My buddy and everyone’s friend, Dicky Neely, was a fixture of the Coastal Bend blues scene since the early 1980s on harmonica, and was the windsurfing community’s much beloved instructor. He  caught the last wave, so to speak, on Feb. 19 from complications stemming from a fall.  

Dicky (Dick Miller Neely Jr.) was born on July 26, 1947, in Marshall, Texas . He was raised in East Texas and in San Angelo where he graduated from high school in 1965. He moved with his family to Kenedy after graduation. Dicky attended Victoria Junior College for a time, moved to Corpus Christi in 1969 and spent 1971-79 in Santa Barbara, California.  It was in California that he found a lifelong love of surfing and of playing blues harmonica. It was there that he also discovered a talent for drawing cartoons  (similar to R. Crumb) and concert posters.  

For all his talents in life, his greatest was the distinct tone he generated on his harmonica. He had big hands that when clasped around his harmonica caused a cavern of tone.  Dicky’s blues were more innocent and joyful than sad. Unsung blues great, John Grimaudo, of Holiday Beach once said while listening to Dicky, “Oh, Dicky’s out chasing raccoons again.”

Dicky moved back to Corpus Christi for good in 1979 and was immediately in demand as an accompanist. He played many duo gigs on the bayfront, recorded with Dennis Gilley, and then was recruited to join what became a locally renowned band, Silent Slim and the Locomotives.  The band was popular and is well-remembered to this day. From 2000-2006 Dicky was frontman for the Dicky Neely Blues Band (I was lead guitarist). Dicky’s last gig was in 2018.  

Dicky also learned to windsurf in Corpus Christi’s famously high winds. He became a windsurfing instructor, teaching windsurfing on the JFK Causeway to thousands of locals and tourists from 1980-1986. He also became a freelance writer/photographer for many windsurfing publications. That’s how I met him. I was an editor at WIND SURF Magazine in California and editing his articles was my first assignment. 

Being a big, strong guy, Dicky was rough on windsurfing equipment. He called himself the “King of R&D”  (rig and destroy).  Several manufacturers regularly sent him equipment to break because he could reveal design shortcomings faster than anyone else they knew.    

Among the highlights of his multiple pursuits, he wrote and published several Sherlock Holmes novelettes with Texas settings and themes (available on Amazon). Dicky also founded and ran the Fall Back Blues Festival in Port Aransas. The festival was a popular event, attracting top area musicians including Michael O’Connor, the late Rocky Benton, Cody Angel,  Rich and Dawn Marie Segura, David Miller and Freddy McLain.

As his mobility was reduced in recent years Dicky pursued his paintings, cartoons and drawings. He watched “Bear Cams” on the internet and painted many scenes of bears.  He has fans from around the world loving his paintings of bears in the wild.

He taught himself to play slide guitar, was a lifelong reader of historical tomes, and delved into politics, at one time becoming the 117th precinct Chair for the Democratic Party in Flour Bluff.  And he love his cats.

Dicky is survived by sisters, Jan Neely Hilton of Daingerfield  and Melinda Neely of Heber City, Utah,  brother Blake Neely of Daingerfield, son Brent Beaudette of Los Angeles, daughter Trisha Jensen Bond of Longmont, Colo., and two grandchildren.

A week before he passed he played his last song.  I brought my guitar and one of his harmonicas to the intensive care unit.  When the song began, Dicky’s monitors were beeping warnings. They kept beeping for two minutes into the song, then both stopped when he began his solo. The monitors stayed silent until 30 seconds after the song was over.

A memorial surfer’s ritual, a “paddle-out” service, is scheduled for 2 p.m. May 19 at Horace Caldwell Pier in Port Aransas. Immediately following will be the Dicky Neely Memorial Blues Bash to be held at Giggity’s in Port Aransas starting at 4 p.m. The public is invited.

Guy Le Roux is a musician, journalist and sailing and windsurfing champion.

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