A few years ago I came across a list of the all-time "50 funkiest songs." I remember an entry in there for The Meters, I think it was "Cissy Strut." Pffft, what a useless exercise.
Try coming up with "The Fifty Funkiest Meters Songs."
If you look up the word "funk" in dictionary, you're likely see a picture of drummer Ziggy Modeliste, keyboardist Art Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, and bassist George Porter, Jr. right next to the word. The Meters were so funky, they made George Clinton sound like Perry Como.
Have I mentioned how funky the Meters were?
With all the hyperboles out of the way (which I believe in, by the way), let's talk about this band more specifically. While Clinton arguably invented modern funk, the Meters are responsible for the best branch of funk, that New Orleans funk. With Allen Toussaint at the controls behind the boards, the Meters reliably cranked out R&B moderate hits like the aforementioned "Cissy Strut" that introduced their trademark Big Easy rhythms married to contemporary soul in the late sixties and early seventies. By the time they switched to a big label (Reprise) in 1972 and started adding vocals, they had a reputation much bigger than their chart action. But being the studio backing band to the likes of Lee Dorsey, Earl King, Dr. John, Robert Palmer, and yes, even Sir Paul McCartney, helped to pay some bills.
Still, the records under their own name were outstanding in their own right. By the time 1974's Rejuvenation came out, their sound was not only firmly established, but their songwriting matured and broadened considerably. It's on that album that the New Orleans-paced top 40 hit "Hey Pocky A-Way" was culled from as well as the tightly-constructed funk of "People Say."
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
The Meters were so funky, they made George Clinton sound like Perry Como.
truer words were never spoken.
back in my early 20's, i had never heard of The Meters...then i guy in my dorm got a copy of The Wild Tchopitoulas. holy smokes, what a great record.
2 - Pico
Mark, The Meters were actually a band I've heard of since the time of this song. When I was in grade school, "Hey Pocky A-Way" and "They All Ax' For You" were all over the radio growing up in South Louisiana. I honestly thought then they were some big nationwide act and that these songs were being played regularly all over the country. It was only later that I realized that those tunes were getting more airplay because they were a "local" act.
Thank God local radio was still vibrant back then.
3 - Mark Saleski
yeah, they should be a household name!