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Aaron Neville is well known as part of the New Orleans sound of the Neville Brothers.
A mountain of a man; quiet and soft spoken, with one of the most unique voices in music today, Aaron Neville sings with a raw and haunting beauty.
Tell It Like It Is - Table of Contents
- Aaron Neville
- Tell It Like It Is Aaron Neville Video
- Tell It Like It Is The Lyrics
- Tell it Like It Is - Aaron Neville's Life
- Tell It Like It Is the CD 2005
- Tracks From Tell It Like It Is
- A Battered Angel
- Aaron Neville's Awards
- To Make Me Who I Am
- Nature Boy The Standards CD
- Aaron Neville's Voice and Music
- Filmography
- Cancer and Katrina
- The Albums
- Aaron Neville Discography
- The Ultimate Collection CD
- The Tracks From Aaron Neville's Ultimate Collection
- The Brothers an Autobiography of the Neville Brothers
- The Neville Brothers and Friends CD
- News on the Neville Brothers
- Links to Aaron Neville Sites
- New Blog Posts on Aaron Neville
- Stop and Say Hello
Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville The Basics
Birth Date- January 24, 1941Birth Place - New Orleans, Louisiana
Gender - Male
Religion - Catholic
Race / Ethnicity - Black
Aaron Neville was born to Arthur and Amelia Neville, he is the third born of the four Neville brothers, Art, Charles and Cyril. He also has a sister Athelgra. He grew up on Valance Street in uptown New Orleans before moving to the Calliope housing projects. Aaron's father, Arthur worked in the merchant marine and drove a cab while mother Amelia stayed home and raised the children. He was married to Joell Roux Neville from January 10, 1959 to January 5, 2006 and together they had four children and six grandchildren.
Tell It Like It Is Aaron Neville Video
An Oldie But Goodie by Aaron Neville
In 1965, New Orleans musicians George Davis and Alvin "Red" Tyler, along with school teacher Warren Parker, started a record company called Parlo. They bought the rights to a song written by Lee Diamond, the former band leader for Little Richard. 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.
Tell It Like It Is The Lyrics
If you want something to play with
Go and find yourself a toy
Baby my time is too expensive
And I'm not a little boy
If you are serious
Don't play with my heart
It makes me furious
But if you want me to love you
Then a baby I will, girl you know that I will
Tell it like it is
Don't be ashamed to let your conscience be your guide
But I know deep down inside me
I believe you love me, forget your foolish pride
Life is too short to have sorrow
You may be here today and gone tomorrow
You might as well get what you want
So go on and live, baby go on and live
Tell it like it is
I'm nothing to play with
Go and find yourself a toy
But I... Tell it like it is
My time is too expensive and I'm not your little boy
Aaron Neville
Tell it Like It Is - Aaron Neville's Life
Aaron Neville The Early Years
Growing up in a close knit family in New Orleans, he was surrounded by music. At home he heard gospel music and the music of Nat King Cole, Mahalia Jackson and Sarah Vaughn which was played by his parents. Some of his other early influences were Sam Cooke, Pookie Hudson and " cowboy " yodlers such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.
His mother Amelia who was Catholic insisted that the children attend St. Monica's Catholic School. It was there that he became fascinated by the hymn " Ave Maria" which he said would do something to his heart and became a saving grace to him.
Aaron liked to hang out on street corners singing with his friends. Even as a young teenager his voice was remarkable enough that he would sing to gain free entrance to basketball games and movie theaters.
In 1955 a teacher encouraged Aaron to join a local vocal group the " Avalons".
His days of youthful innocence didn't last long, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and was exposed to a gritty musical world where drug use was all too common. Neville tells of the time he came home with his notorious pirate's cutlass tattooed on his cheek and his father was so furious he tried to scrub it off Aaron with steel wool.
In 1958 Art Neville joined the navy and Aaron took his place as the lead singer for the " Hawkettes ". It was during this time that he met his future wife Joel Roux. As Aaron was falling in love with Joel, drugs and bad influences were pulling him in another direction and he wound up going to jail for car theft. When he got out of jail he married Joel on January 10, 1959. Needless to say her upper middle class family was not pleased; her father was a golf pro and housing administrator and Joel was expected to graduate college, not marry a 17 year old high school drop out and aspiring singer. Joel did enroll at Xavier University but quit after their first child Ivan was born in August of 1959.
Between 1960 and 1961 Aaron recorded more than a dozen songs on the Minit record label. Almost all of these songs were written by Aaron and / or Allen Toussaint. These recordings did establish Neville as a serious vocalist. Although they were popular in New Orleans they had little impact on the national scene.
