Fred Neil influenced, inspired, and mentored a generation of musicians and songwriters whose names echo in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was considered the King of the MacDougal Street/ Greenwich Village folksingers. But who was Fred Neil? Of all his contemporaries, Neil was the most mysterious and misunderstood. He's probably best known for his song "Everybody's Talkin'", a big hit for Harry Nilsson when it was featured in the movie Midnight Cowboy. After "Everybody's Talkin'", Neil's best-known songs are "Other Side of this Life" and "The Dolphins", which were later recorded by several artists, including Linda Ronstadt, It's a Beautiful Day, The The, Billy Bragg, Beth Orton, and Tim Buckley, and The Jefferson Airplane for whom Neil was a major influence. Neil was a frequent visitor to The Jefferson Airplane's Haight Ashbury House at 2400 Fulton Street. Neil reminded Grace Slick of Winnie the Pooh, her name for him was "Poohneil" The Airplane song "The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil" was written for Fred Neil. Though highly regarded by contemporary folk singers, Neil was reluctant to tour and spent much of the last 30 years of his life assisting with the preservation of dolphins.

Author Peter Lee Neff was a musician for twenty-five years, growing up in South Florida, where he followed the burgeoning folk music scene in the mid-'60s, saw Fred Neil perform, and eventually played on the same stages that Fred did. Moving to Nashville in 1979, Peter continued playing music while writing movie reviews and presenting them as an on-air personality for WPLN, the NPR affiliate in Music City. Neff has written the definitive book on Fred Neil - That's The Bag I'm In - and he'll join us to discuss the book and Fred Neil's career. We'll have music journalist Edd Hurt on hand to interview Neff as well and the author will sign books following the Q&A.