Neville Brothers, The

Neville Brothers, The, prime musical forces in the New Orleans community for more than 30 years. membership:Art Neville, kybd., voc. (b. New Orleans, La., Dec. 17, 1937); Aaron Neville, voc, pere. (b. New Orleans, La., Jan. 24, 1941); Charles Neville, sax., voc. (b. New Orleans, La., Dec. 28, 1938); Cyril Neville, pere, voc. (b. New Orleans, La., Jan. 10, 1948). Aaron’s son Ivan Neville joined in 1979 for two years. the meters: membership:Art Neville, kybd.; Leo Nocen-telli, gtr., voc. (b. New Orleans, La, June 15, 1946); George Porter, bs. (b. New Orleans, La., Dec. 26, 1947); Joe “Zigaboo” Modeliste, drm. (b. Dec. 28, 1948). Cyril Neville joined in 1975.

In the 1960s and 1970s Art Neville led the Meters, an influential band who appeared on many New Orleans recordings made at Allen Toussaint’s famous studios. Meanwhile, brother Aaron had a major R&B hit with “Tell It Like It Is.” Art and Aaron joined with brothers Charles and Cyril to form a family band in the late 1970s. The band achieved critical acclaim, if limited commercial success. Meanwhile, Aaron Neville was befriended by pop starLinda Ronstadt, who recorded a successful duet (”Don’t Know Much”) with thesinger in 1989 and helped launch his new solo career in the early 1990s.

In the early 1950s keyboardist Art Neville joined the New Orleans group the Hawketts. In 1955 they scored a local hit with “Mardi Gras Mambo” and the song became the theme to the city’s annual celebration. By that time his saxophonist brother Charles had been touring with jazz artists Tiny Grimes and George Cole-man and blues artists Bobby “Blue” Bland and B. B. King. Through arranger-producer Harold Battiste, Art was signed to Specialty Records in 1956, and he and his brother Aaron worked with Larry Williams and played on package tours with the Spaniels and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. When Art was drafted into the Army in 1958, Aaron took his place in the Hawketts. Upon Art’s return, Aaron launched a solo career, soon managing an R&B hit in 1960 with “Over You.” At the end of 1966 Aaron Neville scored a top R&B and smash pop hit with “Tell It Like It Is” on Parlo Records. Also in that year, Aaron joined with Art and brother Charles, along with saxophonist Gary Brown and future Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter, and drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste, to form the Neville Sounds.

Producer Allen Toussaint hired the entire band, minus vocalists Art and Charles and Brown, to be the house band for his studio. They backed virtually every New Orleans hit of the late 1960s, including Ernie K-Doe’s “Mother-in-Law,” Betty Harris’s “Cry to Me,” and later Lee Dorsey’s “Ride Your Pony,” “Get Out My Life, Woman,” and “Working in a Coal Mine.” The Meters signed with Josie Records and recorded a number of instrumental albums, scoring smash R&B and major-to-moderate pop hits with “Sophisticated Cissy,” “Cissy Strut,” and “Look-Ka Py Py” in 1969. Meanwhile, Aaron, Cyril, and Brown played around New Orleans for seven years as the Soul Machine.

By 1972, with Art Neville and Leo Nocentelli taking up vocals, the Meters had signed with Reprise Records. However, their first two albums failed to sell, and it was not until 1975 that one of their albums, Fire on the Bayou, even charted. In the meantime, they backed Doctor John’s In the Right Place album (which included the crossover hit “Right Place Wrong Time”) and Labelle’s Nightbird album (which included the top pop and R&B hit “Lady Marmalade”). Cyril Neville joined the Meters in 1975, and brothers Charles and Aaron contributed to the group from 1975 to 1977. The Meters opened shows for the Rolling Stones’ 1975 American tour and summer 1976 European tour.

