Jeff McNeal - Vocal Impressionist

https://youtu.be/C03Cwr5bSBM?si=e7kOOHkm7hKWtjae

He Will Break Your Heart - Jerry Butler (tribute vocal by Jeff McNeal) About two years ago, I recorded my cover of Jerry Butler's 1968 classic Never Give You Up, (not to be confused with Rick Astley's giant 1987 hit Never Gonna ...

Feeling nostalgic, I decided to create a brand new music video featuring my former band performing two British Invasion classics, back to back live on stage. This was from our August 4, 2019 concert from Lorimar Winery in Temecula. We weren't your typical "dance" band. We were a tribute band that you could dance to, or not. These songs were a good example of illustrating that concept.

British Invasion tribute - Moody Blues & The Who by Mrs. Jones' Revenge This is a brand new video mixed and produced today, from recordings and footage captured August 4th, 2019, about ten months before I stepped off the stage an...

Dedicated with love, to the memory of my mother, who was a true Tony Bennett fan.

If I Ruled The World - Tony Bennett (tribute vocal impression) Mixing things up once again with an old standard by none other than Tony Bennett. While no one can ever match his incredible voice and styling, I've done my...

How have you been? Well, I hope!

On The Way Home - Buffalo Springfield (Richie Furay vocal tribute by Jeff McNeal) Okay, you know how sometimes a movie will come out and then seemingly the next day, there will be a "director's cut" of the same movie that lets the director...

Time to get funky.

Who's Making Love - Johnnie Taylor (vocal tribute cover by Jeff McNeal) I've always liked this song. LOL. And it's very different vocally from anything I've done recently, so I wanted to see if I could rise to the challenge. J...

This is a pop hit by Danny Hutton that many may not recognize. It only charted at #73 on the Hot 100 in 1965, but was a bigger hit in some regions, including Los Angeles where I grew up. I was 5-years-old when I heard it on 93 KHJ. It was catchy and I liked it!

The same outfit that brought you The Flintstone's, The Jetson's and so many other Saturday morning cartoons tried their hand at producing records for a time. Hanna-Barbera Records signed Danny Hutton to record this one 4 years before he found REAL chart success as one of the founding members of Three Dog Night...

Roses and Rainbows - Danny Hutton (tribute vocal impression remix) I first recorded this one two days prior and released it on my YouTube channel, but after reviewing the original again, I decided to re-record it with some m...

This is a test. This is only a test. If this were an actual vocal impression, you would have been provided an official link to the video. This is only a test...

Pretty sure this will probably be my last Gino Vannelli vocal tribute impression. The difficulty level was intense!

Nightwalker - Gino Vannelli (tribute vocal cover) Nightwalker was such a great song that Gino Vannelli named his whole album after it. This was probably one of the most difficult tribute impressions that I'...

It's only fair that I try a Gino Vannelli song that probably EVERYONE who was alive in 1978 remembers, since the album cut I performed yesterday was only heard by those who actually bought the album like I did (I'm a big fan). Cheers.

I Just Wanna Stop - Gino Vanelli (tribute vocal cover by Jeff McNeal) Well, the response was so nice to my first attempt at paying vocal tribute to a Gino Vanelli song that few have probably ever heard of, I'd like to take a cr...

I don't expect many to remember this one. My first Gino Vannelli cover attempt. It was only on the charts for 5 weeks in 1979 and never got any higher than number 78. But I bought the album that it came from, Brother To Brother, and always thought it was a really beautiful, underrated song. Cheers.

Wheels Of Life - Gino Vanelli (vocal tribute by impressionist Jeff McNeal) During the 1970's, while I was still a teenager, I was so impressed by Canadian Gino Vanelli's voice that I actually bought his 1978 album, Brother to Brothe...

Hi everyone. I recorded this one about a month ago and it was a lot harder than you might think! I actually remember this being on the radio when I was two and a half years old!!

I Remember You - Frank Ifield (vocal tribute cover) These last few tributes have been reaching waaaaay back to the earliest memories of my childhood. Believe it or not, I can remember hearing this song on the...

Here's one for the Mark Lindsay fans.

Indian Reservation - Paul Revere & The Raiders (Mark Lindsay tribute vocal cover) The full title, Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian) was the first and only #1 hit for Paul Revere and The Raiders in 1971 and...

A song as relevant for today's troubled world as it was in 1969. I've done my best to honor the original performance by legendary writer and singer Tommy James.

Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James (vocal tribute impression) This is a follow up to my first-ever Tommy James vocal impression. Tommy James and the Shondells were an integral part of my childhood growing up in the 196...

While working on my second parody for the same client, I decided to try to come close to replicating the sound of the original hit that it was based on. This is the first time I've ever attempted a Tommy James vocal tribute. Cheers.

I Think We're Alone Now - Tommy James and the Shondells (vocal tribute cover) This wasn't a song I had intended on covering for two simple reasons... I have never attempted a Tommy James song and, at 64, the lyrics are a little creepy...

