Arthur Lanon Neville Jr. (December 17, 1937 – July 22, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Neville was a staple of the New Orleans music scene for over five decades. He was the founder of the funk band

The Meters The Meters (later The Funky Meters) are an American funk band formed in 1965 in New Orleans by Zigaboo Modeliste (drums), George Porter Jr. (bass), Leo Nocentelli (guitar) and Art Neville (keyboards). The band performed and recorded their o ...

whose musical style set the tone of New Orleans funk, a co-founder of the rock-soul-jazz band

The Neville Brothers The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. History The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (1937–2019), Charles (1938–2018), Aaron (b. 19 ...

, and he later formed the spinoff group The Funky Meters. He performed on many recordings by notable artists from New Orleans and elsewhere, including

Labelle Labelle was an American funk rock band that originated out of the Blue Belles, a girl group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around ...

(on "

Lady Marmalade "Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan that is famous for the French refrain of "''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir''?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "''Do you want to sleep with m ...

"),

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Lee Dorsey Irving Lee Dorsey (December 24, 1924 – December 1, 1986) was an American pop and R&B singer during the 1960s. His biggest hits were " Ya Ya" (1961) and " Working in the Coal Mine" (1966). Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint, wit ...

Robert Palmer Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, sartorial elegance and stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, regga ...

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

and

Professor Longhair Henry Roeland Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980), better known as Professor Longhair or "Fess" for short, was an American singer and pianist who performed New Orleans blues. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday o ...

. He was the recipient of three Grammy awards.

Life and career

Neville grew up in

. He was the son of Amelia (Landry) and Arthur Neville Sr. He started on piano and performed with his brothers at an early age. He was influenced by the R&B styles of

James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and a pianist of extraordinary technical skill, he was dubbed "the Blac ...

Bill Doggett William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk ...

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artis ...

Lloyd Glenn Lloyd Colquitt Glenn (November 21, 1909 – May 23, 1985) was an American R&B pianist, bandleader and arranger, who was a pioneer of the "West Coast" blues style. Career Born in San Antonio, Texas, from the late 1920s, Glenn played with various ...

and

. In high school he joined and later led The Hawketts. In 1954 the band recorded "

Mardi Gras Mambo "Mardi Gras Mambo" is a Mardi Gras-themed song written by Frankie Adams and Lou Welsch. The song's best known version was recorded in 1954 by the Hawketts, whose membership included Art Neville, a founding member of the Meters and the Neville B ...

" with Neville on vocals. The song gained popularity and became a New Orleans carnival anthem. The band toured with

Larry Williams Lawrence Eugene Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist from New Orleans. He is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to ...

. Neville performed regularly in New Orleans, joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in 1958, and returned to music in 1962. He released several singles as a lead artist in 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1960s Neville formed the Neville Sounds. The band included his brothers

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

and

Cyril Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek language, Greek name (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek (''kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various variant forms of t ...

, as well as

George Porter George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, (6 December 1920 – 31 August 2002) was a British chemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967. Education and early life Porter was born in Stainforth, near Thorne, in the then West ...

Leo Nocentelli Leo Nocentelli (born June 15, 1946) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the funk band the Meters. He wrote the original versions of several funk classics such as " Cissy Strut" and "Hey ...

, and

Ziggy Modeliste Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste (born December 28, 1948), also known as Zigaboo Modeliste, is an American drummer best known as a founding member of the funk band the Meters. He is widely considered an innovator in the funk genre and New Orleans style ...

. Shortly after, Aaron and Cyril left the group to form their own band. The remaining four members continued playing at the Nitecap and the Ivanhoe nightclubs. The band backed many notable artists such as

, Betty Harris and

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. They have had a repertoire with many genres, they have sold around 50 million records throughout their ...

. The band had a strong sense of groove and unlike traditional groups each instrument was free to lead and go anywhere musically. Over time the band's style came to represent New Orleans funk. In the late 1960s the band changed its name to

and released three instrumental albums. Early on, compositions were through live improvisation; however, this changed in the early 1970s. The band gained notoriety in the rock music community including with musicians

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. The group released five more albums and disbanded in late 1970s due to financial, managerial and artistic factors. The band's musical style emphasized rhythm over melody and had a lasting impact on upcoming musical styles such as hip-hop as well as jam bands including

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

Galactic Galactic is an American funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

and the

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

In 1978 Neville and his brothers

and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

formed

. Previously, the brothers had worked on ''

The Wild Tchoupitoulas The Wild Tchoupitoulas were originally a group of Mardi Gras Indians formed in the early 1970s by George "Big Chief Jolly" Landry. Landry, with his self-identified Choctaw heritage, had been an active performer in the Mardi Gras Indian styling f ...

