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The Meters brought N.O. funk to the world [1]
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Date: 2025-02-10
Even though the band never rehearsed or practiced, the Meters always brought the funk.
Art Neville formed the band in 1965, playing keyboards and supplying the vocals. Other members were guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste. Art’s brother, Cyril, later joined the band as a percussionist and vocalist.
According to All Music, the Meters defined New Orleans funk.
“Nearly all of their own recordings were instrumentals, putting the emphasis on the organic and complex rhythms,” the website states. “The syncopated, layered percussion intertwined with the gritty grooves of the guitar and organ, creating a distinctive sound that earned a small, devoted cult during the ’70s.”
In 1969, the Meters released two hits. “Cissy Strut” and “Sophisticated Cissy” earned Top 10 spots on the Billboard Soul chart. In 1974, the Meters released the album “Rejuvenation,” which included Mardi Gras favorite “Hey Pocky A-Way.”
A 2021 Vinyl Me Please article states that the song dates back to Neville’s childhood in the Calliope housing development. “I can hear ‘Hey Pocky A-Way,’ a chant echoing through the projects,” Neville said. He and his brother Charles “would bang out the beat on cigar boxes in the window … that groove followed me around my whole life.”
From the 1970s to the 2000s, the band had many incarnations with a variety of musicians. The Meters became the Funky Meters. Then the first members reunited to become the Original Meters. Guitarist Nocentelli led the Meters Experience.
The Meters’ final performance was at the 2017 Arroyo Seco Festival in Pasadena, California.
“The Meters had a kind of organized freedom I’d never felt before in a band,” said Neville, who died in 2019. “I liked how we never rehearsed and never practiced. It was good to get back to all that spontaneous combustion.”
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.
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