Fred Neil - Green Rocky Road Lyrics






Keep on talkin' 'bout
Green rocky road
Promenade in green
Who do you love
Who do you love
Who do you love

Mary runnin' to the one
Don't you stumble don't you fall
Don't you hollow don't you shallow
When you hear me singin' come runnin' out

Green rocky road
Promenade in green
Who do you love
Who do you love
Who do you love

When I go to Baltimore
I got no cap on my floor
I said I got no cap on my floor
When I go to Baltimore

Sing Green rocky road
Promenade in green
Tell me who do you love
Who do you love
Who do you love

See the bluebird in the sky
He don't walk but he just fly
If you ever touch the ground
Well I know he'll die
You see the bluebird fly me in the sky

Green rocky road
Promenade in green
Tell me who do you love
Who do you love
Who do you love

Who do you love





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Fred Neil Green Rocky Road Comments
  1. T.... K....

    thank you for posting this song brother. the album Fred Neil meant alot to my pops my family and me. his son is depicted on cover shot with Fred!

  2. D.... B....

    What a voice and songwriter...should be more celebrated, I only found him years ago after hearing Dolphins on The Sopranos...fell in love with that song immediately

  3. P.... v....

    Dave van Ronk

  4. P.... v....

    Tim Hardin

  5. W.... C....

    anybody know which 3 chords he's using for this version? or tuning?

    W.... C....

    It's a chord run based on on A then the figure for Am on the second fret - without barring - just open strings - then the A figure on on the fifth fret - no bar - then back down to the 2nd, 1st, 2nd fifth etc.

    W.... C....

    thanks.

  6. d.... l....

    who do you love...lonesome george

  7. N.... T....

    dave van ronk does it best...

  8. W.... H....

    Len Chandler writes that he and Robert Kaufman wrote this tune "on the bones of" a similar traditional song.  They were credited with it in a Coen Brothers movie (? of the same name).  I've always performed it as "traditional, but the lyrics in Fred Neil's version are very close to Chandler's (and mine).  I learned it from Neil when I heard him during the early 1960s playing at the Budhi in Oklahoma City, with Vince Martin.

  9. B.... S....

    I may be old, but I did get to see all of the great ones (Fred included) live.

    B.... S....

    beartooth ??

    B.... S....

    aww lucky you! Wow. :D

  10. k.... ....

    the tim hardin version is pretty damn special, well worth a listen.

  11. r.... ....

    Russians respect U - Fred!!!

  12. C.... S....

    strange feeling... lol

  13. M.... G....

    Fantastic and underated singer and songwriter. Thank goodness I discovered him (in the last few months). My generation (female, 32 yrs) should listen to his music.

    M.... G....

    @M. Groningen :Yeah,and then there's Nick Drake,Townes van Zand,the Buckleys ( father Tim and son Jeff),Big Star,Moby Grape,Joni Mitchel: so much to choose

  14. C.... P....

    No one sings it sweeter than Steve Freeborn and the OK Hotel House Band. MIss you guys....XO

  15. R.... ....

    Donovan did a good job with this song as did Felix Pappalardi.

    R.... ....

    don't forget Tim Hardin!

  16. t.... ....

    sounds a bit like tim buckley . .
    tim buckley sounds like him,a meant..

    t.... ....

    +tapsahtip Tim Buckley was inspired a great deal by this man, so it makes sense you can hear similarities

  17. J.... H....

    This song surely was not written by Fred Neil, though I adore Neil's version of it.  I also rather doubt it is Bob Kaufman and Len Chandler's song, though I'm curious about how they end up getting credit for it on almost every subsequent version of it, including on the recently released Inside Llewelyn Davis soundtrack.  No doubt this was Dave Van Ronk's version of its authorship, but then in performance Van Ronk names only Kaufman, so I distrust this provenance, as well.  Len Chandler does record it on a Hootenany record from the early Sixties.  I suspect it's an old fake book song, authorship time out of mind. Neil removes the nonsense verse from the Van Ronk version.  I'm trying to get hold of the Len Chandler version presently . . . more on that soon. 

