The Neville Brothers
| The Neville Brothers | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | R&B, soul, funk |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | Capitol, Black Top, A&M, EMI, Columbia, Back Porch |
| Website | Nevilles.com |
| Members |
Art Neville Charles Neville Aaron Neville Cyril Neville Ivan Neville |
The Neville Brothers is an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
History
The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (born 1937), Charles (b. 1938), Aaron (b. 1941), and Cyril (b. 1948) got together to take part in the recording session of The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a Mardi Gras Indian group led by their uncle, George Landry ("Big Chief Jolly").
Art Neville reached out to Paul Howrilla (personal manager for Dr. John) and told him that he always wanted to do something with his brothers. Paul Howrilla created Neville Productions, Inc., serving as president and CEO with all four Neville brothers as members of the board of directors. The newly formed business covered the entire Neville family, designed to protect them from the music business abuse they had previously endured in their individual careers.
This experience led them to form the group the following year. Their debut album was released from Capitol Records in 1978. It included "Bird on a Wire".
In 1988, the group released Uptown from EMI featuring guests including Branford Marsalis, Keith Richards, and Carlos Santana. The following year saw the release of Yellow Moon from A&M Records produced by Daniel Lanois. The track "Healing Chant" from that album won best pop instrumental performance of the Grammy Awards.[1]
In 1990, the Neville Brothers contributed "In the Still of the Night" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Blue produced by the Red Hot Organization. Also in 1990, they appeared on the bill at that year's Glastonbury Festival.[2] This also was the year they recorded "You Can't Stop Running Water" [3] and "Sons and Daughters" on their "Brother's Keeper" album.
Their version of "Bird on a Wire" was played over the closing credits of the 1990 film, Bird on a Wire.
Due to the health problems of Art Neville, the band kept low profile in the late 1990s onto the early 2000s. They made a comeback in 2004, however, with the album, Walkin' In The Shadow Of Life, from Back Porch Records, their first newly recorded effort in five years.
All brothers except Charles, a Massachusetts resident, had been living in New Orleans, but following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 Cyril and Aaron moved out of the city. They had not been performing in New Orleans since Katrina hit the city, however, they finally returned to perform there at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2008, being given the closing spot which had been reserved for them for years.[4][5]
Infrequently, Ivan Neville, Aaron's son (keyboards) and Ian Neville, Art's son (electric guitar), both of the band Dumpstaphunk, have played with the band in recent years.
Discography
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B | AUS | NZ | NED | GER [6] |
IRE | UK [7] | |||
| 1978 | "Washable Ink / Speed of Light" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Neville Brothers |
| 1979 | "Sweet Honey Dripper / Dance Your Blues Away" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| 1981 | "Sitting In Limbo / Brother John/Iko Iko" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Fiyo On The Bayou |
| 1987 | "Whatever It Takes" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Uptown |
| 1989 | "Sister Rosa" | 75 | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | Yellow Moon |
| "Yellow Moon" | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | ||
| "With God on Our Side" | — | — | — | 53 | — | 26 | 47 | ||
| 1990 | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Bird on a Wire" | — | — | 5 | — | 35 | — | 72 | Brother's Keeper | |
| "River of Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Fearless" | — | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991 | "Sons and Daughters" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Drift Away" | — | — | 19 | — | — | — | — | Treacherous Too! A History of The Neville Brothers | |
| 1992 | "Fly Like an Eagle" | — | 44 | 8 | 66 | — | — | — | Family Groove |
| "One More Day" | — | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "On the Other Side of Paradise" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||
Studio albums
- 1978: The Neville Brothers (Capitol)
- 1981: Fiyo on the Bayou (A&M)
- 1987: Uptown (EMI)
- 1989: Yellow Moon (A&M)
- 1990: Brother's Keeper (A&M)
- 1992: Family Groove (A&M)
- 1995: Mitakuye Oyasin Oyasin/All My Relations (A&M)
- 1997: The Carnival (Guest appearance, song "Mona Lisa")
- 1999: Valence Street (Columbia)
- 2004: Walkin' in the Shadow of Life (Back Porch).
Live albums
- 1984: Neville-ization (Black Top)
- 1987: Nevillization 2 (Live at Tipitina's Volume 2) (Spindletop)
- 1994: Live on Planet Earth (A&M)
- 1998: Live at Tipitina's (1982) (Rhino)
- 2010: Authorized Bootleg: Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA, February 27, 1989 (A&M)
Compilation albums
- 1986: Treacherous – A History of The Neville Brothers 1955–1985 (Rhino)
- 1991: Treacherous Too! - A History of the Neville Brothers Volume Two 1955–1987 (Rhino)
- 1997: The Very Best of the Neville Brothers (Rhino)
- 1999: Uptown Rulin' – The Best of the Neville Brothers (A&M)
- 2004: 20th Century Masters: The Best of The Neville Brothers (A&M)
- 2005: Gold (Hip-O)
Related albums
- 1976: The Wild Tchoupitoulas (4 of The Neville brothers)
References
- ↑ Grammy Award Winners, 1989
- ↑ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 471. CN 5585.
- ↑ Axel, Andy, You Can't Stop Running Water
- ↑ Reuters:Neville Bros. return to New Orleans jazz festival
- ↑ nola.com:The Neville Brothers' triumphant Jazzfest return
- ↑ "The Neville Brothers - German Chart". charts.de. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
- ↑ "The Official Charts Company - The Neville Brothers". The Official Charts Company. 6 April 2014.
External links
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