The Meters

The Meters
The Meters performing live in 2011
Background information
Also known as	The Original Meters, Note: The Funky Meters are a reincarnation band with two of the original members, Art Neville and George Porter Jr.
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Genres	New Orleans R&B, funk
Years active	1965–1977, 1989–present
Labels	Josie, Reprise, Mardi Gras, Virgo, Warner Bros., Rounder, Charly, Rhino, Lakeside, Sundazed, Too Funky
Website	Official Website
Members	The Original Meters Art Neville George Porter Jr. Leo Nocentelli Zigaboo Modeliste The Funky Meters Art Neville George Porter Jr. Brian Stoltz Terrence Houston

The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977. The band played an influential role as backing musicians for other artists, including Lee Dorsey, Robert Palmer, and Dr. John. The Meters acted as the house band for Allen Toussaint's New Orleans soul classics of the 1960s and are responsible for bringing New Orleans second line grooves into popular music.

While The Meters rarely enjoyed significant mainstream success, they are considered, along with artists like James Brown, one of the originators of funk music and their work is influential on many other bands, both their contemporaries and modern musicians working in the funk idiom.

The Meters' sound is defined by an earthy combination of tight melodic grooves and highly syncopated New Orleans "second-line" rhythms under highly charged guitar and keyboard riffing. Their songs "Cissy Strut" and "Look-Ka Py Py" are considered funk classics.

Art Neville, the group's frontman, launched a solo career around the New Orleans area in the mid-1950s while still in high school. The Meters formed in 1965 with a line-up of keyboardist and vocalist Art Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste. They were later joined by percussionist-vocalist Cyril Neville. The Meters became the house band for Allen Toussaint and his record label, Sansu Enterprises.

In 1969 the Meters released "Sophisticated Cissy" and "Cissy Strut", both major R&B chart hits. "Look-Ka Py Py" and "Chicken Strut" were their hits the following year. After a label shift in 1972, the Meters had difficulty returning to the charts, but they worked with Dr. John, Paul McCartney, King Biscuit Boy, Labelle, Robert Palmer and others.