THE NEVILLE BROTHERS

The differences between the four Neville Brothers are as dramatic as the similarities that unite them. The source of the similarities is passionate funk, a feeling for blues-soaked deep pocket grooves that is the basis of their greatness and exalted place in our cultural history.

Art is the oldest. Charles is a year younger than Art. Aaron comes next, and Cyril is the baby, a generation younger than his big brothers.

The Sixties were strange for everyone, in 1966, fortune smiled on Aaron. Or at least half-smiled. "I went over to Cosimo's studio, that had more history than Sun Records in Memphis, and cut "Tell It Like It Is.' It took off like a rocket. Number-one smash coast to coast. Art became my manager and played piano behind me. This was our first time in the national spotlight on the same bill as Otis Redding, the Drifters and the Manhattans. I was pumped but too crazy to handle it all. My mind was a traffic jam."

Overwhelmed by success, Aaron hid out in Florida while, back in the Big Easy, Art formed Art Neville and the Neville Sounds, which, for the first time, put Cyril out front.