Track Listing

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 [#]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67177 in Music
• Released on: 1999-11-30
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Description
Before they released this self-titled first album in 1969 on the Josie label, the four New Orleans musicians who comprised the Meters had spent several years serving as producer Allen Toussaint's house band and backing the likes of Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, Earl King and Betty Harris. By the time they struck out on their own, keyboardist Art Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste were a well-oiled machine whose earthy grooves and intricate rhythms set a standard for Crescent City funk that's never been matched. This classic debut, produced by Allen Toussaint, features the Meters' instrumental hits "Cissy Strut" and "Sophisticated Sissy," and covers of tunes by Sly Stone, Burt Bacharach and the Classics IV, along with a pair of previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Customer Reviews

Unbelievable
If you're even remotely interested in funk, then you HAVE to buy this album. The Meters are the godfathers of funk. People like James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone list The Meters as a major influence on their own music. The songs on this album are some of the strongest, funkiest grooves I've ever heard. The drumming is superb, the guitar is the raw funk at its best, the bass is thick and the keyboard is great. Funky perfection. By the way, all the songs are instrumental.

5 stars for the first 6 Meters albums
If you like Funk music, Jazz or Soul/Jazz you need the first six Meters albums in your collection. Forget about the best of's, you miss out on to many great cuts. Get this one- s/t, Struttin', Look-ka-py-py, Cabbage alley, Rejuvenation and Fire on the Bayou. Now that you have those get the first seven FUNKADELIC albums. Now were talkin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Essential Funk Primer
In the early days, there was an unknown band that opened for the Rolling Stones on one of their tours. That band was the Meters. This album is the essential funk primer for that era. Cissy Strut being a definative cut from the album. Later, if you get past this album, I highly recommend Fire On The Bayou and Rejuvenation as "must have" Meters albums.

Along with Sly and The Family Stone, the Meters took funk to the highest levels of craftsmanship and musical ability. Their followup albums that I recommended show a much more sophisticated complexity to their music and add a high polish to music of that era.