  18. S.... ....

    If I had a time machine, I'd get Fred Neil and Pentangle together to record that...

  19. C.... S....

    Dave Van Ronk used it in most of his performances. He said Bob Kaufman, the beat poet wrote it in 1960. Fred Neil is older then Tim Hardin and this version is all Fred's. Compare it to Van Ronk's.

  20. d.... ....

    this is a cover. tim hardin wrote it.

  21. J.... D....

    "I got no carpet on the floor when I go to Baltimore"

  22. s.... ....

    i love him -- he's fantastic and there will never been a voice anything like his. but his lyrics don't make a whole lot of sense.

  23. m.... ....

    Bullshit !

    Even the bubble-gum pop hits were better in those days. The TOTAL quality of music is WAY down from what it was back then. All you have to do is listen to the old records & compare to the soulless junk that comes out nowadays for the deliberately created total cultural toilet of today to become obvious.

    & WHO CARES if you can find music so much easier today ? If it's good it's still likely to be old music which back then you could place an order to NYC or L.A. for & wait.

  24. P.... C....

    You got to allow idiots to be idiots. It's all they've got.

  25. c.... ....

    Mmmmmmm.....=0)

  26. i.... ....

    Fascinating how much this music influenced Jefferson Airplane.

  27. B.... M....

    Fred Neal was a fixture at my mother's house every time she fixed chicken stew with dumplings. I can still see his red hair and him telling my mother as to how good it was.
    Fred found his way in to our house via his friend my brother Don(Donnie) Couch in Tampa.

    B.... M....

    bobby mcmanus how often did your mother fix her chicken stew? let me answer for you; enough times so you should have known how to spell the man's last name.Neil -not neal or kneel. neal is some character from Heat.while kneel is something you do at church. thank you for posting this music brother.

    B.... M....

    Where is Don Couch now ?

  28. R.... ....

    no fight there, both are easily among the greatest & so is Jeff--and of course not only were they friends but Tim covered Dolphins & others of Fred's tunes & Buzzin' Fly sounds like Fred might have written it
    (PS I saw Tim at Newport Folk Fest & saw Jeff perform twice)

  29. N.... ....

    @incradibally no the appeal of this doesnt take away from another but...why mention them when this is fred friggin NEAL? I getcha tho. Good point but,,,,its Fred man. x Peace to you dear "Jenny"

  30. t.... t....

    @splivey you dont know shit, theres plenty of good music being made these days you just have to look for it harder than you did before. this is coming from a younger buck who appreciates music for its skill not the year it was made. Your not going to find this music from any of the same sources that you would find britney spears or justin timberlake. your judging my generations music based on where the worst music from this generation came from, the popular mainstream.

  31. c.... ....

    there was a ton a shit on the radio in the sixties too. im sure this wasnt on consistent rotation on the prominent radio stations in the sixties. theres good shit out there today, you just gotta dig for it as i dug for this old treasure. a lot of musicians and artists like myself look to the past for inspiration and we present our very contemporary work with the inevitable influence the past has made on us. im sure the same was for fred neil who took influences from american folk music

  32. S.... M....

    @splivey While I take your point 100% viz. today's music-history-free "artists," I cannot go so far as to say i wish I weren't young. Young worked for me 35 years ago and I'd find a way of making it work again today. I'd have to do it without music I consider worthwhile, but, hey, I wouldn't know the difference, now would I? Oh, well. we all have to make sacrifices, I suppose.

  33. f.... ....

    @slamvyn How can you lump Tom Waits in with these others? Tom Waits is a brilliant songwriter, original and unique. To think he won't be remembered is to ignore his legacy. Tom will be remembered, have no doubt about it...

  34. M.... K....

    @Intensitalian Sorry but I don't consider what Eminem does music. I don't care how many enthusiastic kids thought they were getting something significant when they bought his albums.. I very much doubt what he recorded will be revered in 100 years, unlike Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, etc..etc. I know what you mean about each generation loving its music, but it has to have talent and be "music."...