I was hired a couple of days ago to sing a parody of an old Johnny Rivers song for political satire purposes. That was fun. At the same time, I was working on this one, released just today.

Along Comes Mary - The Association (Jim Yester vocal impression) Whew! This one took some time. No "first take" on this one. The Association's first big hit, "Along Comes Mary" was said to be about ma*****na, a.k.a. Mar...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evj4JdJ0wcY

A Horse With No Name - America (Dewey Bunnell tribute vocal) This was a fun one. I was too young to remember any controversies tied to this song, but evidently, there were at least two big ones. One, is that A Horse ...

Could this be one of my last tribute videos? If so, did I save the best for last? You tell me!

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me - Mel Carter (vocal tribute impression) I don't know how many people actually read these liner notes, but here goes... I just want everyone who has subscribed to my channel to know that beginning ...

First new tribute vocal impression of the new year. A classic from Freddie Scott, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. One of my older sisters had bought the 45 RPM in 1963 and I discovered it along with the rest of their record collection while they were away at school when I was five or six.

Hey Girl - Freddie Scott (vocal tribute impression) Welcome to my first new tribute impression of the New Year! This song has long been a favorite of mine, ever since one of my siblings bought the 45 RPM reco...

Just a brief introduction to new followers/subscribers who may not know my back story. As a child, I started doing voice impressions. Felix The Cat was the first one. As a pre-teen, I have a vivid memory of making my often-stern father laugh with a vocal impression of Paul Lynde. I knew I was onto something. When I was 17, I took a shot at fame by auditioning for and appearing on the Gong Show with Chuck Barris doing vocal impressions.

My act went flat and I almost got Gonged. I immediately abandoned any notion of national fame and fortune and started my career as a radio personality when I was 18 in 1978 for a whopping $600 a month, which I managed to live on. I spent the next two decades trying to entertain audiences in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, got married to the most beautiful woman who ever gave me a second glance and started a family with her, on the way. We have now been together for 43-years, 40 of them married and have three amazing kids.

I did a lot of celebrity voice impressions on my radio shows (it was easier than booking real celebrities and besides, I could have them say whatever I wanted) , but I tired of doing them. Besides, a lot of the voices I did were becoming dated, along with the rest of my radio shtick. The industry was changing and not in a good way for personality DJ's, and I decided to retire from broadcasting when I was 38.

Still supporting my young family, I moved into voice overs full time in 2003, because frankly, I had no other skills to lean on. I landed a terrific agent in Hollywood and spent the next decade as the voice of KNBC in Los Angeles, working remotely from my home studio.

In 2009, I started voicing movie trailers and was on a VO career roll... One day while driving in my car, I was singing along to an old Gene McDaniels song and realized I was subconsciously altering my voice to sound more like his. I hadn't done any singing since my ill-fated attempt on the Gong Show in 1977, but wondered if I could apply my lifetime of doing celebrity and cartoon voice impressions to singers whose songs I grew up with and admired. I very tentatively started putting videos on YouTube and was heartened by the positive reactions I was receiving. After about a year of this, I thought how fun it might be to join a band in need of a lead singer who could do vocal impressions and perform live for a local audience. After a year of searching, I realized there wasn't going to be a band to fulfill my vision unless I started one myself. So in late 2010, I ran an ad on Craigslist to start recruiting local musicians who would buy into my concept of recreating hits from the '60's, '70's and '80's. It took some time and different personnel changes, but I learned a lot in the process and by November, 2011, "Mrs. Jones' Revenge" was ready to start performing live.

Thus began a really fun, challenging, and at one point, heartbreaking adventure of leading a band for the very first time, having never been in one, previously. I lucked out with some very talented musicians and we were on our way. MJR dominated the local Temecula music landscape for nearly a decade. During that time, I underwent two full knee replacements, three heart procedures, Achilles tendon surgery but never missed a show. A good friend who had joined the band midway through our journey was murdered and it took five years for his killer to finally be brought to justice. I spoke at the sentencing hearing. Even though I had been ready to call it quits, I kept the band going for three more years, in part, to raise funds for the family of our slain bandmate and help establish a scholarship fund in his honor at his former high school. Through the combined efforts of his former classmates and our band, we ensured the funding for the Keith Boyer Memorial Scholarship for at least a quarter century. I'm very proud of that.

During the band years, I was still doing vocal impressions on YouTube, but slowed down the output. In total, I think probably have over 700 vocal impression vids on YouTube recorded in my home studio, and another 300 or so that I mixed and produced from various band performances throughout the decade that we performed. I never earned much performing with the band, but it was a lot of fun seeing the reactions of all the people we made happy when we performed. But when I turned 60 and covid hit soon thereafter, I knew it was time for me to concentrate on my own health, now that two beautiful grandchildren had been added to my growing family. It was time to step off the stage. I still add new vocal tribute vids. Last year, I actually lost my voice for several months due to my vocal chords beginning to atrophy from *not belting those rock and roll classics out on stage for three hours at a time on a regular basis.

