Yellow Moon (Neville Brothers album)

Yellow Moon
Studio album by the Neville Brothers
Released	March 1989
Recorded	New Orleans
Genre	New Orleans R&B, soul, funk
Length	52:40
Label	A&M[1]
Producer	Daniel Lanois
The Neville Brothers chronology
Uptown (1987) Yellow Moon (1989) Brother's Keeper (1990)

Yellow Moon is an album by the Neville Brothers, released in 1989.[2][3] The track "Healing Chant" won best pop instrumental performance at the 32nd (1989) Grammy Awards.[4]

The album peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200.[5]

Production

Yellow Moon was produced by Daniel Lanois.[2] It was recorded in New Orleans, in a vacated apartment.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Robert Christgau	A[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[9]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[10]
Orlando Sentinel	[11]
Ottawa Citizen	[6]
Q	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]

Robert Christgau wrote: "Whether isolating rhythm-makers, adding electronic atmosphere, or recontextualizing 'natural'-seeming instrumental effects ... Lanois isn't afraid to go for drama, and while drama does have a way of palling eventually, the songs are worth the risk."[8] Spin thought that "instead of running from the bayou backbeat ... the Nevilles let the funky rhythms flow where they may."[1] USA Today opined that "cynics will say that Lanois has thrown out the baby with the bathwater, but that ignores the fact that 'My Blood' and 'Wild Injun' rock with subtlety, and that Yellow Moon is an adventurous stretch for a band that can boogie in its sleep."[15]

Track listing

1. "My Blood" (Daryl Johnson, Cyril Neville, Willie Green, Charles Moore) – 4:11
2. "Yellow Moon" (Aaron Neville) – 4:04
3. "Fire and Brimstone" (Link Wray) – 3:57
4. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke) – 3:43
5. "Sister Rosa" (Daryl Johnson, Cyril Neville, Charles Moore) – 3:29
6. "With God on Our Side" (Bob Dylan) – 6:37
7. "Wake Up" (Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 3:21
8. "Voodoo" (Aaron Neville, Daryl Johnson, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 4:26
9. "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" (Bob Dylan) – 5:45
10. "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (A. P. Carter) – 5:16
11. "Healing Chant" (Aaron Neville, Tony Hall, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 4:34
12. "Wild Injuns" (Aaron Neville, Tony Hall, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 3:17

Personnel

• Aaron Neville – vocals, percussion, additional keyboards
• Art Neville – vocals, keyboards
• Charles Neville – saxophones, backing vocals, percussion
• Cyril Neville – vocals, hand drums, percussion
• Brian Stoltz – guitar, backing vocals, additional percussion
• Tony Hall – bass, backing vocals, additional percussion
• Willie Green – drums, Chinese drum

• Brian Eno – keyboards, sound effects, vocals on "A Change Is Gonna Come"
• Daniel Lanois – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Malcolm Burn – keyboards, guitar
• The Dirty Dozen Brass Band – horns
• Eric Kolb – keyboard programming
• Kenyatta Simon and Kufaru Mouton – percussion on "My Blood"
• Aashid Himmons and Terry Manual – keyboards on "Sister Rosa"

Notes

1. "Spins". SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. May 4, 1989 – via Google Books.
2. "Neville Brothers | Biography & History". AllMusic.
3. "'Yellow Moon' Casts the Glow of Success on Neville Brothers". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1990.
4. "32nd Annual GRAMMY Awards (1989)". Grammy.com. Recording Academy. 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
5. Whitburn, Joel (2001). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001. Record Research. p. 627.
6. Erskine, Evelyn (14 Apr 1989). "Neville Brothers shake off dust in spiritual revival". Ottawa Citizen. p. B6.
7. AllMusic review
8. "Robert Christgau: Album: The Neville Brothers: Yellow Moon". www.robertchristgau.com.
9. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 159.
10. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 806.
11. Fields, Curt (4 June 1989). "NEVILLE BROTHERS". Orlando Sentinel. Calendar. p. 6.
12. Gill, Andy. "Heavenly" [Yellow Moon review]. Q. May 1989.
13. "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on October 2, 2007.
14. (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 578.
15. Milward, John (4 Apr 1989). "THE LISTENING ROOM". USA Today. p. 5D.