The Brothers Neville - Hardcover

Art Neville; Aaron Neville; Charles Neville; Cyril Neville; David Ritz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316730092 ISBN 13: 9780316730099

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2000

Synopsis

In a unique autobiography, the four Neville brothers--Art, Aaron, Charles, and Cyril--take turns chronicling their journey from a segregated, crime-ridden New Orleans to the heights of the music industry, as they offer an inspiring memoir about the importance of one's heritage and the bonds of family. 25,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

After decades as cult musicians, New Orleans's Neville Brothers spent the '90s solidifying their position as a minor American institution. Torchbearers for both tight, lean funk (Art and Cyril were key players in the profoundly influential '70s combo the Meters) and soul-gripping balladry (Aaron scored a 1966 No. 2 hit with "Tell It Like It Is" before resurfacing as a solo and group star in the late '80s), the Neville Brothers band has found a diverse audience with open ears for its message of rhythm and community.

Before that happened, though, the brothers lived thug life as hard as Tupac Shakur ever did. Open the first two-thirds of this oral history to any random page, and you'll find rhapsodies about musicians as far afield as Professor Longhair, Ellis Marsalis, and Billy Stewart--or something quite a bit darker, like Cyril's remembrance of a near deadly razor fight: "I'm bleeding like a hog.... [T]hey needed 180 stitches to sew my neck together... [and] some Demerol to get me even higher and let me go back to the gig--the same night--where I carried on, singing 'Cold Sweat' and 'Heard It Through the Grapevine' as though the shit had never happened." Vividly told by the Nevilles and smartly organized by Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye biographer David Ritz, this is a resounding look at how these musicians put drugs, violence, and industry troubles behind them to become a veteran touring act and Grammy machine. If not quite the equal of drummer (and fellow New Orleanian) Earl Palmer's Backbeat, this is a fine, often chilling look both back and forward. --Rickey Wright

About the Author:

David Ritz is the author of Faith in Time: The Life of Jimmy Scott, Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye, and many other books with or about Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and B.B. King. He is a three-time winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award. He lives in Los Angeles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0316730092
• ISBN 13: 9780316730099
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384