the hum / By Bob Doran

Brothers

The Nevilles are back. Plus: doo-wop, Nick’s blues and music for the blind

(Sept. 18, 2008)  It was one of our first dates, a night at the Old Town Bar and Grill where we danced to music by a band of Mardi Gras Indians. The Wild Tchoupitoulas, led by Big Chief Jolly, aka George Landry, sang the battle songs of his New Orleans “tribe,” backed by a band of brothers, his nephews: Art, Charles, Aaron and CyrilNeville.

The brothers had followed individual paths into the music business: Art, the oldest, was the founder of The Hawkettes in the ’50s, then, in the ’60s, The Meters, a premier N.O. funk outfit that played on countless studio sessions. Charles took up sax and went off exploring jazz and blues. Sweet soul man Aaron scored a national hit in 1966 singing “Tell It Like It Is.” Baby brother Cyril joined The Meters in the ’70s playing percussion.

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As the story goes, their mother Amelia’s dying wish was for the boys to stay together. Her brother George helped make it happen musically with the Tchoupitoulas. A year later the boys recorded their debut album for Capitol Records as The Neville Brothers. The rest is history.

Thirty years have passed since that first record. The individual brothers still follow their own paths. Each has a career separate from the others, but they record and tour together on a regular basis, and there’s nothing like a Neville Brothers show. As I write this, my browser is pointed to www.nevilles.com, where a music player loops a song called “Brothers.” “We were, we are, we’re still brothers. We were, we are, we’re still together. We were, we are, we’re still brothers.” I’m glad they’re still together — and that we will be able to hear them sing once again this Thursday, Sept. 18, when the brothers play for the first time at the Arkley Center. You know we’ll be there.

Speaking of New Orleans, it was good to hear that Hurricane Gustav failed to match the devastating impact of Katrina. That said, three years after Katrina, parts of the city are still in bad shape (including the Nevilles’ home turf, the 9th Ward). A group of kids and adults from Humboldt called New Orleans Youth Project traveled to the city earlier this year to check things out. On Saturday at the Arcata Playhouse you can see a film they shot, Finding the Heart of New Orleans, with interviews with N.O. teens and participants. Stick around after the movie for jazz with young singer Rose Armin-Hoiland backed by pianist Darius Brotman.

Friday night the Arkley Center brings in “Forever Doo-Wop,” a nostalgic look back at ’50s and ’60s vocal groups featuring The Coasters and The Diamonds. The Coasters started out as a black R&B outfit called The Robins, with Carl Gardner singing lead. Before long they hooked up with songwriting/record producing team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who crafted masterpieces of storytelling for the combo, tunes like “Young Blood,” “Searchin’,” “Yakety Yak” and “Charlie Brown.” Coasters personnel changed over the years, although Gardner was a constant. He finally retired from the band a few years ago, turning lead chores over to his son, Carl Jr.

The Diamonds got their start in Canada in the mid-’50s as one of many white groups covering black doo-wop hits. Their career peak was in 1957 with “Little Darlin’,” probably the only song by them most people have heard. All of the original members had left by 1961, but the name persisted basically as a brand, with a couple of quartets dueling over it in court at one point. So, while the vocal group coming to town will sing the hits, it’s not really the guys from the ’50s.

Looking for the polar opposite in vocal styling? Chirgilchin, the Master Throat Singers of Tuva are at the Mateel Friday night singing ancient Himalayan folk songs accompanied by handmade instruments. It’s hard to imagine (and harder to explain) but with Tuvan singing, also called Khoomei, a single skilled singer can sing in three octaves at once.

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