Jun 27, 2015

RhoDeo 1525 Grooves

Hello, ah Islam once again showed it's peace loving side, we could offer the other cheek but what about the guy who lost his head ? Pathetic cowards these terrorists, unfortunately most European politicians are cowards as well. Solutions are feasible, for starters declare Salafists as terrorists , imprison them and then kick them out towards Saudi Arabia. Second carpetbomb every town where Isis manifests, those idiots that thusfar opportunisticly supported Isis will suffer for it, but they had it coming you can't dance with the devil and think you can get away with it. Doing this quickly and the stream of refugees will dry, as for these opportunistic leftover sons from west africa deport them back, with force if need be. As i said the bleeding heart politicians won't do any of that and will be responsible for the much much bigger mess that awaits us ....

Meanwhile i watched an enjoyable 1/4 final at the womens worldchampionship between France and Germany. France were slightly better but at the penalty shoot out the German women coolly scored every penalty (English men take note!) France saw it final penalty held, previously neither keeper had any chance stopping the penalty. Hmm German girls march on towards the title French girls will weep and hope next time at home they will take the title...

Ah yes and Glastonbury is going on this long weekend, currently looking at Florence and The Machine doing their thing as stand in for the Foo Fighters. Pity i would have preferred seeing Siouxsie and the Banshees instead at a setting such as this, but i suppose they enjoy their mothballs... Drama queens...



Today and the coming weeks you'll get an American funk band that defined New Orleans funk, not only on their own recordings, but also as the backing band for numerous artists, including many produced by Allen Toussaint. Where the funk of Sly Stone and James Brown was wild, careening, and determinedly urban, the band were down-home and earthy. Nearly all of their own recordings were instrumentals, putting the emphasis on the organic and complex rhythms. 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, including musicians like Paul McCartney and Robert Palmer, both of whom used the group as a backing band for recording. Despite their reputation as an extraordinary live band, The Meters never broke into the mainstream, but their sound provided the basis for much of the funk and hip-hop of the '80s and '90s.   ... N'joy

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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.

Throughout their career, The Meters were always led by Art Neville (keyboard, vocals), one of the leading figures of the New Orleans musical community. As a teenager in high school, he recorded the seminal "Mardi Gras Mambo" with his group, the Hawketts, for Chess Records. The exposure with the Hawketts led to solo contracts with Specialty and Instant, where he released a handful of singles that became regional hits in the early '60s. Around 1966, he formed Art Neville & the Sounds with his brothers Aaron and Charles (both vocals), guitarist Leo Nocentelli, drummer Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste, and bassist George Porter. The band grew out of informal jam sessions the musicians held in local New Orleans nightclubs. After spending a few months playing under the Sounds name, producer Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn hired the group -- without the vocalists -- to be the house band for their label Sansu Enterprises.

As the house band for Sansu, The Meters played on records by Earl King, Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, and Betty Harris, as well is Toussaint himself. They also performed and recorded on their own, releasing danceable instrumental singles on Josie Records. "Sophisticated Cissy" and "Cissy Strut" became Top Ten R&B hits in the spring of 1969, followed by the number 11 hits "Look-Ka Py Py" and "Chicken Strut" a year later. The Meters stayed at Josie until 1972, and during that entire time they reached the R&B Top 50 consistently, usually placing within the Top 40. In 1972, the group moved to Reprise Records, yet they didn't sever their ties with Sansu, electing to keep Toussaint as their producer and Sehon as their manager. Ironically, The Meters didn't have nearly as many hit singles at Reprise, yet their profile remained remarkably high. If anything, the group became hipper, performing on records by Robert Palmer, Dr. John, LaBelle, King Biscuit Boy, and Paul McCartney. By the release of 1975's Fire on the Bayou, The Meters had a Top 40 hit with Rejuvenation's "Hey Pocky A-Way" (1974), and they had gained a significant following among rock audience and critics. Fire on the Bayou received significant praise, and the group opened for the Rolling Stones on the British band's 1975 and 1976 tours.

In 1975 Paul McCartney invited the Meters to play at the release party for his Venus and Mars album aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California; Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones was in attendance at the event and was greatly taken with the Meters and their sound.[citation needed] The Rolling Stones invited the band to open for them on their Tour of the Americas '75 and Tour of Europe '76.That same year, the Meters recorded one of their most successful albums, Fire on the Bayou.

