CD Review: Aaron Neville, My True Story

Highly recommended.

Aaron Neville is one of the all-time great soul singers, so any new CD by him is welcome news. This time, he's gone back to his roots, recording 13 vocal group classics from the '50s and early '60s. My True Story can be seen as a companion to his 2006 CD, Bring It on Home: The Soul Classics, which I also highly recommend. The songs on this CD are, on average, about ten years older. The more important difference is that he recorded this album with a vocal group headed by Eugene Pitt, former lead singer of the Jive Five and author of the title song. The other group members are veteran performers at oldies shows in the New York area. This is the genre in which Neville started his own career in the early '60s.

There's a lot of background information on this “Making of . . .” video from Blue Note Records, so I won't repeat it.

Here's another look at some of the songs on the CD in a promo for a PBS program that Aaron and the group made which was shown here in Pittsburgh—unfortunately, during one of their begathons. I should note, however, that neither Paul Simon nor Joan Osborne are on the CD. Elder brother Charles Neville, visible on this video, also does not play on the CD.

Aaron Neville has said that Clyde McPhatter was his role model when he started to sing.  That's evident on many of his recordings. This CD includes five Drifters' songs from all phases of their long and tangled career. There is “Money Honey” by the original Clyde McPhatter group, “Ruby Baby” from their middle period when they were trying out various McPhatter sound-alikes, and the medley “This Magic Moment”/“True Love” and “Under the Boardwalk,” from after their 1959 makeover when Ben E. King took the lead chair. The other songs were originally performed by groups such as the Clovers, the Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, and the Hollywood Flames (“Little Bitty Pretty One,” where they were billed as “Bobby Day and the Satellites”). There are two '60s songs by the Ronettes and Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions. There is one cut without the group—“Goodnight, My Love,” by Jesse Belvin. Finally, here's the full-length version of “Tears on My Pillow,” originally recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials.

When reminiscing on the video, Aaron mentions the Moonglows, the Flamingos and the Spaniels. It would be great to hear his take on these Chicago-style groups. They are perfect for his falsetto vocals. But there are no songs by these groups on the CD. Another personal objection: The album misses a great opportunity to introduce listeners to some of the many great-but-obscure vocal group sides that I'm sure he knows about. The emphasis here is on recognizable titles. They do mention, however, that they laid down 23 tracks during the session. Since only 12 of them were used on this CD, does this mean a second volume may be in the works?

My criterion of whether it's worthwhile to remake a song is whether it improves on the original version. By that standard, my verdict is mixed. Neville's voice is better than some of the original vocalists. Although he uses some of his typical vocal mannerisms, his singing here is surprisingly restrained. On “Work With Me, Annie,” he is almost lost in the mix. The same restraint is shown by the musicians. You would never know that Keith Richards is the lead guitarist without the liner notes. There are no honking and screaming tenor sax solos; in fact, there is only one saxophone break on the whole CD (on “Ting-a-Ling”). They don't stretch out any of these songs either. Most are about the same length as the originals. The entire CD is only 39 minutes long.

In spite of these reservations which keep it from being a classic, this CD is probably the best news for fans of '50s R&B vocal groups in at least a decade. If you have any interest this genre, you should grab it right away. It's a fun CD that won't wear out its welcome.

Tracks:  Money Honey; My True Story; Ruby Baby; Gypsy Woman, Ting-a-Ling; Be My Baby; Little Bitty Pretty One; Tears on My Pillow; Under the Boardwalk; Work With Me, Annie; Medley: This Magic Moment/True Love; Goodnight, My Love.  (39 min.)

Personnel:  Aaron Neville, vocals; Eugene Pitt, Bobby Jay, Joel Katz, Earl Smith, Jr., David Johnson, background vocals (11 tracks); Lenny Pickett, tenor saxophone, flute (5 tracks); Keith Richards, Greg Leisz, guitars; Benmont Tench, keyboards (11 tracks); Art Neville, Hammond B-3 organ (1 track); Tony Scherr, bass; George G. Receli, drums.