• McDowell Mountain Music Festival

    Aaron Neville at the 2007 McDowell Mountain Music Festival

    It was a loooong, satisfying day yesterday at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival. My wife and I rolled up at about 1:30, right when the music kicked off. We made it until about 9:30, partly into Ratdog’s set. Unfortunately, Mr. Migraine decided to make an appearance and made my wife’s later evening an unpleasant one.

    But the whole day can be be summed up in five simple words: Tell It Like It Is. Yep, the highlight for me was seeing Mr. Aaron Neville sing his 1966 classic. It was one of the most exhilarating and special live music moments of my entire life. I stood at the front of the stage and took it all in. And my Canon SD630 was there too to capture most of the song. I had it bumped down to low resolution, so the video and audio quality isn’t great, but this is what I got to experience.

    At the end of the song, you’ll hear some yahoo scream “Yeeahh! – – baby!! – – I LOVE it!!”. Uh, yeah, that was me.

  • McDowell Mountain Music Festival

    McDowell Mountain Profile: The Neville Brothers

    neville brothers
    Photo by Beate Sandor

    Now we’re getting to the really fun part. I’m excited as hell to say that I’m gonna see the Neville Brothers on Friday! As I mentioned in another post, I saw them at a cool festival in May 1996 called Laguna Seca Daze at the Laguna Seca Race track in Monterey, California (a festival that also included a “Being There”-era Wilco). I remember a really amazing moment as they were playing a version of the Dead’s “Fire on the Mountain” as the sun was setting (nope, not “Fire on the Bayou”). There were rolling green hills behind the stage, and around the bend on a distant hill road came a red fire truck with lights on and the faint sound of the siren. Amazing imagery (pfffffffssstt – pass it on!). Mindblowing dude! 😉

    So where do you even start with the Nevilles? They are an institution in their hometown of New Orleans. Brothers Ivan, Aaron, Cyril, Art and Charles released their first record as the Neville Brothers in 1977 (self-titled). The brothers were active prior to that. Most notably, Art was a founding member of soul/funk pioneers the Meters. For a full bio, check out their site. So thirty years later, here they are still going strong, touring as ambassadors for their suffering city. As New Orleans Jazz Fest kicks off this weekend, I’ll have the honor of catching the Nevilles here in my home, Arizona. I consider myself very privileged.

    The Neville BrothersYellow Moon (mp3) – live in KBCO studios, Boulder

    Previous MMMF Profiles: Gelatinous Groove | 2 Tone Lizard Kings | Tea Leaf Green | Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

  • New Orleans,  Soul

    Required Listening 101 – Tell It Like It Is

    The Big Easy soundtrack

    Is there a better singing voice than Aaron Neville’’s? I really don’t think there is. I was listening to the Big Easy Soundtrack – again – this afternoon, and was inspired to put this out there for the masses; lest someone out there has not heard the Neville Brothers’ live performance of “Tell It Like It Is” from the soundtrack, just listen to this.

    Then buy the soundtrack. The collection of songs on this CD, like the city of New Orleans, is so full of life, so rich, so gratifying, that I think all of humankind should own a copy. So click here and pick one up.

    “From the pages of the The Neville Brothers songbook”: Tell It Like It Is

  • New Orleans,  Soul

    St. Jude Hymn

    Tonight, a great guest post and a very moving hymn :

    On the edge of what used to be the notorious Storyville section of New Orleans, a short walk from the famous St. Louis #1 Cemetery, rests a small and beautiful church, Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel /International Shrine of Saint Jude.

    This church has withstood the test of time and adversity. Surviving through the Civil War, the Reconstruction, coexisting in the heart of Storyville, standing after the horrible aftermath of 1965’s horrible Hurricane Betsy; and, as of August 30, 2005 was still standing amidst the impoverished and crime-ridden projects of New Orleans. Nested in one of the poorest sections of New Orleans, Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel / International Shrine of St. Jude provides a quiet haven for meditation and a place of solace, a place where one can escape the worries of this world for a while.

    Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes and desperate situations. This small chapel exemplifies the very qualities of hope for the hopeless, and help for the helpless, the very qualities that Saint Jude so embodies.

    In March and May of 1987, two masses were held which attracted New Orleans music legends such as Aaron Neville and Allen Toussaint. The ensuing recording from these masses was released as the album “Midnight at St. Judes.” At the time, proceeds from this album and all artists’ royalties were donated to St. Jude’s Community Center in New Orleans.

    Now, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, amidst so much devastation, hopelessness and feelings of helplessness, the track “St. Jude’s Hymn” as sung by that gentle and kind giant of New Orleans, Aaron Neville, resonates in a way that it never has before. If one ever watches Aaron Neville deliver a live performance, one will notice a large, gold medallion hanging from his left ear. On that medallion is the image St. Jude, an image Aaron carries with him to remind him of the power of faith.

    This hymn was composed by a housewife, who is credited only by her more formal married name, Mrs. Herb Quaid. One only need listen to this song for a minute or two to recognize that she creatively used a variation of John Lennon & Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude” as the cornerstone for her lovely hymn.

    One need not be religious to recognize the promise of hope, of help and the promise of a better day when hearing this song sung so beautifully by Aaron Neville.

    It is with the spirit of hope and the belief that no situation is ever a lost cause that I hope you will listen to this hymn. As we watch on the news what will, no doubt, be nightmarish images of loss in the coming days, let us all try to keep alive the spirit of hope and the promise of better days. Hear this song and keep alive the faith that New Orleans will rise up to see another era of glory, and will again be the Multi-Cultural Jewel; the most European-like city that exists in the United States. Listen to this song and believe that many will persevere against impossible circumstances. Sing this hymn with the heartfelt belief that there will be hope for the hopeless, and help for the helpless.

    May our Maker keep us all safe in the days ahead, in particular those souls, both living and departed, who have suffered from Hurricane Katrina.

    – William Innes, September 5, 2005

    Aaron Neville and others: St. Jude Hymn

  • New Orleans

    Louisiana 1927

    After watching a very small part of the NBC Hurricane fund-raiser on TV earlier tonight, I feel compelled to post yet another tune sung by Aaron Neville. The man’s voice is an instrument, and stops me in my tracks when I hear it.

    I saw him perform two songs tonight: a heart-wrenching “Amazing Grace”, and this Randy Newman composition, entitled “Louisiana 1927”. It’s the first track on the same 1991 album as my previously posted A.N. tune “It Feels Like Rain”- the album is ‘Warm Your Heart’.

    (CNN) — In 1926 and 1927, the Mississippi River, heavy from months of rain, started bursting its banks. Land along the river flooded from Illinois on south. Memphis was overrun in the fall of 1926; the waters covered western Mississippi and eastern Louisiana in the months following. Seven hundred thousand people were evacuated or left homeless…. – Read the full Sept. 1st CNN article here.

    I found some interesting credits on this song. The choir in the background consists of, among others, Rita Coolidge and Linda Ronstadt. The choral arrangement was done by Van Dyke Parks, known for his collaborations with Brian Wilson.

    As is the case with most other Americans, I am sick to my stomach over the tragedy down on the Gulf Coast, and the apparent lack of a quick and organized relief effort. Absolutely sickening, but good to see that the tide is starting to turn.

    Aaron Neville: Louisiana 1927 – – – >>> Buy the album here on Amazon.