In the early 60's Aaron moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career. Joel encouraged him and his brother Cyril. By this time he was addicted to heroin and to pay for his habit he turned to more serious crimes, carrying knives and cutting people was not unusual. It was in Los Angeles that he was arrested for breaking into a clothing store. Neville says that this changed his life as he had been praying for an end to his addiction and that he had tried to quit a thousand times.
Tell It Like It Is the CD 2005
Songs from Aaron Neville Early and Middle Career Years
Tell It Like It Is
Get it Here On Amazon
Release Date: 03/21/2005
Amazon Price: $16.98 (as of 05/09/2008)
Tracks From Tell It Like It Is
- Hercules
- Strutting on Sunday
- Tell It Like It Is
- Make Me Strong
- Love Letters
- Cry Me a River
- TheGreatest Love
- Where Is My Baby
- Honey
- Performance
- She's on My Mind
- You Can Give
- Mojo Hannah
- You Don't Love Me
- All These Things
- Wild Flower
- My Greatest Gift
- Been So Wrong
- Feelings
- For the Good Times
- One Fine Day
- Baby I'm a Want You
- Waiting for a Bus
- Speak to Me
- Nadine
A Battered Angel
Aaron Neville's Awards
A Lifetime of Achievments
- 1989 32nd Grammy Awards - Winner
Pop Vocal Group - 1990 33rd Annual Grammy Awards - Winner
Pop Vocal Group - 1991 34th Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee - Pop Male Vocalist
- 1991 34th Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Best Engineered Album - 1992 Rolling Stone Critics' Poll - Winner
Best Male Singer - 1993 Rolling Stone Critics' Poll - Winner
Best Male Singer - 1993 36th Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Pop Male Vocalist - 1993 36th Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - 1994 Academy of Country Music Awards - Nominee
Vocal Duet of the Year
"I Fall to Pieces"
Aaron Neville, Trisha Yearwood - 1994 37th Annual Grammy Awards - Winner
Best Country & Western Vocal Collaboration
"I Fall to Pieces"
Aaron Neville, Trisha Yearwood - 1998 41st Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
"To Make Me Who I Am"
Aaron Neville - 2000 43rd Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album
Devotion
Aaron Neville - 2001 Big Easy Awards - Winner
Best Gospel Singer
Aaron Neville - 2003 35th Annual Dove Awards - Nominee
Traditional Gospel Album of the Year - 2003 46th Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Best Engineered Album - Non-Classical
Nature Boy - The Standards Album - 2003 46th Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Nature Boy - The Standards Album - 2003 46th Annual Grammy Awards - Nominee
Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album
Believe - 2004 Big Easy Awards - Nominee
Best Male Artist - 2004 Big Easy Awards - Nominee
Album of the Year
To Make Me Who I Am
Aaron Neville It Took Me Who I Was
Once I was a schemerBut I always was a dreamer
But it took me who I was and where I've been
To make me who I am
Aaron Neville
At home in New Orleans Joel and Aaron's mother Amelia were praying novenas to Saint Jude. As Aaron awaited trial and a possible stiff sentence he returned to New Orleans on bond and joined his mother most days praying also to the patron Saint of hopelessness.
On the day of his sentencing Aaron was assured that a lenient judge would here his case, but it just so happened that he was on vacation and the judge that was on duty was giving out jail time like it was water. Standing in the court room with his St Jude medal Aaron was sentenced to 1 - 14 years suspended and served a year fighting fires at a forestry camp outside of Los Angeles. To this day he still wears a St Jude medal in his ear. During that year at the forestry camp Aaron broke free of his drug addiction and started working out , but his heart ached for his wife and children.
Returning to New Orleans Neville took jobs digging ditches and working on the docks to support his family. eventually he signed with a new and fledgling record label Par-Lo. He recorded Tell It Like It Is written by Lee Diamond. The recording hit the top of the national music charts, unfortunately Par-Lo went bankrupt before Aaron saw much money from the record. Aaron and brother Art toured the country for almost a year on the strength of the hit record. The traveling became another opportunity to abuse drugs and again he became hooked on heroin. Neville would later tell of his many attempts to quit. He would quit cold turkey suffering severe withdrawal alone, sweating and trembling on the back of a Greyhound bus going to the next gig. Unsure of where his career was going and addicted to drugs, Aaron would wander the streets of New Orleans looking for a fix while at the same time repeatedly singing the " Ave Maria" to himself for hep.
