"Brother's Keeper" - Neville Brothers, The

Album

U2 Related Content:

Full Track Listing:

  • Brother Blood (4:33)
  • Brother Jake (4:47)
  • Steer Me Right (3:15)
  • Fearless (4:11)
  • Sons and Daughters (5:01)
  • Fallin’ Rain (4:00)
  • Jah Love (3:21)
  • River of Life (5:19)
  • Witness (4:04)
  • My Brother’s Keeper (3:35)
  • Sons and Daughters (Reprise) (4:08)
  • Mystery Train (4:28)
  • Bird on a Wire (5:02)

Background Information

In 1989 Bono had been writing songs, and that included a song for the Neville Brothers which he mentioned initially as “One Love” in a 1989 interview with Propaganda Magazine. He also mentions having written a song for Nina Simone called “Love is Blindness but I Don’t Want to See”. He says “If somebody’s music inspires me I write them a song”.

After the LoveTown tour ended in 1990, Bono spent some time in America with his family, and that included a few weeks in New Orleans, where the Neville Brothers were guides to the city. The Neville Brothers are an R&B group, primarily made up of four brothers – Art, Aaron, Cyril and Charles Neville. During that time Bono presented the song to the Nevilles, and worked further on it finally becoming the song “Jah Love”. He wrote another song at that time with the Nevilles, “Kingdom Come” which would remain unreleased until the 2004 album by The Neville Brothers, “Walkin’ in the Shadow of Life”. During that time he also wrote a song called “Ballad of New Orleans” which remains unreleased.

“Jah Love” would be released that summer on “Brother’s Keeper”. In the liner notes of the album, the song is credited to Cyril Neville and Bono. It was with Cyril that Bono would also write the second song, “Kingdom Come.” Bono was not present for the recording of the song, and does not feature on the song.

The album was released in a remastered form by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in March of 1995, on a gold CD in limited quantities.

Liner Notes

Jah Love: Written by Cyril Neville, Bono. Aaron Neville: Vocals, keys, percussion. Art Neville: Vocals, bass. Cyril Neville: Vocals, percussion. Charles Neville: Vocals, saxophone, keys. Willie Green: Drums. Tony Hall: Bass, background vocals. Eric Struthers: Guitar. Leo Nocentelli: Guitar. Daryl Johnson: Additional bass, guitar, keys, background vocals. Ronald Jones: Additional drums. Recorded at Ultrasonic Studios, New Orleans, Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York. Produced by Malcolm Burn and The Neville Brothers.

Related Promotional Videos

Related News

Catalog of Releases