Cyril, Charles and Art, the New Orleans-based Neville brothers, started their musical careers as The Hawketts. In 1954, they scored a regional hit with “Mardi Gras Mambo.” The song is now a mainstay at Mardi Gras, being particularly popular in the Second Line.
The Hawketts morphed into The Meters, becoming the house band for Allen Toussaint, the legendary New Orleans performer, writer, arranger and producer. In 1966, Toussaint produced Aaron Neville singing the soon-to-be classic song, “Tell It Like It Is.”
The hit single reached No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 2 on the pop charts. But Neville gained little, financially, from the song’s success. Without a follow-up hit he was dropped by his record label and by 1968 he was working again as a longshoreman to support his family and himself.
A decade later, in 1977, the four brothers reunited to officially become The Neville Brothers. Their 1981 album, "Fiyo on the Bayou," celebrated the spirit and culture of New Orleans with “Hey Pocky Way” and “Brother John/ Iko Iko.” It also sparked a new interest in Aaron Neville as a solo vocalist through his interpretations of “The Ten Commandments of Love” (if you listen to the original by Harvey and the Moonglows you’ll find there are only 9 commandments in the lyric) and Nat King Cole’s signature tune “Mona Lisa.”
In 1989, The Neville Brothers team with Daniel Lanois, producer of albums by artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, and U2. Lanois, in collaboration with Brian Eno, brought an interesting new edge to the band’s sound and pushed the Brothers further afield in their choice of material. Dylan’s anti-war indictment “With God on Our Side” sounds as if it were sung on a battlefield cemetery. Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” is followed by “Sister Rosa,” a tribute to Rosa Parks and her part in the history of America. The title cut on the album is “Yellow Moon,” written by Aaron Neville. It is essential Neville Brothers: Aaron’s plaintive tenor over a rhythmically complex deep mid-tempo groove. Brother Charles puts the polish on with tasteful, jazzy sax work.
Jump 25 years forward. It’s January 2013. It’s been 57 years since Aaron Neville joined The Hawketts. It’s been 47 years since Aaron Neville topped the charts with “Tell It Like It Is.” And what is Aaron Neville doing at age 72? He is releasing a new album paying homage to the artists and songs that most influenced him as a teenager.
My True Story is a collection of great songs from the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Doo-wop is the matter at hand and the album delivers on its promise, especially on the title cut.
and the album closer, The Fleetwoods’ wonderfully titled “Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams.”) How can you not love an album by a man who has been singing for almost 60 years and includes not only “Under the Boardwalk” but “Work With Me Annie” and “Tears on My Pillow” as well.
“It's been a long, a long time coming But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.” Sam Cooke
