the Neville Brothers
{{short description|American rhythm and blues, soul, and funk band}}
{{For|the English footballers|Gary Neville|Phil Neville}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = The Neville Brothers
| image =
| caption =
| background = group_or_band
| origin = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
| years_active = 1976–2012, 2015
| label = Capitol, Black Top, A&M, EMI, Columbia, Back Porch
| current_members =
| website =
| past_members = *Aaron Neville
}}
The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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").{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Blues|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-673-1|page=280/1}}
Their debut album The Neville Brothers was released in 1978 on Capitol Records.{{cite AV media |people=The Neville Brothers |date=1978 |title=The Neville Brothers|medium=LP|location=Hollywood, CA |publisher=Capitol |id=ST-11865|oclc=5004448}}
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/32nd-annual-grammy-awards|title=32nd Annual GRAMMY Awards|date=2017-11-28|website=GRAMMY.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-23}}
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.{{cite AV media |people=Various artists |date=1990 |title=Red Hot & Blue|medium=CD|location=Hollywood, CA |publisher=Chrysalis |id=F2 21799 |oclc=947953022}}
Also in 1990, they appeared on the bill at that year's Glastonbury Festival.{{cite book|first=John|last=Tobler|year=1992|title=NME Rock 'N' Roll Years|edition=1st|publisher=Reed International Books Ltd|location=London|page=471|id=CN 5585}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/walkin-in-the-shadow-of-life-mw0000140004|title=Walkin' in the Shadow of Life - Neville Brothers | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|access-date=March 9, 2021|publisher=AllMusic}}
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. Aaron moved to Austin briefly at the invitation on his friend, the late blues club impresario, Clifford Antone. 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSGOR58294620071117|title=Neville Bros. return to New Orleans jazz festival|publisher=Reuters|date=November 17, 2007|access-date=9 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2008/05/the_neville_brothers_triumphan.html|title=The Neville Brothers' triumphant Jazzfest return|website=nola.com|access-date=April 9, 2018}}
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 Neville Brothers appear in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film Make It Funky!, which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk and jazz.{{cite journal |author= |date=April 2005 |title=IAJE What's Going On |journal=Jazz Education Journal |location=Manhattan, Kansas |publisher=International Association of Jazz Educators |volume=37 |issue=5 |page=87 |issn=1540-2886 |id={{ProQuest|1370090}} }} In the film, they perform "Fire on the Bayou" with guests Ivan and Ian Neville.{{cite AV media |date=2005 |title=Make It Funky! |type=DVD |language=en |time= |location=Culver City, California |publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |id=11952 |isbn=9781404991583 |oclc=61207781}}
The group formally disbanded in 2012 but reunited in 2015 for a farewell concert in New Orleans.{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/jazzfest/index.ssf/2015/05/neville_brothers_farewell_show.html|title=Neville Brothers farewell concert was both celebratory and confounding|last=Spera|first=Keith|date=May 3, 2015|website=Nola.com|access-date=April 9, 2018}} Charles Neville died of pancreatic cancer on April 26, 2018, at the age of 79.{{cite news|last1=Spera|first1=Keith|title=New Orleans legend Charles Neville, saxophonist for the Neville Brothers, dies at 79|url=http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/entertainment_life/keith_spera/article_e00ad582-4984-11e8-9151-e3720b985ad7.html|work=The New Orleans Advocate|date=April 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427061220/http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/entertainment_life/keith_spera/article_e00ad582-4984-11e8-9151-e3720b985ad7.html|archive-date=2018-04-27|url-status=live}} Art Neville died on July 22, 2019, at the age of 81. A cause of death was not provided.{{Cite web|url=https://apple.news/AothLE1bZRHaI_fXERcTk4g|title=Art Neville, New Orleans funk musician, dead at 81 — CNN|website=Apple.news}}
Discography
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Title ! rowspan="2"| Label ! colspan="3"| Peak chart positions |
|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="35"| US ! width="35"| NZ ! width="35"| UK |
| 1978
| align="left"| The Neville Brothers | Capitol | — | — | — |
| 1981
| align="left"| Fiyo on the Bayou | A&M | 166 | — | — |
| 1987
| align="left"| Uptown | EMI America | 155 | — | — |
| 1989
| align="left"| Yellow Moon | rowspan="4"| A&M | 66 | 16 | — |
| 1990
| align="left"| Brother's Keeper | 60 | 4 | 35 |
| 1992
| align="left"| Family Groove | 103 | 11 | — |
| 1996
| align="left"| Mitakuye Oyasin Oyasin/All My Relations | — | — | — |
| 1999
| align="left"| Valence Street | Columbia | — | — | — |
| 2004
| align="left"| Walkin' in the Shadow of Life | Back Porch/EMI | — | — | — |
| colspan="10" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
=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)
- 1998: Greatest Hits (A&M)
- 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)
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2" style="width:26em;"| Single ! colspan="7"| Peak positions ! rowspan="2"| Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="35"| US R&B ! width="35"| AUS ! width="35"| NZ ! width="35"| NLD ! width="35"| GER ! width="35"| IRE ! width="35"| UK | ||||||
| 1978
! scope="row"| "Washable Ink / Speed of Light" | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="1" |The Neville Brothers |
| 1979
! scope="row"| "Sweet Honey Dripper / Dance Your Blues Away" | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="1" |Non-album single |
| 1981
! scope="row"| "Sitting In Limbo / Brother John / Iko Iko" | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="1" |Fiyo on the Bayou |
| 1987
! scope="row"| "Whatever It Takes" | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="1" |Uptown |
| rowspan="3"|1989
! scope="row"| "Sister Rosa" | 75 | 154 | 23 | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="4" |Yellow Moon |
| scope="row"| "Yellow Moon"
| — || 89 || — || 21 || — || — || — | ||||||
| scope="row"| "With God on Our Side"
| — || — || — || 53 || — || 26 || 47 | ||||||
| rowspan="4"|1990
! scope="row"| "A Change Is Gonna Come" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| scope="row"| "Bird on a Wire"
| — || 160 || 5 || — || 35 || — || 72 | align="left" rowspan="4" |Brother's Keeper | ||||||
| scope="row"| "River of Life"
| — || 159 || — || — || — || — || — | ||||||
| scope="row"| "Fearless"
| — || — || 40 || — || — || — || — | ||||||
| rowspan="2"|1991
! scope="row"| "Sons and Daughters" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| scope="row"| "Drift Away"
| — || — || 19 || — || — || — || — | align="left" rowspan="1" |Treacherous Too! A History of the Neville Brothers | ||||||
| rowspan="3"|1992
! scope="row"| "Fly Like an Eagle" | — | 44 | 8 | 66 | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="4" |Family Groove |
| scope="row"| "One More Day"
| — || — || 29 || — || — || — || — | ||||||
| scope="row"| "On the Other Side of Paradise"
| — || — || — || — || — || — || — | ||||||
| 1993
! scope="row"| "Take Me to Heart" | — | 200 | — | — | — | — | — |
| align="center" colspan="10" style="font-size:9pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. |
=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
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050811234404/http://www.nevilles.com/ Official Neville Brothers Biography / Website]
- [http://www.aaronneville.com/ Official Aaron Neville Website]
{{The Neville Brothers}}
{{NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neville Brothers, The}}
Category:Musical groups established in 1977
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Category:1977 establishments in Louisiana
Category:2012 disestablishments in Louisiana
Category:African-American families
Category:American funk musical groups
Category:American soul musical groups
Category:Family musical groups
Category:Musical groups from New Orleans
Category:Black Top Records artists
Category:Neville family (show business)