In 1968 Aaron recorded songs for Allen Toussaint and Sansu Enterprises. Some feel that Aaron was at his peak during this time, but again the project had little impact on the national record charts and on Neville's finances. Again he found solace with drugs. One day in 1972 he returned home to an empty house, Joel and the children had left him and moved in with her parents who forbade her to see him again.
In 1976 the Neville brothers were getting some recognition as the Wild Tchoupitoulas which would later lead to the formation of the Neville Brothers in 1978. Bette Midler heard them play at a local club and persuaded A&M Records to offer them a contract.
It was at this time that Aaron put to music a poem " Lovely Lady dressed in Blue" that he had learned at St Monica's School as a child , he had an ephiphany and realized the depth of his addiction. Aaron checked himself into rehab and made the decision to cut all ties to the "demon" that had held him hostage for so many years. Neville says that he has never touched a drug since that time. He and Joel would later reconcile.
At the 1984 World's fair singer Linda Ronstadt came to see the Neville Brothers show and was so entranced with Aaron's ethereal sound that she came on stage to sing several duets. They would later record " Don't know Much " which was a hit and won one of Aaron Neville's several Grammy awards.
Since then Aaron Neville has released solo albums, provided backup on many recordings by others, had all of his earlier work rerecorded, has sung the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, performed in front of the Nation's capitol, performed for President Clinton, has had roles in movies and television including his favorite daytime show " All My Children " and has received many awards.
Since Aaron relaunched his solo career in 1991 he has included a spiritual track at the end of all his records.
With his new found success Aaron was able to give Joel everything he always wanted to and he moved his wife and family to a spacious home on a golf course where he dreamed of living for the rest of their lives. That was not to be.
Nature Boy The Standards CD
Another Aaron Neville CD
Nature Boy: The Standards Album
Amazon Price: $18.98 (as of 05/09/2008)
List Price: $18.98
the material is culled from a variety of pop and jazz standards. With a rhythm section consisting of bassist Ron Carter, drummer Grady Tate, and guitarist Anthony Wilson, Neville puts his Crescent City charm on old favorites such as "Danny Boy" with guitarist Ry Cooder; "Since I Fell For You" with his saxophonist brother, Charles Neville; and a silken rendition of "Cry Me a River" with tenor sax titan Michael Brecker. Ms. Ronstadt guest stars on "Blame It on My Youth," with Roy Hargrove providing the creamy Clifford Brown-tones. Even as he sings Gershwin's "Summertime" as a reggae number, Aaron Neville's vivid voice echoes the eternal tones of the late Benny Carter's vibrato-rich alto sax sound. One question: Why wasn't this done before?
Release Date: 08/26/2003
Aaron Neville's Voice and Music
Do You Love Aaron Neville's Voice and Music ?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes, Yes, Yes
WiltonElder says:
Absolutely! Anyone with functioning ears *has* to love Aaron's voice ;-)
Posted March 31, 2008
WiltonElder says:
Absolutely! Anyone with functioning ears should love Aaron's voice ;-)
Posted March 31, 2008
Cinetech says:
I loved his voice, since I first noticed it in Daniel Lanois' album Acadie. Have you listened to his version of "With God in Our Side"? I have it in my Lanois lens. Thanks for doing this!
Posted March 23, 2008
fromlu2you says:
I have always loved Aaron's music but I did not know that much about him personally. great lens.
Posted March 22, 2008
Not a Fan
Filmography
Films and TV Specials that Neville has Appeared In
- Everybody's All-American
Released: November 04, 1988 (USA)
Release By: Warner Brothers
Cast and Crew:
Jessica Lange
Dennis Quaid
Timothy Hutton
John Goodman
Ray Baker - Saturday Night Live
This 1989 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Robert Wagner and features musical guests Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville - Duets: Rob Wasserman with Aaron Neville and Lou Reed
This musical compilation features the talents of Lou Reed and Aaron Neville, along with bassist Rob Wasserman. "Stardust," is done by Neville, and Reed solos on "One For My Baby." - Tune in Tomorrow
Released: October 26, 1990
Cast and Crew:
Peter Falk
Keanu Reeves
Barbara Hershey
Hope Lange
Bill McCutcheon - Zandalee1991
Cast and Crew:
Nicolas Cage
Judge Reinhold
Erika Anderson
Viveca Lindfors
Joe Pantoliano - Posse 1993
Cast and Crew:
Mario Van Peebles
Stephen Baldwin
Charles Lane
Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr.
Big Daddy Kane - F.T.W.
