From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Jan 24, 2003  6:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Aaron Neville

AARON NEVILLE

Born Aaron Joseph Neville, 24 January 1941, New Orleans, Louisiana

The third born of the Neville brothers, Aaron has one of the most striking
and unique voices in music.
His early influences were gospel and doo-wop music, singers Pookie Hudson
and Sam Cooke, and cowboy yodelers like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.
He liked to hang out on the street corners singing with his friends. Aaron's
voice must have been remarkable even at that point, because he could get in
basketball games free just by singing for the guy at the door. In 1955, a
teacher
at school encouraged Aaron to join the Avalons, a local vocal group.
In 1958, older brother Art joined the Navy, and Aaron took his place as the
lead singer for the New Orleans group the Hawketts. By the time Aaron
turned 18 he was married and serving time in the parish prison for auto
theft. In jail, there wasn't much to do except sing and fight. Aaron spent
part of his six-month sentence writing songs - both Over You and Jailhouse
were written then. His fellow inmates encouraged him to record the songs
upon release.
Once back on the street, disc jockey Larry McKinley arranged for Aaron to
audition for Allen Toussaint, who was looking for singers to record for the
Minit record label. Between 1960 and 1961 Aaron recorded more than a dozen
songs, almost all of them written by himself or Toussaint (using his "Naomi
Neville" pen name). The combination of Aaron and Toussaint had terrific
results. The Minit material like Wrong Number, Over You, Every Day, and
Waiting at the Station, firmly established Aaron as a serious vocalist.
Although popular in New Orleans, the records made little impact on the
national music scene. Aaron had to resort to menial jobs like dock worker
and truck-driver to support his family.
In 1965, New Orleans musicians Alvin "Red" Tyler and George Davis, along
with school teacher Warren Parker, started a record company called Parlo.
They bought the rights to a song written by Lee Diamond (of "Hattie Malatti"
fame). The song, "Tell It Like It Is", took Diamond about 15 minutes to write.
Parlo's owners, familiar with Aaron's vocal talent, asked him to record it.
The song, which peaked at # 2 pop and # 1 R&B on the national charts,
was more than the local company could handle. After many disputes, Parlo
finally declared bankruptcy. Brother Art put together a backup band, and he
and Aaron toured the country for almost a year on the strength of "Tell It Like
It Is". When they returned home, they added brother Cyril to the group and
called themselves Art Neville and the Neville Sounds. They finally landed a
six-night-a-week job in a Bourbon Street club. Because the stage was so
small, Art had to reduce the size of the group. Regretfully, he had to lay
off Aaron and Cyril.
In 1968, New Orleans, producers Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn started
a recording company called Sansu Enterprises, and asked Aaron to record for
them. As with the Minit releases in the early 60's, the combination of
Aaron's voice and the song writing/production talents of Toussaint worked
magic. They re-recorded brother Art's 50's recording All These Things, and
Aaron's previous hit Tell It Like It Is. The material included Struttin' On
Sunday,
Where Is My Baby, Cry Me a River and Mojo Hanna (which would later become
a staple of the Neville Brothers' live shows). There are some who feel that
Aaron
was at his peak with songs such as the semi-autobiographical Hercules, that
tells the story of a person needing the strength of the mythical hero, to avoid
the urban hazards of crime and drugs. Unfortunately, Aaron couldn't resist the
temptation and became addicted to heroin. Because Sansu leased the singles
to other record companies for final release (Mercury, Bell, Island), the entire
project had little impact on the national record charts or Aaron's wallet.
Deciding to try their luck elsewhere, Aaron and Cyril, formed the group Soul
Machine and headed off to Nashville and New York. Teaming-up with brother
Charles in New York, they started practicing some Mardi Gras Indian songs
and chants they had learned from their uncle, Big Chief Jolly, chief of a
Mardi Gras Indian tribe from their old Uptown neighborhood. They even
started calling themselves the Wild Tchoupitoulas.
Back at home, brother Art had achieved some success with his group the
Meters. They were asked by the Rolling Stones to open their 1974 tour of the
US. Art felt he needed a front man for the group, called Cyril in New York,
and invited him to join the Meters. Cyril and Aaron returned to New Orleans.
Aaron played occasional dates at several area clubs, but had to go back to
construction jobs to support his family.
In 1976, the Wild Tchoupitoulas project started, that led to the formation
of the Neville Brothers as a group.
Since the Neville Brothers as a group began, Aaron has been the most active
in solo endeavours. Since 1985, Aaron has released five solo albums,
contributed songs to various compilation projects, provided backup on many
recordings by others, and had all of his earlier work re-released. He has sung
the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, performed in front of the Nation's
Capitol during Fourth of July celebrations, performed for President Clinton,
has had roles in movies and television (including his favorite show, All My
Children), and received many awards including two Grammy awards.
In 1989, Aaron scored an international hit (# 2 Billboard) with "Don't Know
Much", a duet with Linda Ronstadt, followed by several other hits.

CD: The Ultimate Collection (Hip-O Records, 2001, 20 tracks)
Book: Art, Aaron, Charles and Cyril Neville with David Ritz, The Brothers :
An Autobiography. Boston : Little, Brown, 2000. Paperback : New York :
Da Capo Press, 2001.

Websites:
The Neville Brothers official site: http://www.nevilles.com/
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Neville%20Brothers.html
http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/Aaron-Neville.htm (on which most of
the above is based)