Allman Brothers Band's Johnny Neal Passed Away At 70 (2024 In Review)

01-02-2025

The passing of Former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist and harmonica player Johnny Neal was a top 24 story of October 2024 in our look back in the Year In Rock. Neal was 70 years old.

His former bandmate Warren Haynes shared the sad news on Sunday (October 6th). Haynes wrote via social media, "Aside from being an amazing musician and singer, Johnny was one of the funniest people on the planet - a true character. 'Johnny Neel stories,' as we refer to them in our little chunk of the music world, are legendary. Some of you reading this will know some of those stories and even ones that I don't know - but I know a ton.

"The first time I met Johnny was at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville when I had just moved there. He was sitting in with a band at a blues jam and he sang a song and played harmonica. The first thing I noticed, other than that he was blind, was that he sang better than their singer and he played better harp than their harp player.

"After he was done, I approached him and introduced myself and told him how much I enjoyed hearing him to which he replied 'I'm really a keyboard player but this band doesn't have keyboards.'

"'Wow,' I thought. He must be a helluva keyboard player - and he was. After that, Johnny and I did a lot of playing together and a lot of songwriting together. We even did a lot, thanks to our mutual friend Kim Morrison, of background singing together where producers would hire the three of us to sing on various records.

"Some of the aforementioned stories, which will remain untold, were born out of those sessions. After that, Johnny and I joined the Dickey Betts Band together, along with Matt Abts and Marty Privette. That was a powerful band and the success and strength of that band, and the record 'Pattern Disruptive' that we made together, led to Johnny and I joining the Allman Brothers together.

"While on the road with the Allman Brothers, Johnny and I would get adjoining rooms so I could 'keep an eye' on him. Needless to say, many stories arose from that situation as well, but again they will remain untold - unless you happen to find yourself in a closer, more private environment where they flow like wine (and other things) in the company of like-minded musicians and friends of Johnny Neel.

"Mostly what I want to focus on, however, is what a musical person Johnny was. There was always music in his head. It was his savior. Whenever we were writing together, he was an endless fountain of ideas, and the same on stage or in the studio. His uncanny ability to draw from so many musical styles and genres was amazing and his gift for improvisation was unmatched.

"We wrote a lot of music together, we played a lot of music together, and we traveled the world together, and maybe most importantly, we had a lot of fun times and created a lot of beautiful memories. Hence the stories. Johnny's music and his legend will live on forever. Miss you Neely."