Listen: Aaron Neville on WFUV's "Words & Music"

 

Aaron Neville has lent his honeyed voice and lilting melodies to over 50 years of songs, and now he brings that special tone to a new album of doo-wop classics. Produced by Don Was and Keith Richards, it's called My True Story, and an audience of FUV members and I were lucky enough to have Aaron himself stop by Studio A for a live preview, with that one-and-only voice.

 

Listen: Aaron Neville's "My True Story" (via NPR)

LISTEN TO THE ALBUM HERE

 

On paper, it doesn't sound terribly eventful: A 71-year-old New Orleans pop and soul legend records a straightforward album of doo-wop covers. But, while Aaron Neville's My True Story wallows unapologetically in the past — namely, in the stretch of '50s and early-'60s R&B that first fueled the singer's passion for music — it's really setting the Wayback Machine to "all of the above." With the aid of producers Don Was and Keith Richards (!), as well as studio aces like Benmont Tench and Greg Leisz, My True Story is painstakingly engineered to transcend trends; it's not trying to make doo-wop sound contemporary so much as dislodge it from its time capsule and free it to drift across eras.

 

Neville lends his distinctively floaty tenor to a handful of unavoidable and unimpeachable standards on My True Story — "Be My Baby," "Tears on My Pillow," "Under the Boardwalk," "This Magic Moment" — but he also shines a light on less ubiquitous past hits. Neville has been singing the praises of The Clovers' 1952 smash "Ting a Ling" at every opportunity for years now, and his version practically oozes appreciation for the chance to do it justice.

It's that unmistakable affection, dispensed with a sweet voice that's lost none of its considerable luster, which makes My True Story resonate as more than a mere footnote in Neville's half-century of music. It's a labor of love, to be sure, but the singer and his cohorts try something bold, too: They celebrate these relics in ways that make them feel relevant to the future.

Upcoming: Aaron Neville: My True Story (PBS Filming) @ Brooklyn Bowl

Aaron Neville: My True Story

A Special Live Concert Taping for PBS

Wed, November 28, 2012

Doors: 6:00 pm / Show: 8:30 pm

$20

Tickets

 

 

This event is 21 and over

This show will be filmed live by PBS. By attending you are agreeing to be filmed as part of the audience and are consenting to allow PBS to videotape, record, and broadcast your picture, likeness, voice and statements.

No cameras, photos, or videos will be allowed.

 This event will feature iconic Soul/R&B vocalist and multiple Grammy Award-winning artist, Aaron Neville performing songs from his Doo-Wop inspired album, My True Story. An incredible array of musicians and guests will join Neville, including: Greg Leisz on guitar (Beck, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams), George G. Receli on drums (Bob Dylan, James Brown), Tony Scherr on bass (Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, Rufus Wainwright), Charles Neville on saxophone (Neville Brothers) and also featuring Michael Goods on organ/piano and Joel Katz, David Johnson and Earl Smith, Jr. on background vocals.