Bryan Greenberg — We Don't Have Forever[62] (2011) — Guitar and bass
• Levi Strom - The Lone Wolf - Piano (2011)
• Amanda Shires — Carrying Lightning[63] (2011) — Guitar and harmonies
• Ryan Adams — Ashes & Fire(2011) — backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• Vetiver (The Errant Charm) (2011)
• Music Is Love - A Singer Songwriter's Tribute to the Music Of CSN&Y (2012)
• James Iha — Look to the Sky(2012) — vocals/harmonies
• Fruit Bats - Tripper (2012) - Guitar
• Dan Grimm (Average Savage) (2014) - Guitar
• Matt Waldon (Learn to Love) (2014) - Guitar
• Mark Olson - (Good-bye Lizelle) (2014) - Guitar,Bass
• Vetiver (Complete Strangers) (2015) - Guitar
• Gospelbeach (Pacific Surf Line) (2015) - Guitar, vocals
• J.E. Borgen (Roots Down Deep) (2016) - Guitar
• The Tyde - (Darren 4) (2016) - Guitar
• The Orchard (The Great Unknown) (2017) - Guitar, harmonica
• Jeff Grimes (More Than Memory) (2017) - Guitar
• Danielle Hicks and the Resistance (Honey) (2017) - Guitar
• Dori Freeman (Letters Never Read) (2017) - Guitar
• Johnny Irion (Driving Friend) (2018) - Guitar
• Emma Scott (It Was Worth It) (2018) - Harmonies
• Fruit Bats (Gold Past Life) (2019) - Guitar
• Little Wings (Ropes) (2019) - Guitar

 

I have the Hazy Malaze albums. To be honest, they aren’t really very good in my opinion. 70s-style riff rock but without much in the way of hooks.

 

That list is missing the fantastic "First Waltz" live CD/DVD documenting the Hard Working Americans 1st concert.

 

And the CATS stuff.

 

And Betty’s Blends Vol 4