Neville Brothers

Art Neville told The Wall Street Journal, "After [Bette Midler] heard us play at Tipitina's, we spoke and she said she was going to tell Jerry Moss of A&M Records about us. She did, and we were signed."

"One of the great things about doing [Yellow Moon] and working with [producer] Daniel Lanois is that rather than going into a studio somewhere, he kind of built the studio around us. We got this big house in uptown New Orleans near our neighborhood and he brought in all his equipment and set it up acoustically. We would play and he would experiment with placement of microphones and speakers. So we could play without using headphones. The way recordings were done in the old days." By August 1991, the album had sold over 800,000 copies worldwide.

"[Our music is] a combination of different influences. It's rhythm and blues, it's funk, it's jazz, it's African, it's Caribbean, it's Creole, it's swamp!...we just call it a 'gumbo.' Make sure there's a lot of different ingredients."

Fiyo on the Bayou was a funky version of the Neville's concert. The album did not sell well and A&M dropped the Neville Brothers.

In 1981, an unknown Whitney Houston shared back-up vocals with her mother Cissy Houston on the Neville Brothers Fiyo on the Bayou album.

To support the release of Live on Planet Earth, A&M concentrated promotion around New Orleans Jazz &Heritage Festival. The Nevilles opened and closed the festival and made appearances at the festival. A&M issued a three-track promotional CD to adult alternative radio stations.

"We just wanna keep writing songs, and keep making records, and be heard. This is our life, you know? We just wanna keep living it and pave a way for the ones coming behind us, so it won't be so hard for them, "Aaron Neville told Steve Pond.

Sources
  1. The Waxing of Yellow Moon. Scott H. Thompson. New Haven (CT) Advocate, October 16, 1989.
  2. The Neville Brothers. Steve Pond. Rolling Stone, August 8, 1991.
  3. A&M Readies Nevilles' Live Set. Chris Morris. Billboard, March 5, 1994.
  4. The Neville Brothers' Tribute to 'Scar John.' Marc Myers. The Wall Street Journal. April 21, 2015.
Recording Years / Label
1981, 1989-1996 -  A&M Records
Name Member Years Instruments
Aaron Neville 1981, 1989 vocals
Cyril Neville 1981, 1989 vocals
Art Neville 1981, 1989 keyboards
Brian Stoltz 1989 guitars, percussion, vocals
Charles Neville 1981, 1989 percussion
Tony Hall 1989 bass, percussion, vocals
Willie Green 1989 drums
Name Birth Death
Aaron Neville 1941-01-24
Cyril Neville 1948-10-10
Art Neville 1937-12-17 2019-07-22
Brian Stoltz
Charles Neville 1938-12-28 2018-04-26
Tony Hall
Willie Green
Name See associated acts
Aaron Neville Aaron Neville

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