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Highway Butterfly: The Songs of Neal Casal Review/Podcast
If you’re not new to Petal Motel dot com, you’re aware of my revere for Neal Casal, as a musician, a songwriter, a guitarist, a music lover, and a person. Last year I did a complete retrospective on his solo albums, and well, there’s a dedication to him imprinted on the bottom of the site, he’s my #1 musical hero, the reason I have good taste (from gorging myself on every interview I could get my hands on and just listening to whatever he said to or played on), and, he’s just missed immensely. He made such an impression on…
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Beachwood Sparks & Gospelbeach cover “You Don’t See Me Crying” from Highway Butterfly: The Songs of Neal Casal
Today the Neal Casal Music Foundation has announced the full track list for the upcoming tribute Highway Butterfly: The Songs of Neal Casal, a 5-LP box set featuring Neal’s friends, colleagues, and admirers paying tribute to the prolific musician’s immense body of work. Today the “second” single is out – Neal’s dear friends Beachwood Sparks (whom Neal played, toured, and recorded with) and GospelbeacH (of which Neal was a founding member) release their version of “You Don’t See Me Crying,” with Neal’s photographs brought to life by the brilliant Pooley at Woom Studio. The 41-song box set is available for…
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Neal Casal – Everything is Moving / Green Moon : Listen
This morning I had a dream about literally getting a message from Neal – I dreamed that I got an Instgram DM and I thought, “hmm this probably isn’t actually him but wouldn’t it be nice if you could DM from beyond the pale?” Before I got to read the message, my eyes shot open. I immediately looked at my phone, and the first thing I saw was this email about Neal’s final recordings being released. Neal started working on these songs years ago but left them unfinished. Over the past year, Jeff Hill, Jon Graboff, John Ginty, George Sluppick, Jena…
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Sweeten the Distance
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. From the definitive riff of the eponymous opening track, to the hymnal chords of the closing one, Neal Casal really hit his stride with Sweeten the Distance. The record is a fabulous summation of the two amazing albums preceding this one – the shimmering psychedelia present on No Wish to Reminisce, and the acoustic heartbeat heard on Roots and Wings, with a real sun-drenched sound. This…
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Roots and Wings
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. Neal said that No Wish to Reminisce was the best album he’d made… until he followed it up in 2009 with the flawless Roots and Wings. As he wrote in a Stereokill interview in 2009, “I would describe it as the best record I’ve ever made beyond any doubt. I’ve combined twenty years of songwriting, playing, singing, and producing into a record that I’m really proud…
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No Wish to Reminisce
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. The shimmering 2006 release on Fargo Records, No Wish to Reminisce, is one of the most impressive bodies of work Neal Casal released, with dramatic flourishes and layers of sound effects offering revelations anew with each listen. Neal had made several records in California by now, but found himself living back east again. He headed up to Studio .45 in Connecticut with Dan Fadel and Jeff…
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Ran On Pure Lightning
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. This short and sweet collection of songs released in 2002 came to be after Neal finished a tour as a part of Beachwood Sparks and joined the incredible Shannon McNally’s touring band, along with Neal’s friends Jeff Hill and Dan Fadel, who would stay up late after shows to listen to records and go on to form Hazy Malaze. Recorded at what was then known as…
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Anytime Tomorrow
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. The beachy, sun-filled Anytime Tomorrow marks a turning point in Neal’s musical career. It’s when Neal really goes electric, and it’s one of my absolute favorites – it embodies his musical transition from New Jersey Americana to California gold. Recorded in North Hollywood with the usual players, it’s the first real rock album of his career, although apparently not everyone thought so! I learned from talking…
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Black River Sides
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. Last November, the entirety of Neal Casal’s solo discography became available on Spotify, and the difficult-to-find Black River Sides was at last available to the masses. This intimate-sounding live duet album was made with Neal’s good friend, Kenny Roby, on August 2nd and 3rd, 1999 at Bernie’s Black River, in Chester, NJ. Roby’s deep croon is a perfect foil to Neal’s silky tenor, and each song…
