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The Meters

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The Meters were a band that performed and recorded from the late 1960s until 1977. They were based in New Orleans. While the band never enjoyed huge popular success, it was nonetheless greatly admired by cognoscenti and is considered one of the progenitors of funk in the 1970s.

Art Neville, the group's frontman, launched a solo career around the New Orleans area in the mid-1950s, while still in high school. The Meters formed in 1965, with a line up of keyboardist and vocalist Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter, Jr. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste, and became the house band for Sansu Enterprises, an Allen Toussaint-owned label. In 1969, the Meters released "Sophisticated Cissy" and "Cissy Strut", both major R&B chart hits. "Look-Ka Py Py" and "Chicken Strut" were also hits the following year. After a label shift in 1972, the Meters had difficulty returning to the charts, though they played on many important records by Dr. John, Paul McCartney, King Biscuit Boy, Labelle and Robert Palmer.

In 1974 Paul McCartney invited the Meters to play at the release party for his Venus and Mars album aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. At this event, Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones was impressed by the Meters. They released a critically-acclaimed album, Fire on the Bayou, in 1975, and The Rolling Stones invited the Meters to open for them on their Tour of America. This was followed by a collaboration with George & Amos Landry and the Neville Brothers, The Wild Tchoupitoulas. The band broke up in 1977 after Toussaint claimed the rights to the name and they played as various incarnations of the Neville Brothers and with other bands.

The Meters reformed with the new official name, "The Funky Meters", after an informal jam during the 1989 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival replacing Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste with David Russell Batiste, Jr. on drums. Russell had recorded with Allen Toussaint, Robbie Robertson, and Harry Connick, Jr. In 1994, the departure of Leo Nocentelli led to them inviting old friend Brian Stoltz into the fold as guitarist. Stoltz had been the guitarist for The Neville Brothers during the '80s, and during the '90s had done session work on records with Bob Dylan, Edie Brickell, Dr. John and Linda Ronstadt, to name a few.

Original drummer Ziggy Modeliste, who started out with the group as a 17-year-old, laid down some very influential rhythms. His beats have been sampled by numerous hip hop groups including Ice Cube, Run DMC, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Queen Latifah, and EPMD. Modeliste relocated to Oakland, California, in the '80s where he teaches drumming, releases new music, and performs around the San Francisco Bay Area and the world with his band "Zigaboo Modeliste and The New Aahkesstra".

The Meters gained new-found notoriety in 2001, winning a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jammys. Their music has been used in films and commercials, and in 2005 drum and guitar breaks from their 1970 version of "Oh, Calcutta!" (reinterpreted from the stage musical, and appearing on their "Look-Ka Py Py" album), were sampled by producer Rich Harrison, to provide the main loops of the hit song "1 Thing" by Amerie.

The original Meters reformed for a performance on Saturday, 11/11/00 at The Warfield Theater after several fans pooled their money to bring The Meters back to the stage. The mayor of San Francisco proclaimed it "Meters Day" in San Francisco. At the 2005 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (4/23/05) the original Meters performed again. This went so well that the original group decided to play further dates in Las Vegas (Vegoose 10/30/05), Chicago (House of Blues 11/11 & 11/12, 05), San Francisco (The Fillmore 11/18 & 11/19/05) and New York (Nokia Theater 11/25) later in the year, including a benefit for Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina (Madison Square Garden 9/25/05). They opened for the Rolling Stones (3/12/06) in Florida after their performance at the Langerado Music Festival (3/11/06). They played again at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2006 (4/30/06) and most recently performed at the Hollywood Bowl with the Neville Brothers on 8/16/06.

The Meter's also recently played at Voodoo Fest '06 in New Orleans. The Meter's were also brought on stage for an improvisational jam session by the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the band's first encore. The jam session featured numerous "duels" between the members of the bands and lasted for roughly ten minutes.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums (Incomplete)

The Meters (1969)

Track List

  1. Cissy Strut
  2. Here Comes the Meter Man
  3. Cardova
  4. Live Wire
  5. Art
  6. Sophisticated Cissy
  7. Ease Back
  8. 6v6 La
  9. Sehorn's Farm
  10. Ann
  11. Stormy
  12. Sing a Simple Song
  13. Look of Love
  14. Soul Machine


Look-Ka Py Py (1970)

Track List

  1. Look-Ka Py Py
  2. Rigor Mortis
  3. Pungee
  4. Thinking
  5. This Is My Last Affair
  6. Funky Miracle
  7. Yeah, You're Right
  8. Little Old Money Maker
  9. Oh, Calcutta!
  10. Mob
  11. 9 'Til 5
  12. Dry Spell
  13. Grass
  14. Borro


