According to our good friend Dan Philips (over at the Home of the Groove Blogspot*,) the Library of Congress no longer offers access to information about pre-1978 recordings via their web site. For that information, you need to contact them and they will look through their card catalog and research the information that you need!) As such, we have access to very little information about unreleased Neville songs from the 1970's. Lucky for us Neville fans, the Brothers only started recording as a group during the final two years of that decade, so the Copyright Office's cutoff date won't affect our quest very much.

Unfortunately, even the latter day information is not comprehensive. When we looked there last year, there were very few Neville compositions listed there whereas now there are dozens. Since we are aware of several unreleased Neville recordings from the 1990s, which would definitely have been copyrighted, we can be confident that much information is missing. Despite the shortcomings of the Library of Congress's information, we are presenting the information that is available to us at this time. We will update it in the future (as the Copyright Office updates its information.)

In a future article, we will explore ASCAP and BMI's catalogues for more unreleased Neville Tracks!

* We strongly encourage any fan of New Orleans music (or R&B in general) to visit "Home of the Groove," one of the best Blogs on the web. Information about the Nevilles crops up there on a regular basis, but even the non-Neville articles are worth reading!

 

In April of 1972, a song titled, "Going to See the Man" (composed by George Porter, Jr., Arthur Neville, Leo Nocentelli & Joseph Modeliste) was registered with the US Copyright Office. It was registered again on July 24, 1972. There is a mediocre-sounding recording of this song available on iTunes (and Rhapsody,) credited to on-again-off-again Meters member, Willie West. Dan Phillips (over at the aforementioned Home of the Groove Blogspot) contacted Mr West and was informed that he was NOT involved with the track and that he has no idea how his name got connected to it. To us, this sounds like a Josie-era, Meters recording with someone playing a second keyboard. Sadly, it's not a particularly interesting song, but it's always fun to discover a "lost" Meters recording. (Of course, our research has shown that there are still more unreleased Meters recordings, waiting to be found!)

 

On September 25, 1978, three songs were copyrighted, which have never appeared on any Neville LP (although one of those tracks has made it into collectors' hands, along with rough mixes of a half dozen of the songs on the "Neville Brothers" LP.) "Louisiana Woman," the one song that has leaked out, was written by brother Charles. "I'm Burning Up" and "I'm Calling Your Bluff" are registered to "Neville Productions, Inc., employer for hire." As such, we are unsure if either song was composed by one (or more) of the Nevilles, or if some outsider wrote them on behalf of Neville Productions. Nor are we sure if the songs were ever recorded.

 

On August 20, 1979, "Cradle Days" (music by Tony Berg and Aaron Neville - lyrics by Aaron Neville) was registered. The song has never been released by any of the Nevilles although it was recorded and released by Bette Midler on her "Thighs and Whispers" LP in 1979.

 

In May of 1980, a song titled "If You Want It" was registered to Ivan Neville, Cyril Neville and Nick Daniels. (The song is alternatively known as "If You Want It, You Can Get It.") In July of 1980, Ivan and Reginald Cummings (who had written the classic Neville song "Dance Your Blues Away" a few months earlier, copyrighted their composition, "Let's Get To It." In August, brother Charles copyrighted his "Music from Shangri-la," (which was written in 1979.) According to Charles's biography on the official Neville Brothers web site, "…Drawing from his experiences at the Dew Drop Inn, Charles conceived and arranged the music for a musical called Shangri-La." In late September, Aaron copyrighted a collection of his poetic works! Presumably, some of these poems have been used as song lyrics.

 

In early June of 1981, Aaron copyrighted two more of these poems. Just a few days earlier, the original line-up of the Uptown Allstars copyrighted two audio cassettes' worth of music! "The Collective Musical Works of the Uptown Allstars" is registered to Ivan J. Neville, Gerald Tillman, Nick Daniels III, Renard J. Poche & Willie Green III. This is not the same Uptown Allstars, which was made famous by brother Cyril in the late 80's and early 90's. Unfortunately, the individual song titles are not listed. I have NO doubt that there are MANY gems on this particular collection (even if the recordings are only of demo quality.)

 

On February 12, 1982, both Ivan and Cyril registered new compositions. "Close Encounter (of the Worst Kind)" is credited to Cyril and Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John.) "I Believe" (which was written in 1981) was registered to Ivan Neville, Nick Daniels III & Fred Octavia In mid-June, Ivan's song "Right Kinda Night" was copyrighted. In December of 1982, "The Time is Right" (which was a concert staple for the Nevilles in their early years) was registered to Ivan Neville, Gerald Tillman & Nick Daniels III. While no known authorized recording of this song exists by the Neville Brothers, it IS available on Rufus's "Seal in Red" LP (with Ivan singing lead.)