In 1976 the Meters and all four Neville brothers recorded an entire album of Mardi Gras music, backing uncle George “Big Chief Jolly” Landry and the Wild Tchoupitoulas, one of New Orleans’s black Indian “tribes.” In 1977 all four siblings left the Meters to form the Neville Brothers. They debuted to great acclaim with the Wild Tchoupitoulas at the 1977 Monterey Jazz Festival. They recorded one album for Capitol before switching to A&M for the excellent Fiyo on the Bayou album, which featured the Meters’ “Hey Pocky Way” and “Fire on the Bayou,” Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting in Limbo,” the New Orleans classic medley “Brother John”/”Iko Iko,” and “Mona Lisa,” dedicated to Bette Midler.

In 1979 Aaron’s son Ivan Neville joined the Neville brothers for two years. He later replaced Chaka Khan in Rufus for one album and toured with Bonnie Raitt for more than two years. He launched his solo career in 1988 with If My Ancestors Could See Me Now, which yielded a major hit with “Not Just Another Girl.” In 1988 and again in 1992–1993 Ivan Neville toured and recorded with Keith Richards’s X-Pensive Winos.

The Neville Brothers subsequently recorded the live set Neville- ization for the small Black Top label (reissued on Demon). In 1986 they played on the brief Amnesty International tour and opened for Huey Lewis and the News on tour. Recording Uptown for EMI with guests Jerry Garcia, Keith Richards, and Carlos Santana, the Neville brothers received a modicum of recognition with the 1987 compilation set Treacherous, released on Rhino. In 1988 they returned to A&M, where they recorded Yellow Moon, the best-selling album of their career, working with producer Daniel Lanois. It included Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Cyril’s “Sister Rosa,” and “Voodoo.”

In 1989–1990 Aaron Neville broke through into mass popularity thanks to Linda Ronstadt. He recorded four duets with her on her album Cry Like a Rainstorm—Howl Like the Wind.”Don’t Know Much” and “All My Life” became smash pop and top easy-listening hits. Ronstadt coproduced Aaron’s 1991 album Warm Your Heart, which yielded a near- smash pop and top easy-listening hit with “Everybody Plays the Fool.” Meanwhile, the brothers released two other albums, 1990’s Brother’s Keeper and 1992’s Family Groove.

After Aaron’s solo career took off, Charles returned to jazz with the Diversity, while Cyril performed with his reggae band the Uptown All-Stars. Aaron reformed the Meters, replacing original member Modeliste with Russell Batiste in 1990; Nocentelli left the band in 1995, to be replaced by Brian Stoltz, who had previously toured with the Neville Brothers. In 1993 A&M Records issued Aaron Neville’s The Grand Tour, and the Neville Brothers conducted an international tour that produced the excellent live set Live on Planet Earth.

Discography

the neville brothers:TheN. B.(1978); Fiyo on the Bayou (1981); Neville-ization (1984); Treacherous: A History of the N. B. (1955–1985) (1987); Uptown (1987); Treacherous Too: A History of the N. B. (1955–1987) (1991); Yellow Moon (1989); Brother’s Keeper (1990); Family Groove (1992); Live on Planet Earth (1994). art neville: His Specialty Recordings: 1956–1958 (1993); Mardi Gras Rock ’n’ Roll (1987). aaron neville:Like It Is (1967); (reissued as) Tell It Like It Is (1991); Greatest Hits (1990); Golden Classics: Tell It Like It Is (1988); Orchid in the Storm (1985); The Classic: My Greatest Gift (1990); Warm Your Heart (1991); The Grand Tour (1993); The Tattooed Heart (1995). the meters:The Meters (1969); Look-Ka Py Py (1970); Struttin’ (1970); Good Old Funky Music (1990); The Meters lam (1992); Cabbage Alley (1972); Rejuvenation (1974); Fire on the Bayou (1975); Trick Bag (1976); New Directions (1977); Uptown Rulers: The Meters Live on the Queen Mary (1992); Funkify Your Life: The Meters Anthology (1995). the wild tchoupitoulas:The Wild Tchoupitoulas (1976). ivan neville:If My Ancestors Could See Me Now (1988). george porter:Runnin’ Partner (1990).

—Brock Helander