Cast and Crew:
Mickey Rourke
Lori Singer
Brion James
Peter Berg - Harry Connick, Jr.: The Christmas Special 1994
Cast and Crew:
Carol Burnett
Aaron Neville
Harry Connick, Jr. - Mulholland Falls
Cast and Crew:
Nick Nolte
Melanie Griffith
Chazz Palminteri
Michael Madsen
Chris Penn - Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales
Produced By: / HBO 2000
Cast and Crew:
Tony Bennett
Natalie Cole
Lauryn Hill
Patti LaBelle
Aaron Neville - T.D. Jakes Presents: Follow the Star 2004
Cast and Crew:
Vickie Winans
Smokie Norful
Aaron Neville
Kirk Whalum
T.D. Jakes
Cancer and Katrina
Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Joell Neville
Aaron Neville was on tour when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, destroying his home, his careers memento's his neighborhood and city. His family was able to save his four Grammy's from the wreckage. Although Aaron participated in dozens of benefits for hurricane Katrina victims he did not return to New Orleans. Aaron has said " I've got a memory and I'll leave it at that. It's a packet of memories. But the New Orleans I know is not there anymore." Joel Neville Aaron's wife, the love of his life was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004. The doctors gave her three months to live, but she battled the cancer into remission with radiation and chemotherapy. Her health still being an issue they decided New Orleans was no place for her. The family settled in Brentwood Tennessee down the road from Dolly Parton. Throughout this ordeal Aaron and his manager considered when and how Neville might return to New Orleans.In the end it was Joel who brought him home - to bury her. It was not the homecoming anyone wanted. In the spring of 2006 Joel got sick again, the cancer had spread. Ad the end drew near Aaron kept virgel at Joel's bedside. On January 5, 2006 the Lord came for her. On January 10, their wedding anniversary, Aaron returned to New Orleans for the first time since Katrina, to lay to rest Joel, his wife of 48 years.
When Aaron will return again to New Orleans is uncertain. He says that he anticipates one final trip to New Orleans to be buried with the love of his life.
The Albums
The Album Covers for Aaron Nevilles Discography
Aaron Neville Discography
- Aaron Neville: Greatest Hits (1967)
- Orchid in the Storm (1985)
- My Greatest Gift (1990)
- Tell It Like It Is
Curb Records, 1991 - Warm Your Heart
A&M Records, 1991 - Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas (1993)
- The Grand Tour
A&M Records, 1993 - The Tattooed Heart
A&M Records, 1995 - Can't Stop My Heart
A&M Records, 1995 - Doing It Their Own Way
Tell-It, 1996 - To Make Me Who I Am
A&M Records, 1997 - The Very Best of Aaron Neville
Universal/A&M, 2000 - Devotion, 2000
- Aaron Neville - The Ultimate Collection
Hipp-O Records, 2001 - The Best of Aaron Neville - The Millennium Collection
A&M Records, 2002 - Gospel Roots
EMI Gospel Records, 2003 - Love Songs
A&M Records, 2003 - Believe
EMI Records, 2003 - Nature Boy
Verve Music Group, 2003 - Christmas Prayer
EMI Gospel, 2005 - Bring It On Home - The Soul Classics
Burgundy Records, 2006 - Mojo Soul, 2005
The Ultimate Collection CD
Another Neville Cd and Reviews
Ultimate Collection
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Get Ready For Romance
I love Aaron Neville's voice and the song choices on this album take me back to the old days. Can't listen without cranking it up for those fantastic runs.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Cd
This was a must have addition to my husband's collection. You won't be disappointed with this CD.
5.0 out of 5 stars Superstar
I have heard Aaron Neville in concert with his brothers in the past. I must say I would rather hear just him with his brothers in the background.
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the Best
I can honestly say this is the best CD I have ever listened to. If you love the voice of Aaron Neville and love music that speaks from the heart, buy this CD-- You won't regret it.