 

"I'm A Big Boy Now" was registered on February 15, 1983 and was written by Aaron and Ivan. It appears as if the song was later recorded for "If My Ancestors Could See Me Now," as it was reregistered at that time. "I Can See It In Your Eyes" (which would be recorded in the 90's for the Brothers' "Family Groove" LP) was registered at the same time. In mid-September of the same year, "All Day, All Night" (Ivan Neville, Ronald Jones) was copyrighted.

 

1984 saw Ivan and Cyril registering several tracks each, which have never been released (if they were recorded at all.) First up was "Get You Tonight" (Paul Robert Walsh, Ivan Neville, James B. Hutchinson,) which had been written the year before and was finally copyrighted on March 16th. On April 10th, the songwriting team of Ivan Neville, Paul Robert Walsh & Leo Nocentelli registered two songs, "Slapjack" and "Breakout." In late August, brother Cyril registered two compositions. The first of these, "Take a Chance on Love," was penned solely by him, whereas "I'm Saving My Love For You" (aka "I'm Savin' My Love For You") was the work of Cyril, Brian Stoltz, Darryl Johnson and "Mean" Willie Green. Mid-October saw the registration of three more Ivan Neville-Leo Nocentelli collaborations: "Love in China," "Tell Me How You Feel" and "You Are The One." (Paul Robert Walsh also contributed to the last two songs.) On November 20th, "Just Around the Block" (words & music: Brian Herbert Stoltz; music: Darryl Johnson & Cyril G. Neville) was copyrighted.

 

January of 1985 saw the registration of a song titled "Love Zone" (words & music by Cyril Neville & Brian Stoltz.) This song WAS recorded by the Nevilles and released on the "Uptown" LP using a variation of the song's alternate title, "I Never Needed No One Like I Need You." On March 7, Poppa Funk registered his composition, "Stay With Me: I Love You" (aka "I Love You.") In mid-June, "The Collective Works of Renard Poche" (originally created in 1984) was copyrighted (words & music: Renard Poche, Daryl Johnson & Ivan Neville.) Renard was a member of both the original Uptown Allstars AND the Neville Brothers' band. In mid-August, the team of Ivan Neville and Leo Nocentelli registered another composition, "You'll Never Say No Again." September 19th found brother Cyril and Darryl Johnson (who played bass with the Neville Brothers in the mid-1980s) registered their song, "I Will Survive."

 

In May of 1986, Aaron teamed up with long-time Neville Brothers / funky METERS guitarist Brian Stoltz to compose "Love & Misunderstanding." In mid-November, Ivan was (once again) teamed up with Leo Nocentelli (along with Paul R. Walsh and Nick Daniels) for the composition, "Buckwheat."

 

1987 saw more unissued songs registered than any other year. On March 31, "African American" (a song which we remember hearing the Uptown Allstars perform) was written by Cyril G. Neville, Sr., Daryl Johnson, Kenric Neville and Lyryca Neville. In mid-May, "Losing You" (a song which had been written the year before) was registered to "Ivan Neville; words & music (as employer for hire of Nicholas Tremulis & Roger Reupert.)" In September, Ivan registered three more compositions. "The Hype and the Hoopla" was written with Leo Nocentelli and Nick Daniels. "She's Too Much" and "What Money Can By" (sic) were written with Steven Stewart. Most likely, the latter tune is the same as "Money Talks" (which was released on Ivan's "If My Ancestors Could See Me Now" LP.

November 6, 1987 saw the registration of 27 compositions, many of which were recorded and released on Neville LPs. However, almost a dozen of those songs have never been commercially released. These are: "Take A Chance" (Cyril Neville, Gaynielle Neville & Liryca Neville); "Runnin' Out of Time" (Art Neville, Aaron Neville, Charles Neville & Cyril Neville); "Stay With Me" (which had been registered in March of 1986 as well - by Art Neville); "One Thing" (Aaron Neville & Ivan Neville); "Big Boy" (possibly the same song as "I'm a Big Boy Now" - Aaron Neville & Ivan Neville); "Savin' My Love" (Cyril Neville, Daryl Johnson, Brian Stoltz & Willie Green); "Cajun Rock"(Art Neville, Aaron Neville & Rusty Kershaw) "Uptown Reggae" (Cyril Neville, Daryl Johnson, George Sartain & Kevin Hayes); "Callin' Yo Bluff" (perhaps the same song as 1978's "I'm Calling Your Bluff" - by Charles Neville & Kathleen Kobran); "30 Degrees N x 90 Degrees W," which was performed for the "Cinemax Sessions - Tell It Like It Is" video (Charles Neville); and "Pappa Wa Diddy" (Cyril Neville & Daryl Johnson.)

