The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Neville Brothers | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the Neville Brothers' first album | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, soul, funk |
| Years active | 1977–2012 (one-off reunion: 2015) |
| Labels | Capitol, Black Top, A&M, EMI, Columbia, Back Porch |
| Website | nevilles.com |
| Past members | |
History
The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (1937–2019), Charles (1938–2018), Aaron (b. 1941), and Cyril (b. 1948) came together to take part in the recording session of the Wild Tchoupitoulas, a Mardi Gras Indian group led by the Nevilles' uncle, George Landry ("Big Chief Jolly").
Their debut album The Neville Brothers was released in 1978 on Capitol Records.[1]
In 1987, the group released Uptown on the EMI label, 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 the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance at the 1990 Grammy ceremony.[2]
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.[3]
Also in 1990, they appeared on the bill at that year's Glastonbury Festival.[4] Due to Art Neville devoting more time to his other act, The Meters, the band kept a 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, on 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.[5][6]
Infrequently, Aaron's son Ivan Neville (keyboards) and Art's son Ian Neville (electric guitar), both of the band Dumpstaphunk, have played with the Neville Brothers.
The final Neville Brothers studio album, titled Walkin' in the Shadow of Life, was released in 2004.[7] The group formally disbanded in 2012 but reunited in 2015 for a farewell concert in New Orleans.[8]
Charles Neville died of pancreatic cancer on April 26, 2018, at the age of 79.[9]
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed the Neville Brothers among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[10]
Art Neville died on July 22, 2019, at the age of 81. A cause of death has not yet been provided.[11]
Discography
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B | AUS | NZ | NED | GER [12] |
IRE | UK [13] | |||
| 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" | — | 100 | — | 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)
- 1999: Valence Street (Columbia)
- 2004: Walkin' in the Shadow of Life (Back Porch/EMI)
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, Vol. 2 (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 Millenium Collection: The Best of The Neville Brothers (A&M)
- 2005: Gold (Hip-O/UMe)
Related albums
- 1976: The Wild Tchoupitoulas (with four of The Neville Brothers)
- 1997: Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival by Wyclef Jean (guest appearance on "Mona Lisa")
References
- The Neville Brothers (1978). The Neville Brothers (LP). Hollywood, CA: Capitol. OCLC 5004448. ST-11865.
- "32nd Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. November 28, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- Various artists (1990). Red Hot & Blue (CD). Hollywood, CA: Chrysalis. OCLC 947953022. F2 21799.
- Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 471. CN 5585.
- Editorial, Reuters. "Neville Bros. return to New Orleans jazz festival". reuters.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- "The Neville Brothers' triumphant Jazzfest return". nola.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- Spera, Keith (December 19, 2018). "Art Neville, founding member of the Neville Brothers and the Meters, has retired". The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- Spera, Keith (May 3, 2015). "Neville Brothers farewell concert was both celebratory and confounding". nola.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- Spera, Keith (April 26, 2018). "New Orleans legend Charles Neville, saxophonist for the Neville Brothers, dies at 79". The New Orleans Advocate. Archived from the original on April 27, 2018.
- Rosen, Jody (June 25, 2019). "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- "Art Neville, New Orleans funk musician, dead at 81 — CNN". Apple.news.
- "The Neville Brothers - German Chart". charts.de. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
- "The Official Charts Company - The Neville Brothers". The Official Charts Company. April 6, 2014.