So there you have it. A brief albeit long-ish description of who I am and how I got here. I thank you sincerely for your support of my non-paying hobby. I still enjoy entertaining and think my parents would have gotten a kick out of this. Especially all the Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett tribute covers. Cheers and best wishes for a safe, prosperous and healthy 2024!
https://youtu.be/ADzMTpjnyF8?si=JSC1AE3PF0pC2MHk

It is now in the waning days of 2023 and I will be turning 64 in a couple of weeks.

Light My Fire 2020 LIVE in 4k, 5.1 surround* - The Doors (tribute cover) I've posted my vocal cover of this one before and got a lot of nice comments, way back when... This time, I've got a little story to share. Nearly 53 years...

Look who stopped by today!

Let It Snow! - Vaughn Monroe (tribute vocal cover by Santa Claus) A very special guest stopped by today and asked to perform his rendition of Vaughn Monroe's Christmas classic "Let It Snow!" as made popular again during the...

I thought I was all out of B.J. Thomas tributes, but I was wrong. Anyone else remember this whimsical little ditty besides me?

Everybody's Out Of Town - B.J. Thomas (tribute vocal impression) Like the subject of this song, this one sort of fell off the earth and drifted off into space over time, even though it hit number one on the adult contempor...

Happy holidays!

One - Three Dog Night (Chuck Negron vocal tribute cover) Years ago, I did a cover of Three Dog Night's "The Show Must Go On" and it was warmly received. Got a decent number of views over the years. What really ma...

Happy Holidays!

My Favorite Things - Tony Bennett (a vocal tribute impression) Dedicated to the memory of the great Tony Bennett. Thanks for listening.

This live version of Cream's White Room turned out fantastic, even though it was our very first time performing it without any prior group rehearsal. Notice just before the final verse, our drummer accidentally went into the count for the closing. The rest of my band mates, being the pros they are, just went with it, and at 2:43, you see the knowing smiles from rhythm and lead guitars. But seconds later I was able to non-verbally communicate to my lead guitarist to just loop around so we could go back to pick up the missed final verse. You can see him acknowledging my (off camera) "circle around" hand gesture. The end result is actually a very satisfying, albeit unintentional, extended version of this classic. As I was producing the video, I was dismayed to see that the camera focused on the lead guitar's solo went out at 4:37, so in order to save the video, I resorted to some effects and re-used some earlier lead guitar video and slowed it down to make it all look intentional. Now, you know the whole story of how I was able to take a couple of live performance mistakes, and turn them into a pretty darn great video for my former band.

White Room - Cream Extended LIVE (tribute cover) Jeff McNeal's band, Mrs. Jones' Revenge, performing an extended version of Cream's "White Room"

Saved one of the most challenging for what is probably the final B.J. Thomas vocal impression/tribute that I'll be doing. I think I've done all the rest of my favorites by him over the years... Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, The Eyes Of A New York Woman, Rock 'N Roll Lullaby, Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song, Mighty Clouds of Joy and finally... Hooked On A Feeling. Thanks for listening!

Hooked On A Feeling - B.J. Thomas ((tribute vocal) I have recorded hundreds of vocal covers in the last 14-years, and they're all here on YouTube. I've also recorded several B.J. Thomas tribute covers, but a...

Wishing everyone a safe, love abundant Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.

Wow. AI has made some great advancements in the last couple of years in music production. Inspired by what the Beatles were able to do with their latest and final release, I decided to download an open source AI program to play around with. Pretty amazed that it could even separate original lead from backing vocals (!), I decided to cover (again) a great classic from B.J. Thomas using the original tracks, with the original backing vocals plus a new backing vocal of my own that wasn't part of the original for something a little different. Hope you like it. I think it turned out pretty nice of you loved the original like I do.

I Just Can't Help Believing - B.J. Thomas (vocal tribute remix) My first upload of this "cover of my cover" of B.J. Thomas' version had some audio-mixing problems, which made the recording sound a bit muffled and distorte...

I've wanted to try this one for a long time, but it is deceptively difficult to sing (at least, for one guy in his mid-60's trying to sound like three consummate pros at their peak in their mid 20's). Still not sure how I feel about how it turned out, but it was fun trying? Out In The Country has always been a personal favorite and with all the turmoil in the world, it seems like now is a great time to bring it back for an encore. Paul Williams wrote some amazing songs and this is certainly one of them. Three Dog Night made it an instant classic.

Out In The Country - Three Dog Night (tribute cover) I've always loved this Three Dog Night classic, penned by Paul Williams. This is also, at least for me, an exceedingly difficult song to attempt. But that'...

First new one in awhile. Remember this one? https://youtu.be/ywFJZ-DcXXM

Cherry Hill Park - Billy Joe Royal (Jeff McNeal vocal tribute impression) My former band, Mrs. Jones' Revenge, is reuniting after two years for a final farewell concert this Wednesday evening (5/18/22). I thought I'd better find o...