‘No One Above You’ Honors Neal Casal With Music & Photos From Early Career

An archival album of Neal Casal’s unreleased early demo recordings and a photo memoir will be posthumously released in honor of the late musician. No One Above You (The Early Years 1991-1998) and No One Above You (Christy Coleman + Neal Casal – A Love Story In Photographs) will both be issued on September 12.

Produced by the Neal Casal Music Foundation and RPF Records, No One Above You (The Early Years 1991-1998) was compiled by Casal’s longtime manager Gary Waldman, his Cardinals’ bandmate Jon Graboff and engineer Jim Scott. They remixed Casal’s original recordings and inserted small additions performed by Graboff, John Ginty, Dan Fadel, Angie McKenna, Jeff Hill and others.

The 13-song tracklist consists of previously unreleased demos and studio recordings Casal made in the years before he put out his debut solo album, 1995’s Fade Away Diamond Time. Alongside original compositions are covers of songs by Tom T. Hall, The Incredible String Band, and Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman.

Stream the compilation’s opening track and lead single, “Silver Dollar”:

No One Above You (The Early Years 1991-1998)​ Tracklist

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1. Silver Dollar
2. Quiet Desperation
3. Someone Else’s Shoes
4. The Search For Silver Lake
5. Indian Summer
6. Running Wild
7. After All This Time
8. Cora Jones
9. To The Water
10. Valley Of The Fallen
11. Greatest Friend
12. Second Handed Flowers
13. Mellow Down Easy

Compiled by Casal’s former wife, Christy Coleman, No One Above You (Christy Coleman + Neal Casal – A Love Story In Photographs) provides an intimate look at the couple’s relationship. The photo memoir was “culled from pictures captured by [Coleman], Casal, and a few friends along the way.” According to the announcement:

[No One Above You (Christy Coleman + Neal Casal – A Love Story In Photographs)] brings together images of the couple’s time together at the outset of Casal’s career as a working musician and developing artist, framing their courtship and companionship in the soft light of love. Unvarnished visions of backstage solitude mingle with the revelry of after hours nightlife and the counterbalance of a home away from the eyes of the crowd. There’s a palpable intimacy; moments of art’s humble beginnings conjured in portraits ringed in gauzy smoke and afternoon sun.

Somewhere among the polaroids, marquees and pine trees, there’s a truth that’s reflected in Kodachrome clarity; a story of love, loss, healing, and innocence that reflects back not just Neal and Christy’s own story, but that of countless others coming of age in the 90s before the onset of mobile phones and digital cameras made every waking moment a documented event. No One Above You (Christy Coleman + Neal Casal – A Love Story In Photographs) is a fitting elegy for Neal Casal fans, but also a welcome reminder that love is real.

Casal, who performed with Circles Around The Sun, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, The Skiffle Players, , Beachwood Sparks, Hazy Malaze, and numerous other projects, died in 2019 at age 50.

Visit the Neal Casal Foundation to pre-order.