Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Year Formed: 1968

Personnel:
Art Neville -organ
Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste -drums
Leo Nocentelli -guitar
George Porter, Jr. -bass

Bands In The Family:
The Neville Brothers, The Wild Tchopitoulas, The Funky Meters, The Hawkettes, Art Neville & the Neville Sounds

It's not just what you play, it's what you don't play. That's the secret of The Meters' funk. All four players had the chops to be insufferable show-offs, but instead they applied their concentrated skills to getting the groove as tight as possible.

This album includes their first three hits: "Sophisticated Cissy," "Cissy Strut," and "Ease Back" (the former two refer to a dance step that was popular in New Orleans in 1969). They followed a formula of sorts, but one subject to as many tasty variations as your grandma's secret chili. Nocentelli and Porter set the frame with restrained, elastic rhythms, often playing in unison. Neville laid slippery melodies or strategically reinforced the groove. Modeliste was the band's secret weapon; he played anywhere from just behind to way behind the beat, accenting and filling the proceedings with irresistibly hip-swivelling patterns that interlocked with the rest of the combo's.

This reissue includes two previously unissued bonus tracks, a loungy cover of "The Look of Love" and a much more rewarding funk work-out called "Soul Machine."