Fred - Live At The Bitter End (Reissue) (1974/2004)

This is a rare compilation of live folk performances from the Bitter End in New York circa 1963, with three tracks apiece by Fred Neil, Len Chandler, Jo Mapes, and Bob Carey. The Neil material stands leagues above the rest of the LP and includes two songs that he would not record on his solo albums for Elektra and Capitol, as well as one ("That's the Bag I'm In") that he would redo on Fred Neil. These tunes find his rich folk-blues fusion fully formed and are highly recommended to Neil fans. All of the other performers sing sincere, twee coffeehouse folk that illustrates (if only in retrospect) just how necessary it was for gutsier artists like Neil to come along and blow them out of the water.