Happy Jazz Fest 50! Here are some very rare audio recordings of The Neville Brothers on their home turf, live and raw, early in their career. I’m talking about 5 and a half hours of pristine soundboards! These are revelatory recordings and absolute gems with just the right amount of analog hiss. There are jams, ballads, jazzy work outs, fierce soul, hushed doo wop, and New Orleans rock n roll stompers. It’s a pleasure to find treasures like this and put them out into the world for others to enjoy!

Download both recordings together as MP3 or FLAC and FLAC.

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The Neville Brothers
November 12, 1977
New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s

SBD > ??? > CDR > WAV > FLAC

01. (fades in) “Don’t Push The Button” > Jam
02. Fly Like An Eagle [Steve Miller Band]
03. Sitting In Limbo [Jimmy Cliff]
04. Baby What You Want Me To Do [Jimmy Reed]
05. The Greatest Love
06. instrumental
07. Tell It Like It Is
08. Africa
(set break)
09. (fades in) A Night In Tunisia [Dizzy Gillespie]
10. Be My Lady
11. Fiyo on the Bayou > Ain’t No Use tease > Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) [Sly & The Family Stone]
12. All These Things [Allen Toussaint]
13. Fever [Little Willie John]
14. Woman’s Gotta Have It [Bobby Womack] > Love Ballad [L.T.D.] > Woman’s Gotta Have It
15. Here Dey Come, Meet The Boys On The Battlefront (with Big Chief Jolly & The Wild Tchoupitoulas)
(set break)
16. Ode To Billie Joe [Bobbie Gentry] (Instrumental)
17. Shake Rattle and Roll [Big Joe Turner], “Louisiana Woman”
18. Sitting In Limbo [Jimmy Cliff]
19. Hey Pocky A-Way

Aaron Neville – vocals, tambourine
Cyril Neville – vocals, percussion
Charles Neville – vocals, saxophone
Art Neville – vocals, keyboards
Gerald Tillman – organ
Newton Mossip or James Ledet – drums
Roger Poche or Hutch Hutchinson – bass
Renard Poche or Victor Sircoff – guitar

At the end of track 16, Art announces that New Orleans has a new mayor, “Morial”, Which confirms that the dates of these recordings are correct, as November of 1977 was when Mayor Ernest N. Morial was elected.

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The Neville Brothers
November 26, 1977
New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s

SBD > ??? > CDR > WAV > FLAC

01. Shake Rattle & Roll [Big Joe Turner] > I Take What I Want [Hayes – Hodges – Porter] > Sexy Ways [Hank Ballard]
02. I’m Leaving It Up To You > Momma Don’t Allow [Hank Thompson] > Jam
(set break / end of the night?)
03. Fly Like An Eagle
04. // Pocky Jam (inc. Wop Wop Wop Diddly > Suzie Q [Dale Hawkins] > I’m Your Captain [Grand Funk Railroad] > Cisco Kid [War] > Get Down [War] > Wop Wop Wop Diddly > It’s Your Thing [Isley Brothers])
(set break)
05. // Down By The Riverside
06. Let’s Start All Over Again [Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra / Clyde McPhatter] > Tell It Like It Is
07. Cabbage Alley (inc. Gossip > Cabbage Alley > Give Up The Funk [Parliament] > Louisiana Woman > Fear Hate Envy Jealousy (as Love Hate Envy Jealousy) > Don’t Push The Button (many of the same lyrics as “Wake Up”) > Respect Yourself [Staple Singers])
08. Junco Partner (with alternate lyrics) (with Big Chief Jolly) //
09. // Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Grateful Dead) > A couple lines of “Soothe Me” [Sam Cooke / Sam & Dave] are sung > jam/ending (there is another song during the jam that I can’t put my finger on)
10. The Greatest Love, Sitting In Limbo [Jimmy Cliff]
11. Be My Lady
12. Baby What You Want Me To Do [Jimmy Reed]
13. Stormy Monday [T-Bone Walker]
(set break)
14. Fiyo On The Bayou (inc. Hi-Heel Sneakers [Tommy Tucker]/ Ooh Poo Pa Doo [Jessie Hill], Burning Up In Love For You (?), Pressure Drop [Toots & The Maytals], My Bonnie, Down By The Riverside, I Been Hoodooed [Dr. John], Breakaway (?))
15. Arianne [Roudey / Martin]
16. Fever [Little Willie John]
17. All These Things [Allen Toussaint]
18. Instrumental
19. This Is My Story [Gene & Eunice]
20. A Night In Tunisia [Dizzy Gillespie]

Aaron Neville – vocals, tambourine
Cyril Neville – vocals, percussion
Charles Neville – vocals, saxophone
Art Neville – vocals, keyboards
Gerald Tillman – organ
Newton Mossip or James Ledet – drums
Roger Poche or Hutch Hutchinson – bass
Renard Poche or Victor Sircoff – guitar

This recording, unlike the 11/12/77 recording, has cuts between many of the songs, so the order of some of the songs or segments could be wrong.