  35. I.... ....

    @splivey Eminem has sold 100million albums...but more significantly, he has been on top of his genre for 12 years- you can't really lump him in with those idiots and still appear well-informed.
    I'm sure your grandparents loved the music you listened to when you were young, right? LOL

  36. J.... L....

    Truly one of the greats. A huge influence on all those folkies turned rockers in the sixties.

  37. z.... ....

    @splivey I must defend my own era; there is so much music to cherish today, just like in the 60s en 70s (this is a fantastic song!). I'm not going to remember those artists you said, but I think artist like Wilco, Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens will be carried along the ages.

  38. S.... ....

    Rick Nelson did a nice verson of this too on the same album where he covered some Tim Hardin songs

  39. S.... M....

    Not concerned enough with fame to milk his gifts and influence on other artists of his era to make himself as well remembered today as he should be.

  40. J.... ....

    @splivey Being young has nothing to do with musical taste. Its all about how much passion you have for music the pop culture exists but the real music survives the test of time.

  41. J.... ....

    @splivey ..
    There was plenty of garbage on the charts then and there is plenty of great music out there today. You just have to look or it. One of the plusses of the Net (there are many minuses too) is that you can find great music more easily than ever. You don't have to wait for some record company or radio station to spoon feed it to you.

  42. j.... ....

    FRED!!!!

  43. g.... ....

    @raystaar Yup, D batteries and it did sound like crap, but we have to have music to stay sane. Check out Fred on Wikipedia - very interesting

  44. R.... S....

    @MrRickycarmichael It's from the Capitol Record Album 'Fred Neil.' It's a black and white cover with a photo of Fred hugging a young child.

  45. R.... S....

    @gretchendief As I recall, Gretchen, my lo-fi was red, gray and tan. I think it took D batteries. I know that it sounded like crap and ground up records faster than a belt sander. But it was all there was, back in the day before cassettes or 8 tracks. Thank goodness they were there to keep folks like us from going out of our heads with boredom way back in the day.
    Thanks for getting in touch. I hope all is well up there in CO today.
    Sincerely,
    Ray Staar

  46. g.... ....

    @raystaar We had one of those battery operated record players, too - we called it the lo-fi. We live in the mountains of CO and didn't have electricity then. Thank God for YouTube and we can find Fred Neil again.

  47. R.... S....

    Now I wanna hear 'The Water Is Wide.' I think that was the next cut on this classic album. I wore out at least 3 copies of this disc, one of which I used to play on an old, battery operated portable record player that I schlepped from coast to coast while on the road back in the sixties.

  48. M.... K....

    @greenmatzoh There will nexever be another time like that. The soul, innocence and innovation we possessed at that time was extraordinary. Today's technology, terrorism, violence, corruption has helped to destroy it. The Village around Macdougal and Bleeker Streets is no longer charming..Washington Square Park is trying to outlaw the singing. You can't even get a good sausage and peppers sandwich anymore. Sadly, those special times are gone forever.

  49. M.... K....

    @greenmatzoh Hi green matzoh, it reads to say that Dave Van Ronk and I were next door neighbors on 15th St. in 1961-62

  50. r.... ....

    @splivey I agree there's some shit, but there was probably just as much in the 60's, but like you said, NO ONE REMEMBERS IT.
    And there's still decent bands around now.

  51. p.... ....

    @splivey It's not like Fred Neil was a household name. The same goes today. There are talented musicians playing is gorgeous, emotionally-charged music, but you have to search it out amidst the noise. Check out, for example, white winter hymnal by fleet foxes.

  52. j.... ....

    That is interesting... I do not mean to put down professional songwriters in general, or commercial artists, or anybody, although my post certainly sounds judgmental! It is an individual thing, really. I also love to play on a lot of 'standards' which were written for money but are still good music. Also enjoy Kurt Vonnegut, who was admittedly trying to support his family with writing something he hoped would sell... and I am happy to get paid for playing, so I don't mean to be a hypocrite.

  53. j.... ....

    Wow, thanks! I had seen him on Linktv, but did not catch his name, so could not find him later! Found a bunch of stuff, thanks to you!

