With the band: 1989–1990
Instruments: Keyboards, harmonica, vocals
An Early Start
Johnny Neel was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 11, 1954, and he lost his sight as an infant. Music came to him early. He recorded his first single at 12 and was getting regional radio play as a teenager. As an adult he led the Johnny Neel Band up and down the East Coast.
Nashville and the Dickey Betts Band
In Nashville Johnny became a busy session keyboard player and songwriter. He met Warren Haynes at a blues jam, and the two soon started writing together. Both of them joined the Dickey Betts Band for the 1988 album Pattern Disruptive, and Johnny also toured with Gregg Allman’s band.
The Allman Brothers Band
When the Allman Brothers Band re-formed in 1989, Johnny joined on keyboards and harmonica. He played on Seven Turns (1990) and co-wrote four of its songs, including the comeback single “Good Clean Fun.” He left the band in 1990, but his songs stayed in the family. The Allman Brothers later recorded “Maydell,” which he wrote with Warren Haynes.
A Prolific Career
Johnny made about a dozen albums under his own name and with bands like Johnny Neel & the Last Word, and he played in the Pink Floyd tribute Blue Floyd with Allen Woody and Berry Oakley Jr. He ran his own studio in Nashville and played on records by Gov’t Mule, Michael McDonald and others.
Johnny Neel died of heart failure on October 6, 2024. He was 70. His friends remember him as a deeply musical man and one of the funniest people they ever knew.