'' album. The group's debut album, titled ''The Neville Brothers'', was released in 1978. In 1981 music critic

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

wrote: the Neville Brothers' style of soul music combines "funk, doo-wop, reggae and salsa under the banner of New Orleans rhythm and blues". The group released several albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Fiyo on the Bayou'' and '' Yellow Moon'', and an album in 2004. During this period, Neville performed several shows with the original Meters bandmates including a 1989 reunion at the

New Orleans Jazz Festival The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...

. Following that performance, Neville, Porter, Nocentelli and Russell Batiste formed The Funky Meters. The lineup changed in 1994 with Brian Stoltz replacing Nocentelli on guitar. Neville performed concurrently with both The Neville Brothers and The Funky Meters. In a 1995 interview, Neville spoke about the joy of live improvisation. He said "The best part, to me, is when the hythmjust evolves into some other stuff." Neville received a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

in 1989 with The Neville Brothers for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. He received a Grammy in 1996 with various artists for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in "SRV Shuffle", a tribute to

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

. He was nominated for a Grammy in 1999 in category Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. He received a

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achiev ...

in 2018 as a member of The Meters. Neville served as narrator, was interviewed on screen and appeared in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film '' Make It Funky!'', which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. Neville retired from music in December 2018. He died in New Orleans at the age of 81 on July 22, 2019, after years of declining health. He was survived by his wife of thirty three years, Lorraine, three children, a sister and his two brothers Aaron and Cyril. The

Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely known for its Gramm ...

and Louisiana governor John B. Edwards released statements in recognition of Neville's contributions to New Orleans music.

Personal life

Neville was married to wife Lorraine and they had two children, Ian and Amelia.

Arthel Neville Arthel Helena Neville (born October 20, 1962) is an American journalist, television personality, and weekend anchor for Fox News, based in Manhattan alongside co-anchor Eric Shawn. Neville is the daughter of Doris Neville and Art Neville, a Gram ...

, born from first wife Doris Neville, is a journalist, television personality and news anchor for

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

. Ian Neville is a guitar player and a founding member of Dumpstaphunk, a New Orleans–based funk and jam band. He occasionally performed with The Funky Meters,

Slightly Stoopid Slightly Stoopid is an American Rock music, rock band based in the Ocean Beach, San Diego, Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, m ...

, and Dr. Klaw.

Discography

Singles

Adapted from

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

. *1955 "

" / "Your Time's Up" ''(Chess 1591)'' (with the Hawketts) *1957 "Oooh-Whee Baby" / "The Whiffenpoof Song" ''(Specialty 592)'' *1958 "Cha Dooky Do" / "Zing Zing" ''(Specialty 637)'' *1959 "What's Going On" / "Arabian Love Call" ''(Specialty 656)'' *1961 "Too Much" / "That Rock 'n' Roll Beat" ''(Instant 3236)'' *1962 "All These Things" / "Come Back Love" ''(Instant 3246)'' *1963 "You Won't Do Right" / "Skeet Skat" ''(Instant 3256)'' *1963 "Lover of Love (Part 1)" / "Lover of Love (Part 2)" ''(Cinderella 1201)'' *1965 "My Babe" / "My Dear Dearest Darling" ''(Cinderella 1400)'' *1965 "My Dear Dearest Darling" / " Little Liza Jane" ''(Cinderella 1401)'' *1966 "Buy Me A Rainbow" / "Hook Line and Sinker" ''(Instant 3276)'' *1966 "House on The Hill (Rock 'n' Roll Hootenanny" / "Darling, Don't Leave Me This Way" ''(Instant 3281)'' (rumored to exist) *1968 "Bo Diddley (part 1)" / "Bo Diddley (part 2)" ''(Sansu 481)'' (with The Meters) *1968 "Heartaches" / "I'm Gonna Put Some Hurt On You" ''(Sansu 482)'' (with The Meters)

Other contributions

*2007 '' Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

)

References

External links

Art Neville biography
at Nevilles.com *
Interview with Art Neville
at Grammy.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, Art 1937 births 2019 deaths American funk keyboardists American male organists American session musicians Chess Records artists Neville family (show business) Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Specialty Records artists Singers from Louisiana The Meters members The Neville Brothers members 21st-century American organists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American keyboardists 20th-century American keyboardists 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American musicians