Struttin' (1970)

Track List

  1. Chicken Strut
  2. Liver Splash
  3. Wichita Lineman
  4. Joog
  5. Go for Yourself
  6. Same Old Thing
  7. Handclapping Song
  8. Darling Darling Darling
  9. Tippi-Toes
  10. Britches
  11. Hey! Last Minute
  12. Ride Your Pony
  13. Funky Meters' Soul
  14. Meter Strut


Cabbage Alley (1972)

Track List

  1. You've Got to Change (You've Got to Reform)
  2. Stay Away
  3. Birds
  4. Flower Song
  5. Soul Island
  6. Do the Dirt
  7. Smiling
  8. Lonesome and Unwanted People
  9. Gettin' Funkier All the Time
  10. Cabbage Alley
  11. Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove), Pt. 1
  12. Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove), Pt. 2


Rejuvenation (1974)

Track List

  1. People Say
  2. Love Is for Me
  3. Just Kissed My Baby
  4. What'cha Say
  5. Jungle Man
  6. Hey Pocky A-Way
  7. It Ain't No Use
  8. Loving You Is on My Mind
  9. Africa
  10. People Say [Single Version]
  11. Hey Pocky A-Way [Single Version]


Fire on the Bayou (1975)

Track List

  1. Out in the Country
  2. Fire on the Bayou
  3. Love Slip Upon Ya
  4. Talkin' 'Bout New Orleans
  5. They All Ask'd for You
  6. Can You Do Without?
  7. Liar
  8. You're a Friend of Mine
  9. Middle of the Road
  10. Running Fast
  11. Mardi Gras Mambo
  12. Running Fast [Long Version]


Best of The Meters (1975)

Track List

  1. Cissy Strut
  2. Here Comes The Meter Man
  3. Sophisticated Cissy
  4. Look-Ka Py Py
  5. Funky Miracle
  6. Chicken Strut
  7. Tippi-Toes
  8. Good Old Funky Music
  9. Yeah, You're Right
  10. They All Ask'd For You
  11. Mardi Gras Mambo
  12. Hey Pocky A-Way


Trick Bag (1976)

Track List

  1. Disco Is the Thing Today
  2. Find Yourself
  3. All These Things
  4. I Want to Be Loved by You
  5. Suite for 20 G
  6. (The World Is a Bit Under the Weather) Doodle-Oop
  7. Trick Bag
  8. Mr. Moon
  9. Chug-A-Lug
  10. Hang 'Em High
  11. Honky Tonk Women


New Directions (1977)

Track List

  1. No More Okey Doke
  2. I'm Gone
  3. Be My Lady
  4. My Name up in Lights
  5. Funkify Your Life
  6. Stop That Train
  7. We Got the Kind of a Love
  8. Give It What You Can


Uptown Rulers! The Meters (1992)

Recorded live in 1975

Track List

  1. Gary Owens Introduces the Band
  2. Fire On The Bayou
  3. Africa
  4. It Ain't No Use
  5. Make It With You
  6. Cissy Strut/Cardova>It's Your Thing>Love The One You're With (medley)
  7. Art Neville Addresses the Audience
  8. Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu>Something You Got>I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)>Everybody Loves A Lover (medley)
  9. Liar
  10. Mardi Gras Mambo
  11. Encore: Hey Pocky A-Way


Kickback (2001) this is a Funky Meters album

Track List

  1. Big Chief
  2. Come Together
  3. Hang 'Em High (Previously Unissued Version)
  4. What More Can I Do
  5. Keep On Marching (Funky Soldier)
  6. Jambalaya
  7. Down By The River
  8. Honky Tonk Woman
  9. He Bite Me
  10. Easy (Trip)
  11. Rock And Rock Medley: Rockin' Pneumonia/Something You Got/I Know/Everybody Loves A Lover
  12. All I Do Everyday
  13. Love The One You're With (Previously Unissued)
  14. A Mother's Love (Previously Unissued)


Fiyo at the Fillmore, Vol. 1 (2003) This is a Funky Meters album

Track List

  1. Too Funky
  2. Keep on Marching
  3. Love Slip Up on Ya'
  4. People Say
  5. We Be Jammin'
  6. Cissy Pickup
  7. Medley: Cissy Strut/Soul Island/You're the One
  8. (Doodle Loop) The World Is a Little Under the Weather
  9. You've Got to Change (You've Got to Reform)
  10. Fire on the Bayou
  11. Too Funky [Studio Demo]de:The Meters

fi:The Meters

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