Stone Balloon Concert update with Bill Stevenson and The Johnny Neel Band
About Bill Stevenson
Bill Stevenson lll was the founder/owner operator of The Stone Balloon Tavern and Concert Hall. He turned 70 years old two days before his induction into The Delaware Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His first major concert was The Beach Boys in Philadelphia in the early 60’s, and later attended Woodstock. Bill felt these events changed his life forever. Up to this point Bill was listening to The Temptations, The Four Tops and other R&B bands. Then “The Doors” came into Bill’s life. It was life changing, and in fact Bill, later in life, tried to talk Ed Shockley and The Jack of Diamonds into doing a “Door’s Set” for The Stone Balloon fans. Ed and the band said…”That is not going to happen”. Regardless of that decision, Bill considers Ed Shockley to be one of his best friends. The Stone Balloon opened in 1972. As history knows, Bill met, and convinced Bruce Springsteen in 1974 to bring The E Street Band to Newark. After that night it was easy to bring in over 300 major national acts to town, also bringing in the top “club bands” from across the country, while supporting all the local talent in Delaware because of his philanthropy work, and the success of other business ventures. Bill was named “One of Delaware’s 50 Most Influential People Over The Last 50 Years” by Delaware Today Magazine . Bill still calls Delaware home with his wife of 32 years Linda Stevenson, daughter Christina, and granddaughter Ciara. He always signs off with “I love you all “, and he does love you all.
https://delawarerockandrollsociety.com/2018-inductees/bill-stevenson/
Johnny Neel’s website: http://www.johnnyneel.com/
Johnny Neel (June 11, 1954 – October 6, 2024) was an American vocalist, songwriter, and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for his songwriting, his work as a session musician, and being a member of the Allman Brothers Band and the Dickey Betts Band.
Neel was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 11, 1954. He cut his first single, entitled “Talking About People”, at the age of twelve, as Johnny Neel and The Shapes Of Soul, which was a hit on local radio in the Wilmington/Philadelphia area. As an adult, the Johnny Neel Band had a strong following up and down the east coast and released two well-received independent albums. Neel moved to Nashville in 1984. Performing with various bands in area clubs drew the attention of former Nashville resident Dickey Betts, who asked Neel to join his road band, and he soon began working on Bett’s solo LP for Epic Records. That relationship led to seven cuts on the Pattern Disruptive album released in 1988, including the AOR hit, “Rock Bottom”.
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Neel
From Focus Delaware 5/28/1982
“Focus Delaware” aired on Rollins Cablevision & WNS-TV Channel 2 and WTGI Channel 61 from 1980 to 1987 and was hosted by Bob Weiner.
More info here: https://www.focusdelaware.com/
Focus Delaware
"Focus Delaware" aired on Rollins Cablevision & WNS-TV Channel 2 and WTGI Channel 61 from 1980 to 1987 and was hosted by Bob Weiner.
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