 

In contrast, 1988 was a very lean year. "All in Good Time" (words & music: Daryl Johnson, Ivan Neville, Nick Daniels) was registered on May 2 and "Funky Promiseland" (words & music by Cyril Neville, Sr., Austin Tony Hall, Willie Green, Aaron Neville & Brian Stoltz) was registered on September 1.

The only unreleased song from 1989 was one which was copyrighted on June 27, "Alexis 3000" by Terrence A. Manuel, Vernon P. Manuel, and Cyril G. Neville (who helped with the lyrics.)

 

On August 27, 1991, a song titled "Mind Games" was registered to Cyril Neville, Jr., Norman Caesar, Perry Dominguez, et al. / Deff Generation Music, Inc. In December of that year, "Terry Manuel Originals, '91 (collection)" was also registered (Terrence A. Manuel, Mark Dubuleclet, Charles Moore, Willie Green, George Sartin, Cyril Neville & Vernon Phillip Manuel. These were previously registered in 1979.

On March 5, 1992, a song written by Ivan Neville and Hawk Wolinski in 1990 (titled "Sound of Love") was registered. In October 1992, the team of Art Neville, Eric Kolb, Chuck Sheefel & Dwayne Saint Romaine (who, along with Ron Cuccia, penned the Nevilles' song "Line of Fire") registered three compositions: "When the Boogie Comes Down," "Funk 'em up!" and "On Your Own." Doctor Charles registered some of his compositions in early November of that year. "She Loves the Clave" which was a staple at Neville Brothers shows for many years, has (unfortunately) never been commercially released. Fans of Charles's solo work are familiar with his composition, "The Painter." On November 6, Charles registered two similarly-titled songs, "The Painter (Her)" and "The Painter (Him)." It is unknown if either of these is the song included on the CD of the same name.

There were two other very interesting registrations made in 1992. They appear to be retroactive registrations for the compositions on "If My Ancestors Could See Me Now" and on Ivan's second CD, which was slated for release in the early 90s but cancelled. Ivan has said that the best of the songs from that unreleased LP were rerecorded for his "Thanks" LP, but it sure would be fun to hear the unissued LP. On February 7, "After All This Time & 10 Other Titles" was registered and included 10 songs from the "Ancestors…" LP and one unissued song, "I'm a Big Boy Now" (written by Ivan Neville and Aaron Neville and previously registered on February 15, 1983.) As stated previously, it's possible that this is the same song registered as "Big Boy" on November 6, 1987.

March 5, 1992 saw the registration of "Before My Time & 8 Other Titles" (which is presumed to be the unreleased LP, although we recall Ivan's mentioning that the LP was to include some classic New Orleans R&B tunes in addition to his original compositions.) Rather than list only the songs, which were never released, we are listing all of the songs registered that day, hoping to give an idea what the track listing on the aborted LP might have been like.

"Before My Time" (Co-writer: H. Wolinski)
"Sound of Love" (Co-writer: H. Wolinski)
"So the World Can Dance (We Got Rhythm) (Co-writers: V. McCallum & M. Barsimanto)
"Run, Run, Run (Co-writer: V. McCallum)
"Hell to Tell the Captain"
"Fallin' in Love"
"Havin' a Good Time"
"Hangin' Out"
"Oh Now"

 

On May 30, 1995, "Reasons" (lyrics & music: Terrence A. Manuel, lyrics: Cyril G. Neville) was reregistered, having been registered previously on June 27, 1989

 

On August 7, 1996, "This Is Your Last Time" (aka "The Last Time) (music by Robbie Nevil and Bradley Spalter; words by Aaron Neville) was registered

 

On June 27, 1997 "As the Sun Goes Down" was registered by Aaron. This appears to be poetry or lyrics, not a song.

 

From the mid-1990's on, the information available on the Copyright Office's web site is noticeably lacking.

On July 2, 2004, a song titled "Itty Bitty's" was registered to Melanie Bliden & Charles B. Neville.) "Why You Wanna Kill Your Brother?: A Stage Play" was copyrighted by Cyril's wife, Gaynielle Housey-Neville.

On February 18, 2005, "Fight (Ain't Gonna Lose No More)" (by Malcolm Rebennack, Cyril Neville, D. Lee Carson) was registered and a collection of songs by the same three composers, "Tango: Ton Gris" was registered on September 26 of the same year.

"Gaynielle Neville's Book of Poetry" was copyrighted on June 19, 2006.

In March 2008, "The Bachelor Club" (a play by Cyril G. Neville, Jr., and Patrick John Marrero) was registered.