Aaron Neville Book:

		List Price: $17.95		Publisher: Da Capo Press Salesrank: 403141 Released: November 13, 2001
		Our Price: $11.99
		Used Price: $3.62
		Media: Paperback

Editorial Review:
First time in paperback: The first family of New Orleans music shares its life story.

Born to a music-loving family, the Neville brothers grew up immersed in the sounds and culture of New Orleans, and the blended rhythms of the city are reflected in their wide range of musical styles. The result, like their native city, is a rich gumbo of flavors: Art, with his keyboard wizardry; Aaron, with his angelic voice; Charles, a spiritual seeker and jazz devotee; and Cyril, whose passion for music matches the intensity of his politics. In The Brothers, each tells his story candidly, recounting the early hits, the problems with drugs and the law, and the circuitous route to success. Along the way, the brothers tell the story of the New Orleans culture as well-the birth of rhythm and blues, the folklore behind the fabulous Mardi Gras Indians, the painful racial climate, and the family whose legacy is now a part of our musical history.

Description of The Brothers: An Autobiography:
After decades as cult musicians, New Orleans's Neville Brothers spent the '90s solidifying their position as a minor American institution. Torchbearers for both tight, lean funk (Art and Cyril were key players in the profoundly influential '70s combo the Meters) and soul-gripping balladry (Aaron scored a 1966 No. 2 hit with "Tell It Like It Is" before resurfacing as a solo and group star in the late '80s), the Neville Brothers band has found a diverse audience with open ears for its message of rhythm and community.

Before that happened, though, the brothers lived thug life as hard as Tupac Shakur ever did. Open the first two-thirds of this oral history to any random page, and you'll find rhapsodies about musicians as far afield as Professor Longhair, Ellis Marsalis, and Billy Stewart--or something quite a bit darker, like Cyril's remembrance of a near deadly razor fight: "I'm bleeding like a hog.... [T]hey needed 180 stitches to sew my neck together... [and] some Demerol to get me even higher and let me go back to the gig--the same night--where I carried on, singing 'Cold Sweat' and 'Heard It Through the Grapevine' as though the shit had never happened." Vividly told by the Nevilles and smartly organized by Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye biographer David Ritz, this is a resounding look at how these musicians put drugs, violence, and industry troubles behind them to become a veteran touring act and Grammy machine. If not quite the equal of drummer (and fellow New Orleanian) Earl Palmer's Backbeat, this is a fine, often chilling look both back and forward. --Rickey Wright

The Brothers: An Autobiography Reviews:
Fabulous book!
2009-12-16 - Great book about my favorite musical family. I've read it twice, and reread portions often. If you like the Nevilles, you'll love this book.

Great Book!!!
2009-04-16 - This is a great Autobiography. David Ritz's format is really good. Each brother told their own stories and the were all connected. I feel I know the Neville Brothers personally. The transparancy of each brother and their life stories are moving. Thanks for sharing so much of yourselves.

A Musical Journey to Self Discovery
2005-10-23 - The Brothers is a extraordinary look at how music and culture nurture us and redeem us. The power of this book lies in the unashamed honesty of the Neville Brothers and the wisdom and confidence of the author to allow the brothers to tell their own story. Unencumbered by analysis or author's comments, the brothers simply present their stories while the author ties the threads together to show how the Neville brothers as individuals worked through their personal problems and came together as a family and a musical group. There is no other book that means more to me than The Brothers. Their story has helped me to make sense of my own journey as an American journalist and music critic living and working on the island of Trinidad in the West Indies.

Extraordinary!
2001-10-09 - David Ritz has helped many rhythm and blues musicians write their autobiographies, including Ray Charles, B. B. King, Marvin Gaye, Etta James, and Aretha Franklin. The characteristics that these books share is the sense that the subject is writing directly to you as you read, and that the bad times as well as the good times are revealed. If you are a fan of the musician, you feel like you have a better understanding of them once you've read the book Ritz helped them write.

The Neville Brothers' story must have been complicated to organize because there are 4 Neville Brothers, Art, Charles, Aaron and Cyrille. They tell their stories simultaneously, a paragraph or two by one brother and then a paragraph or two by another and so on. The story they tell is fascinating and often horrific! Violence, drug abuse, crazy characters, prison terms and danger fill virtually every page. These are fascinating lives to read about, but I wouldn't want to live them! Aaron and Charles seem to be the most forthcoming and the most sympathetic of the brothers. If you love Neville Brothers' music, you'll want to own this book!

very complete
2000-11-26 - THe Neville Brothers are a very solid unit.Great talents.this book takes them not only as a Group but also as People with feelings&outlooks.David Ritz does a Great job of doing books.always Interesting reads.this is a very complete book.long overdue on these greats.but better late than never.