  54. A.... L....

    I love that song too. No shit, how could they all be next door neighbors? Tim Hardin too? Holy shit.
    Will there ever be another, any of them?

  55. j.... ....

    Although Dolphins maybe I love even better...

  56. j.... ....

    That must have been really great, man... I really love the way Fred swings... this is maybe one of my all-time favorite tunes.
    What do you think of Tim Buckley? Was he part of that scene at all? He sure loved Fred, that's certain...

  57. j.... ....

    I mean stars... anyway sorry to go on to such an extent and i don't mean to sound hostile...these comments had to be cut up and are not necessarily in order...but there is no comparing so-called non-commercial musics with stuff made strictly for profit...and gigging musicians don't stand a chance if everybody has an attitude like yours! I encourage you to cheer up and get out to where there is music, and find WORT! Many musicians are very good, inspiring... & some of us elders are not dead yet!

  58. j.... ....

    Like as if Fred Neal was involved in the same game as those commercial recording starts...

  59. j.... ....

    And not to be pointing out things, but we are having this conversation because of our ability to use technology. It does not in any way prevent me from playing music and might I add, having a wonderful time doing it!

  60. j.... ....

    but were from some different culture so to them it is innovative to mix Childe ballads with Dave Brubeck! For pity's sake, man, are you a player? If you were a musician, you would realize that all music is new to the person who is learning how to play it!!! And as for it all being banal vulgar trash... maybe it is because of the wonderful access to good radio locally, but things are just not that way to my experience! I know personally many fine innovative inspired musicians, from many genres.

  61. j.... ....

    so why bother going out to a club to catch someone who is relatively unknown? And conversely, since nobody is "innovative" now, anything unfamiliar is not worth listening to since it does NOT sound like Fred or Bob or Dave or whoever... but when I listen to those guys, it is apparent to me that they have slavishly devoted themselves to replicating the music of people like Furry Lewis or John Hurt or Elizabeth Cotton, and the only real innovation is that they had not grown up with the music

  62. j.... ....

    or play locally in places where they already know you so you don't need a demo, or else play for free at one of the open mikes which while good for beginners, get very tedious when what you want is to do an entire show and GET PAID FOR IT! But since the prevailing attitude seems to be that nothing new is any good because it is all just rehashing the songs of one's elder and betters,(and it is sooooo easy to spot the influences in the music of people younger than oneself)

  63. j.... ....

    this statement now is a continuation from the one below...The musicians around me are generally speaking, playing wonderfully but since they are not owned by any media industries, who hears them? If they are computer literate they can post their music on various sites. That is helpful if you want people outside of your immediate vicinity to hear you. Otherwise you can: tour (oops! This requires a demo, at least, to get the gigs... and most clubs don't even bother with tape players anymore!)

  64. j.... ....

    I am sorry that you feel that way. I don't claim to have heard "most of today's music" or anything like that because how could that even be possible? One is limited to hearing either that which comes in through one's one ears (or in the case of deaf people, elsewise) in conjunction with actual musicians, or else the sounds are available through technology, like recordings or radio or tv or whatever. So that puts an immediate limitation on what you are hearing.

  65. j.... ....

    which is not in any way to diminish the incredibly beautiful music of Fred and all the others who have been so enormously influential and who we miss so very much...
    but lets not tell ourselves the story that music ever dies... all of them were influenced by others before them, too...

  66. j.... ....

    really, how would you know that? Do you imagine that they would necessarily get a recording contract? Maybe they don't know anything about computers, or you tube... maybe they are out here playing all kinds of innovative things and nobody ever hears them because they are all listening to things recorded in the last century by dead people?

  67. R.... ....

    One of the greatest voices in the history of recording...

  68. s.... ....

    Thank God. Not too many people know this man, and it's a shame. I'm kinda glad that he is a secret though. /Thank you for sharing.

  69. S.... ....

    Thanks for posting this. Youtube needs much more Fred Neil! Dude didn't mess around -- all I've heard from him has been hitting, right from the get-go.