For the group, Neeson was the main singer-songwriter and was the driving force behind the band being propelled into stardom for a period spanning over three decades.

In early December 1999, three weeks prior to his performance at the Tour of Duty - Concert for the Troops in East Timor, Neeson had a car accident on the Sydney M4 motorway, which led to years of pain and rehabilitation.

[4] As a teenager he had promoted dances and in mid-1967 he advised an Adelaide group, Down the Line: "Y'know, you should change the name to something short and punchy like Zoot".

[6] While a student at Flinders University, Neeson as 'Doc Talbot' became a member of an acoustic blues group, Moonshine Jug and String Band, on vocals and guitar.

[8][11] Moonshine Jug and String Band recorded a four-track extended play, Keep You on the Move, in 1973, which had local success on the Adelaide charts, rising to No. 5.

[8] During that year they issued a lone single, "Keep on Dancing", on Sphere, which had Neeson on guitar while John provided lead vocals.

[8][9][11] The Keystone Angels supported AC/DC on a regional tour of South Australia and were signed to the group's label, Albert Productions.

[8][9][13] In February 1976 The Keystone Angels relocated to Sydney, they had "toughened [their] sound into a unique brand of beefy hard rock".

[1] The line-up, with Neeson as lead singer, bass guitarist and front man, was the Brewster brothers and King.

[6] Neeson described how this response was copied at other venues and became an important part of their performances: "...when the band first started, we were trying to write songs for Australian audiences; they’ve made it their own in a way I’d never have thought possible".

[6][17] In August King was replaced by Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup on drums (ex-Fahrenheit 451, Red Angel Panic, Taxi, Pegasus).

[1] In January 1977 Chris Bailey joined on bass guitar (ex-Red Angel Panic, Headband) freeing Neeson to concentrate on lead vocals and develop his stagecraft.

[15][18] The group's first top 50 hit on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart, "Take a Long Line", was issued in July 1978.

[8][11] Marie Ryan of Woroni in August 1978 felt the lead single "tells the story of a fringe-dweller who finds himself over whelmed and powerless in the face of The Authorities" while questioning "How much notice audiences actually take of the lyrics is debatable though they're not all that easy to ignore with Doc Neeson's twisting, contorted figure acting them out .

[22] Outside of his work with that group, Neeson initiated The Tour of Duty - Concert for the Troops held for the InterFET forces in East Timor which took place on 21 December 1999.

[23] On New Year's Eve 1999 Neeson announced his departure from The Angels at the MGM Grand Darwin Millennium Concert citing his injury from a car accident earlier that month.

Neeson recalled "[t]he stench would just hit you and the atmosphere was overwhelming, like a real energy built out of the claustrophobia" while Young related "[t]hey would be throwing beer cans and I thought 'just keep moving' and that's how it all started".

Neeson was presented with two military medals in Baghdad while touring across the Middle East as part of a morale-boosting concert series for Australian troops known as 'Tour de Force.

[34] In 2008 Doc Neeson reunited with other The Angels members: Rick and John Brewster, Bidstrup and Bailey — who have since done extensive national touring.

[37] In early December 1999, three weeks prior to the Tour of Duty - Concert for the Troops in East Timor, Neeson had a car accident on the Sydney M4 motorway,[37] "I was living in the Blue Mountains at the time, I'd just come back from a rehearsal with John Farnham's band to go with the troops up to East Timor, and I was feeling great ... A car in front of me braked really hard, so I braked hard, and the truck behind didn't brake at all, so I got this bad whiplash injury and some spinal damage that made it very difficult for me to walk for the first few years".

On 28 April 2014 the ABC TV series, Australian Story, broadcast an episode, "A Very Good Rascal", as a biographical documentary on Neeson, his musical career and his medical condition.

[40] Doc Neeson was posthumously inducted into the South Australian Music Hall Of Fame on 19 June 2015 at Northern Sound System, Elizabeth.

Doc was also celebrated during the induction of The Moonshine Jug and String Band and Chris Bailey on 2 October 2015 at The Goodwood Institute.

(ArmyNewspaper) Angels lead singer Doc Neeson was presented with his Order of Australia OAM medal at Government House in Sydney, 26 January 2013.