Amazon Price: $9.97 (as of 05/09/2008)
The Tracks From Aaron Neville's Ultimate Collection
- To Make Me Who I Am
- Don't Know Much
- For Your Precious Love
- Everybody Plays the Fool
- A Change Is Gonna Come
- Arianne
- Warm Your Heart
- Hercules
- Why Worry
- Sweet Little Mama
- Over You
- I'm Waitin' at the Station
- Jailhouse
- Mojo
- Show Me the Way
- Ten Commandments of Love
- You Never Can Tell
- All My Life
- Pledging My Love
- Tell It Like It Is
The Brothers an Autobiography of the Neville Brothers
by The First Family of New Orleans
The Brothers
From Publishers Weekly
This oral history by the members of the Neville Brothers, currently New Orleans's most popular and well-known funk/R&B/rock band, is a must-read for fans and hardcore students of New Orleans music. Coauthor David Ritz, whose critically acclaimed biographies of Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin have established him as an insightful chronicler of difficult musical personalities, here lets each of the four Neville Brothers display "his voice, his musical personality, and his own story." While the brothers' lives and experiences often overlapAespecially when discussing the New Orleans of their youth, their various drug addictions and their run-ins with women, the law and all types of unscrupulous characters from the fringes of the music businessAthe book achieves Ritz's goal of capturing each brother's cadences and "distinct grooves." Art, the oldest, is a natural archivist of New Orleans musical culture. Charles, who spent some time in Mississippi's infamous Angola jail, captures the impact of "the hierarchy of skin color" in New Orleans, New York and Los Angeles. Aaron, whose recording of "Tell It Like It Is" immediately placed him in the pantheon of classic New Orleans singers, is the most sensitive to how their music has changed as the brothers pursued individual, then combined, careers. Cyril, the youngest, is the most articulate about newer political and musical influences on New Orleans. "In Their Own Words"-style biographies have been a staple of music books, usually quickly churned out to meet demands of current fans of disposable pop music, but, while it suffers from some repetition, this volume captures the fascinating lives of crucial players in the New Orleans tradition with candor and style. 16 pages of photos.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Amazon Price: (as of 05/09/2008)
The Neville Brothers and Friends CD
Get This Cd on Amazon
The Neville Brothers & Friends - Tell It Like It Is
Product Description
The legendary Neville Brothers are joined by an extraordinary group of musical guests for an exciting, once in a lifetime musical event filmed live at the famed Storyville Jazz Hall in New Orleans. Musical guests include Gregg Allmann, Ed Bradley, Jimmy Buffett, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Dixie Cups, Herbie Hancock, John Hiatt, Daniel Lanois, Ivan Neville, Dennis Quaid, Bonnie Raitt, Buckwheat Zydeco. Songs include: 30 N x 90 W, Yellow Moon, Falling Out of Love, Closer to You, Midnight Rider, Tell It Like It Is, My Blood, Sixty Minute Man, Sister Rosa, Fire and Brimstone, Middle of the Night, Ya Ya, Brother John, Iko Iko, Fire on the Bayou.
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 05/09/2008)
News on the Neville Brothers
- Neville Brothers Return to Close Jazzfest
- It will be the first time since Hurricane Katrina that the Neville Brothers close the event. For a decade before the storm, the wrap-up performance by one ...
- New Orleans sings praise as Neville Brothers finally reunite
- NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? The Neville Brothers, who traditionally help close out the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, returned to the big stage Sunday for the ...
- Summer Concert Calendar
- Here's a list of concerts through September at local arenas and amphitheaters: 13: The Neville Brothers and Dr. John, Chateau Ste. ...
- Neville Brothers reign as first family of funk
- "The Neville Brothers are not just local heroes," says Scott Aiges, director of programs for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the group that ...
Links to Aaron Neville Sites
Aaron Neville Official Website and Myspace
- Aaron Neville Official Website
- The Official Aaron Neville Website
- Aaron Neville on Myspace
- MySpace music profile for Aaron Neville with tour dates, songs, videos, pictures, blogs, band information, downloads and more
New Blog Posts on Aaron Neville
- New Orleans sings praise as Neville Brothers finally reunite
- Aaron is the latest Neville brother to return to the area. He's buying a house in Covington, La., about 40 miles from New Orleans. Art Neville returned to New Orleans soon after the storm but still isn't back in his house. ...
- New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2008 Three-Day Photo Mix: The ...
- New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2008 Three-Day Photo Mix: The New Orleans Jazz Vipers, Aaron Neville's Gospel Soul, The Roots, John Mooney & Bluesiana, Bobby McFerrin & Chick Corea, The John Hammond Quartet, A Tribute to Max Roach ...
- somebody scream! Jazz Fest 2008 in pictures
- The 39th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival closed Sunday with a homecoming, as the Neville Brothers, the city's first family of funk, returned to perform together for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. ...
Stop and Say Hello
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Billco
My goodness there is a lot of info on this lens. Great work! Posted May 07, 2008 |
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dtbs
Aaron Neville!! Woot-woot! thanks for sharing this info! please check mine out at----------------> Kava Kava. Posted May 07, 2008 |
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NewRiver
Wonderful lens! Saw you on the stores board. Posted April 07, 2008 |
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chefkeem
This is a lens that kept me on the edge of my seat, all the way to the end. I love Aaron's voice and his songs, but I didn't know many details about his life, and your story design is very clever. ***** Posted April 02, 2008 |
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beachbum_gabby
fantastic lens and fan site! Posted April 02, 2008 |
