Watch Neighbor Dust Off ‘Sneakin’ Sally’ Cover With Cal Kehoe In Rhode Island

Neighbor trekked across their native New England for a three-night run this past weekend. On Friday, the quartet enlisted guitarist Cal Kehoe to join them on a rare cover of the Allen Toussaint-penned “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” to end the first set at The Met in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

The Cal Kehoe Band kicked off the night both in Pawtucket and on Saturday in Fairfield, Connecticut with an opening set. Kehoe is a member of Pink Talking Fish, a group that includes keyboardist Richard James when he’s not on the road with Neighbor.

Originally recorded by Lee Dorsey, “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” was also the title track to Robert Palmer’s 1974 debut solo album. However, the Neighbor version was most to akin to that performed by Phish.

Neighbor — Richard James, guitarist Lyle Brewer, drummer Dean “The Dux” Johnston and bassist Dan Kelly — debuted their “Sneakin’ Sally” cover on February 12, 2019 at Thunder Road in Somerville, Massachusetts. The February 2019 concert was the band’s third show as Neighbor and they played the Toussaint song again at the same venue on May 28, 2019. “Sneakin’ Sally” hadn’t seen action since that night making it the biggest bust out in Neighbor history as far as number of shows (223) in between performances.

Cal Kehoe handled lead vocals on “Sneakin’ Sally” in Pawtucket. Kehoe and Brewer traded licks at various tempos to drive the jam from a slow burner to a rolling boil. The PTF guitarist fit in a “Stash” tease, while Lyle teased Neighbor original “Pine Tree” and the pair teamed to add hints of “Eleanor Rigby.” Watch “Stage Cam” footage of the collaboration shared by benatharius featuring soundboard audio below:

Neighbor opened the first set at The Met with a jam that gave way to two-year-old original “Broadway.” The four-piece played plenty of beloved favorites in Pawtucket including “Move Along Little Jimmy,” “Don’t You Cry,” “Mighty Apple Tree,” “Thunder Island” and “Ulsa.” A recently debuted cover of Dave Dudley’s “Six Days On The Road” was the penultimate song of the second set and Neighbor went acoustic for “Old Dog” as the encore. Written by Richard James and Eric Stoltz, “Old Dog” was premiered last month at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York.

A five-week residency at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke, Massachusetts starts on February 20. The run of weekly shows on Tuesday nights honors Neighbor’s fifth anniversary.

Setlist (via NeighborTunes.net)

Set One: Jam > Broadway[1], Magic Marble Crew[2] -> Move Along Little Jimmy[3], Great Barrier Reef[4], Don’t You Cry[5], Mighty Apple Tree, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley[6]

Set Two: Stay Loose[7] > The Unknown, High Five Gauntlet, Thunder Island[8], Rosalia, Wait Another Day, Six Days on the Road[9], Ulsa

Encore: Old Dog[10]

Footnotes:

• [1] Third Stone From the Sun (Jimi Hendrix) tease.
• [2] Crashing Down and Old Time Rock & Roll (Bob Seger) teases.
• [3] Old Time Rock & Roll (Bob Seger), City Cituation (The New Motif), Lonely Rider, and Manifest (The New Motif) teases.
• [4] Thunder Island tease.
• [5] Funky style. Regulate (Warren G) tease.
• [6] Cal Kehoe on guitar and vocals. Pine Tree, Eleanor Rigby (The Beatles), and Stash (Phish) teases.
• [7] Gotta Jibboo (Phish) and Love Rollercoaster (Ohio Players) teases.
• [8] Kiran Edwards (Cal Kehoe Band) on keys. Living for the City (Stevie Wonder) tease.
• [9] Lonely Rider tease.
• [10] Acoustic.