[Today: New Orleans' finest...]
The Meters enjoyed just four moderate hit singles in their dozen years of existence. But their influence on the sound of modern music stands in direct contrast to that modest commercial success. They released a couple of all-instrumental albums for regional label Josie before signing to Warner’s Reprise label and working in a more funk/rock vein for most of the 70′s. All of their albums contain gems, and none are below average. With 43 tracks spread over two generous discs, Rhino’s Funkify Your Life: The Meters Anthology collects all the high points in one super-funky package.
The Meters were a band in the truest sense of the word: there’s not a weak link to be found among their ranks. Drummer Joseph ‘Zigaboo’ Modeliste drove the band with his perfectly imprecise, zig-zagging rhythms that snaked in and around Art Neville’s Hammond lines. Meanwhile, guitarist Leo Nocentelli and bassist George Porter Jr were off doing their own funky thang that would inevitably meet up with Modeliste and Neville’s funky thang every couple of measures or so. Incredibly loose, but super-tight: it’s a contradiction for almost every band except The Meters.
In addition to their own albums, The Meters were producer Allen Toussaint’s house band, and played on sessions for a wide variety of artists, including Lee Dorsey, Dr. John, and Paul McCartney. [Fun fact: The Meters are the backing band on Labelle’s disco smash ‘Lady Marmalade’ (ie “voulez vous couchez avec moi“). The Meters are ingrained into many different facets of funk music in the 70′s, and that influence eventually stretched into hip-hop, where they’re among the most consistently sampled acts.
Public Enemy producer Hank Shocklee has referred to The Meters’ sound as “…the formula for funk and hip-hop as we know it.” Unfortunately, the band broke up in 1977 when Toussaint exercised his right over the group’s name. Art Neville would go on to form the Neville Brothers, and while The Original Meters would reunite to play a few shows over the course of the last decade, it’s their music from 1969 to 1977 that still causes funk fans to shake their stuff, and DJs to hit the crossfade.
Listen: Cissy Strut
Tags: Art Neville, Dave Rosen, funk, Funkify Your Life, George Porter Jr., Hank Shocklee, Leo Nocentelli, The Meters, Zigaboo Modeliste
