Neal Allan Doughty (born July 29, 1946, in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

) is an American keyboardist, best known as a founding member of the rock band

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The ...

and the only member to have played on every album. He formed the band in fall 1967, with original drummer Alan Gratzer. Although he has never been one of REO Speedwagon's primary songwriters, Doughty has written or co-written several of the band's songs. Songs for which he is the sole composer include "Sky Blues" from 1974, " One Lonely Night" from 1984 and "Variety Tonight" from 1987. The latter two songs charted as ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' singles, with "One Lonely Night" cracking the top 20. His most notable playing includes the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

solo on "Roll with the Changes" and the

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...

piano work on " 157 Riverside Avenue". He notes the piano track to "

Can't Fight This Feeling "Can't Fight This Feeling" is a power ballad performed by the American rock band REO Speedwagon. The song first appeared on the 1984 album '' Wheels Are Turnin. The single reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and held the to ...

" was his most difficult studio performance, but is now his favorite part of live concerts. He was an early adopter of the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, which can be heard on the opening swoop of "Ridin' the Storm Out". Currently, he is using synths made by Korg and Yamaha and tours with a Hammond B3 organ routed through

Leslie speaker The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided ...

cabinets.

Past keyboard instruments

* Farfisa Organ * Hohner Pianet * Oberheim Synths * Roland Synths * Mini-Moog Synth * Baldwin Acoustic Grand * Kurzweil Digital Piano * Korg Karma

References

External links

Official website

REO Speedwagon official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doughty, Neal 1946 births Living people American rock pianists American organists American rock keyboardists Songwriters from Indiana REO Speedwagon members Musicians from Evansville, Indiana Musicians from Indiana 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century organists 20th-century American keyboardists