Scrolling my Facebook feed about six weeks ago I found an old compadre from the Sound Shop/Music 4 Less days and current Shrimp-Slingin' Daddy, Todd C., had planted this video on his page...
Well, shit................I bought it the next day. Shared the video with another old friend from the M4L days, who is a monumental Rush fan, for his reaction. "Killer! That's the first time I've unmuted my computer in weeks and it was well worth it." The Neville Brothers and Rush wouldn't normally be considered similar in anybody's mind, I wouldn't think, but this really worked. Maybe it was CN's recent experience touring with Galactic which introduced him to the rock classic, but my guess is it was Mike Zito who did the deed. CN and Zito, along with Devon Allman, are in the Royal Southern Brotherhood, a band I now have down on my waiting list for something new. Zito won Song of the Year at the 2010 Blues Music Awards for a track he co-wrote with Neville. He also co-wrote two songs on "Magic Honey" and played a little gee-tar, too. Joining in on the party with a pen and their respective instruments are Dr. John and Walter Trout. "Mean" Willie Green, longtime drummer for the Brothers Neville, sits behind the kit and New Orleans legend, Allen Toussaint, guests on the piano. There are covers of songs written by Warren Haynes, Paul Butterfield, Michael Bloomfield, and one by the tandem of Eugene Gales and Paul Ebersold. I have an upcoming post on a project by Gales' brother, Eric, but it was the other name that rang deep from within the catacombs of my musical lobe. Ebersold was one of the young bucks working at Ardent Studios in Memphis during their heyday. He engineered the albums of one of my favorite bands from the 90's, Sonia Dada. Allow me to throw out some others he worked on, some you may know, some not: The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies (my guess is not); Skillet (maybe); Sister Hazel (probably); 3 Doors Down (yes); and he produced one of my favorite albums of 2002 by a band none of you know, Pseudopod. Only recently did I remove that CD from my Featured 500 rack in the office. Give me that record over any Dave Matthews disc every day. Here's a track for your enlightenment... Tying it all together is producer David Z., who emerged in the 80's from the Prince stable in Minneapolis, subsequently producing bands like Fine Young Cannibals and a-ha before hitting a blues phase in the late 90's. He helmed breakout recordings by Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Chris Duarte and Jonny Lang. He's probably got about eighty credits on records this century alone, too.
I made two audio notes during the three spins of "Magic Honey" and on both I included, "I really like this album a lot!" More blues than "working man" rock, there's plenty of Neville's N'Awlins percussion and his great soulful voice. Closest blues comparisons I can make are a taste of Gary Moore's style with a side of Robert Cray. More on the funk/rock side is a track deep in the album that could have been a Lenny Kravitz tune. There's not much official video available other than the above clip, but what I did find was a reasonable version of the Butterfield song by the RSB last August...
I suppose the only way to see Neville now is with RSB as they head back out on the road in a week. Closest they get to me is the Wanee Festival in early April, and damn if it doesn't have a better lineup than Bonnaroo this year.
Maybe if I was twenty years younger........
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