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Less Than the Best of the Meters CD

J P Ryan | Waltham, Massachusetts United States | 07/13/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Meters' importance in the history of New Orleans r&b is undeniable. Their status as master musicians hardly prepares the listener for the rich, organic, musical pulse evident on from their November 1968 debut single, 'Sophisticated Cissy' - right out of the gate The Meters had created their own brand of sweaty, syncopated funk.

The Meters evolved out of the Neville Sound (all four Meters plus Art's brothers Aaron, Cyril, and sax player Gary Brown) during 1967, a period in which the seemingly unstoppable wave of great post-War hits coming out of New Orleans had slowed to a trickle, causing major hometown talent such as Dr. John and Harold Battiste to emigrate to Los Angeles and leaving a more insular, less lucrative environment for the Big Easy's vast talent pool. From Dave Bartholemew's emergence as bandleader/producer in the late '40s, through the '50s' wonderfully diverse and eccentric legends waxing wildly undomesticated classics at Cosimo Matassa's studios - Little Richard, Huey "Piano" Smith', Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Lee Allen, Art Neville - evolving at the dawn of the '60s into Allen Toussaint's more subdued, eccentric proto-soul productions(imbued with the Crescent City's unique rhythmic stamp)for Jesse Hill, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, Benny Spellman among scores of others, and N.O.'s exports would continue to break nationally well into that decade thanks to Barbara George, Betty Harris, Tammi Lynn, Robert Parker, Alvin Robinson, and so many more....Yet in the lull folowing the post-Motown/British Invasion era, it was The Meters who revitalized the Big Easy's national reputation and transformed its musical identity with an irresistable, minimalist funk simmered with the city's characteristic 'lazy', loping, and slightly off kilter rhythms that were somehow imbued with unstoppable power, irresistable drive and imagination, creating a body of work that remains fresh to this day, resonating with each new generation of fans and musicians.

Art Neville had been making records since 1954's Hawketts classic 'Mardi Gras Mambo', followed by a decade's worth of session work and solo records. After months of touring behind brother Aaron's 1966 smash 'Tell It Like It Is', Art took charge of his musical destiny, putting together the Neville Sounds. Art, in a decision dictated by economics (a club owner willing to hire no more than four musicians) soon stripped his original conception down to a quartet, at first an all instrumental lineup (guitar, drums, bass, and organ) inspired by Memphis legends Booker T & The MGs. But though the MG's influence is obvious, the two bands' styles are as distinct as Memphis is from New Orleans - compare the dry, steady backbone and classy fills of Al Jackson to Meter-man Joseph Modeliste's ever-varying patterns played around the music's pulse. Modeliste's polyrhythms and syncopations, derived from a century of parade beats and early jazz drumming that are in Modeliste's DNA. Modeliste's virtuosity was a perfect match for the deep-grooves of bassist George Porter, spiced on top by Leo Nocentelli's guitar, as accomplished at chicken-scratch as it is with fluid, Wes Montgomery-insipired jazz playing, and fleshed out by Neville's chunky organ - they Meters developed the sort of musical telepathy unique to the best bands, and before the end of '67 producer Allen Toussaint - who'd caught a hot club show - was utilizing the group as house band at Sansu, backing up artists such as Lee Dorsey, Betty Harris, Eldridge Holmes, and others, including solo singles by Art himself as well as brothers Cyril and Aaron.

The Meters developed their own material and, with Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn nominally producing, signed with Josie in 1968. By early 1969 their first two singles, 'Sophisticated Cissy' and 'Cissy Strut' broke nationally, and with a total of five hit singles charting in 1969 alone The Meters were leading the evolution from soul to funk; they produced an impressive body of work over the next decade (still finding time to back up other artists including Dr. John, Labelle, and Toussaint himself), gaining a large and loyal cult of fans that included other important musicians, such as The Rolling Stones and Richard Hell.

The Meters' career can rather too neatly be divided into two periods: first their work for the Josie label (1968 - 71), followed by the Reprise era (1972 - 77). In recent years all eight of their studio albums - plus two very good collections of non-album singles and rarities - have been (re)issued by Sundazed, with superior sound and original graphics as well as bonus material. "The Best Of The Meters" may seem like a sensible first purchase for those who don't have any of the albums, or want a primer, but it just doesn't cut it. Rhino, for some no doubt non-aesthetic reason, only includes six measly gems (out of 16 tracks) from the seminal Josie period, the remaining ten taken from the later Reprise albums. The band continued to evolve as they made some terrific music for Reprise, but the selection included here is unreliable - from 1972's "Cabbage Alley" we get the decent but unremarkable "Soul Island" and the title track (a good rearrangement of an old Professor Longhair hit). These are not that album's best tracks - why not the Sly-meets-'70s Miles classic "Gettin' Funkier All The Time," or the seamless funk/hard rock Leo Nocentelli songs "You've Got To Change" and the wild, fascinating, almost psych-dub of "Stay Away"? For instumentals, "Smiling" and "Flower Song" are both more interesting than the almost bland (I said almost) "Soul Island." And the tracks from the later Reprise albums (which by 1976's "Trick Bag" and 1977's "New Directions" were frustatingly uneven), that close this set are even less representive of what this group was capable of. This is simply an unsatisfying sampler.

If you're interested exploring The Meters' work, the mostly classic original albums are all in print. First there are three originally issued on Josie, "The Meters" (1969), "Look-Ka Py Py" (1969) and "Struttin" (1970) "Zony Mash" might as well be the fourth, as it collects both sides of the last four non-album Meters singles issued before the label stopped functioning late 1971. Each Josie title has much to recommend it, but for sheer inventiveness, compelling and surprising instrumental interplay, and warm, rich sound, my favorite is the second, "Look-Ka Py Py"; if you love this, you'll certainly want the other three. For Reprise titles, "Rejuvenation" (1974) is the classic: slinky, unhurried and richly textured funk and soul, with some of their best original songs and vocals. Its predecessor, "Cabbage Alley" (1972) is a fascinating and ambitious album, if slightly uneven, but by now the music is post-Hendrix/Sly Stone, and even Neil Young is an influence - there's a quite lovely cover of "Birds". The truism is that with the label change came vocals, an end to the 'pure' bare bones funk of their Josie classics, yet Art (who after all had been singing for a decade prior to forming huis great band) contributes three or four superb lead vocals to "Struttin", and vocals play an increasingly important role on the last few singles collected on "Zony Mash" as well.

So, there's my advice: explore the aformentioned pair of classics (mid-line priced) and I bet you'll want to dig deeper, but not into this superfluous compilation."

Funky fun Mardi Gras

Doug Anderson | Miami Beach, Florida United States | 03/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard of the Meters from a small time record producer who threw this record my way and its great. The kind of music people that love good music and have huge good music collections love. This is good feeling party music that was made in the seventies and doesn't date, it just remains good like so much New Orleans music does. The Meters still tour too. So watch for them. Another CD to get is The Wild Tchoupitoulas, which was a one album only New Orleans all star group which featured the Meters as well as the not yet formed Neville Brothers. The Meters solo albums are funky and have an upbeat feel to them and they are often lyrically funny but musically they are highly respected and regarded as pioneers. Even though it sounds like they're partying in the studio while recording (which they probably are) they're also doing interesting things blending funk with other styles of play and always listenable. Some of the lyrics will crack you up and this album will put you in a festival going mood every time you hear it and everyone always wants to hear it again once they've heard it. Their live CD is also great and features some extended versions of their classic songs(all here) for true Meter fans and I am one. If you're only gonna own one this is the one."