Johnny Neel died on October 6, 2024

He was a singer, songwriter, blues harp and keyboard player. If you think that a keyboard player is someone who ekes out a strumming existence on stage alongside the vocal and guitar frontmen, you are wrong.

As a studio or live musician or band member, Johnny Neel will forever be associated with the Allman Brothers , the Dickey Betts Band , Warren Haynes , Gov't Mule , Todd Snider , David Allan Coe and several others. Neel was also in demand as a songwriter, writing alone or as a co-writer for the ABB , for Greg Allman and Dickey Betts .

Neel's pieces have also found a home on albums by John Mayall , Delbert McClinton , Travis Tritt , Ann Peebles and Irma Thomas , to name just a few. If you search for his name in the RockTimes archive, you will find him in addition to the bands mentioned, in Bluesball , WIND , Old Union , Sol Dog , JC Cinel and in the all-star project Blue Floyd .

Neel's portfolio also includes over 10 albums under his own name . The musician, who was blind since birth, died of heart failure as a result of a stroke he suffered in 2019.
Neel died in the presence of his wife and daughter at the age of 70.

»It ain't over, it ain't over yet.
You might walk away but you won't forget«
[It Ain't Over Yet / Allman Brothers Band, written by Doug Crider & Johnny Neel]

RIP Johnny

Johnny Neel Band performs on Focus Delaware - 11/19/1981

JOHNNY NEEL - Every Kinda' Blues ...But What You're Used To (2012) [FULL ALBUM]