Rain, Wind and Speed | Limited Edition Vinyl
Following the 2020 vinyl release of Neal’s first solo record, Fade Away Diamond Time, the Neal Casal Music Foundation is releasing Neal’s second solo record, Rain, Wind and Speed, on limited edition vinyl.
Blue Rain Edition $35
Peach Wind Edition $35
Black Speed Edition $27
“There was a time in the not too distant past that i would’ve never made a record like this one. You remember, the kind of record where someone sits down, sings and plays a song all the way through leaves it just like it is, rough spots and all, without fixing a thing - it may not be perfect, but it’s got something.”
- Neal Casal, 1996
Photo by Kevin Wells
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Back story on the record from Gary:
“In late 1995 while Neal was on the road with his band supporting Fade Away Diamond Time, I got a call from Zoo Entertainment saying that the label was folding and that Neal no longer had a record deal. We were pretty crushed, as we’d been working towards his first album for years and to find out it was over just 3 months after it was released was hard to accept. The record had started to get some attention and Neal was on tour opening for bands like Little Feat and Gov’t Mule and a fan base was starting to build for him.
One great thing that happened, though, was that Fade Away was warmly accepted overseas, particularly in Germany and the UK and we started to get offers to tour there. So, we at least knew some people had discovered Fade Away and become fans and were looking forward to a second album from Neal.
He had written a bunch of new songs at this point and we decided to get right back into the studio and make another record. We scraped together some money and Neal and John Ginty went into Mix-O-Lydian Studios in Lafayette, NJ in early 1996 and emerged 5 days later with this sweet and warm-sounding acoustic record. It also features some mandolin and banjo from our NJ pal, the late, great Andy Goessling (of Railroad Earth) and is beautifully recorded by Don Sternecker. Neal was really proud of this record, as it was the first time he recorded complete guitar and vocals takes together in the studio with no overdubs.
Highlights include ‘Name In Vain’, ‘To Look For You’, ‘Best To Believe’ and the closing track ‘Weep No More’, which Neal adapted into a song from a long poem our friend Robbi Robb wrote. Jerry Balderson at our local record store, Sound Effects Records, also ran an indie label called Buy Or Die Records and was kind enough to release the record with us in the spring of 1996. One day we received a letter from Reinhard Holstein from Beverungen, Germany and he ran a very cool label called Glitterhouse Records and had become a huge fan of Fade Away Diamond Time. He offered to release Rain, Wind and Speed in Europe and bring Neal over to tour and that led to a years-long relationship with Glitterhouse that was great for Neal.”