During 1976/77, The Meters embarked on the Wild Tchoupitoulas project with Art's uncle and cousin George and Amos Landry, two members of the Mardi Gras ceremonial black Indian tribe, the Wild Tchoupitoulas. The Meters, the Landrys, and the Neville brothers -- Aaron, Charles, Art, and Cyril -- were all involved in the recording of the album, which received enthusiastic reviews upon its release in 1976. Cyril joined The Meters after the record's release. Despite all of the acclaim for The Wild Tchoupitoulas, its adventurous tendencies indicated that the group was feeling constrained by its signature sound. Such suspicions were confirmed the following year, when they separated from Toussaint and Sehorn, claiming they needed to take control of their artistic direction. Following the split, The Meters released New Directions in 1977, but shortly after its appearance, Toussaint and Sehorn claimed the rights to the group's name. Instead of fighting, the band broke up, with Art and Cyril forming the Neville Brothers with Aaron and Charles, while the remaining trio became session musicians in New Orleans. Modeliste, in particular, became a well-known professional musician, touring with the New Barbarians in 1979 and moving to L.A. during the '80s.

The Meters reunited as a touring unit in 1990 with Russell Batiste taking over the drum duties from Modeliste. Four years later, Nocentelli left the band, allegedly because he and Art disagreed whether the band should be paid for samples hip-hop groups took from their old records; when Nocentelli left the group in 1994 they replaced him with guitarist Brian Stoltz, formerly of The Neville Brothers and renamed themselves The Funky Meters. (They were referred to as "the Funky Meters" as early as 1989.

The Funky Meters continued to play into the 2000s with Stoltz being replaced by Art Neville's son, Ian Neville, from 2007 to 2011 while he went to pursue a solo career. Stoltz returned to the band permanently in 2011. In 2000, a "big offer" enticed all four original Meters to reunite for a one-night stand at the Warfield in San Francisco; by this time Modeliste wanted to make the reunion a permanent one, but the other members and their management teams objected

In June 2011 The Original Meters along with Allen Toussaint and Dr. John played the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. The six men performed Dr. John's album "Desitively Bonnaroo" which was originally recorded with the Meters, to a sold out crowd. On May 5, 2012 The Meters returned to New Orleans for a performance at the Howlin' Wolf. Tickets went on sale and sold out in one and a half hours.

Currently, The Funky Meters tour consistently performing songs by The Meters, while The Meters perform sporadically. The line up of Neville, Porter, Nocentelli and Modeliste typically bill themselves as The Original Meters to avoid confusion with The Funky Meters. When not performing with The Original Meters, guitarist Leo Nocentelli leads his own group, The Meters Experience which also performs the music of The Meters.

Confused ? Don't be it's greed doing its ugly thing... Meanwhile the Meters have been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times since becoming eligible in 1994: 1996, 2012, and in 2013. but all that strife..

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Initially created to be the house band for Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn's Sansu Enterprises, the Meters started out backing such famous names as Lee Dorsey and Betty Harris. Led by organist Art Neville, the quartet was rounded out by jazz-influenced guitarist Leo Nocentelli, along with the bubbling rhythm section of bassist George Porter, Jr. and drummer Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste. Booker T. & the M.G.'s may have been the most obvious influence, but the Meters differentiated themselves by injecting a healthy dose of New Orleans funk into their sound. Led by Neville's fat-sounding organ, the Meters quickly scored hits with the sinewy "Cissy Strut" and the more languid "Sophisticated Cissy." Simplicity is the hallmark of this impressive debut and nuance is paramount, whether it's Nocentelli's lazy riffs echoing throughout "Ease Back" or Modeliste unobtrusively riding his hi-hat along the perimeter of the Memphis-fried "6V6 La." Not unlike the M.G.'s, the Meters were masters of interpretation -- the band here moves easily from a chugging reading of Sly Stone's "Sing a Simple Song," to kicking back on a smoky version of the Classics IV's "Stormy."



The Meters - The Meters  (flac  250mb)

01 Cissy Strut 3:04
02 Here Comes The Meter Man 2:54
03 Cardova 4:32
04 Live Wire 2:39
05 Art 2:32
06 Sophisticated Cissy 2:55
07 Ease Back 3:13
08 6V6 LA 2:24
09 Sehorn's Farm 2:28
10 Ann 2:44
11 Stormy 3:37
12 Sing A Simple Song 3:02
Bonus Tracks
13 The Look Of Love 3:36
14 Soul Machine 3:26

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The second album by Art Neville's band continues the sound that made them New Orleans legends. In addition to the title track, there's plenty of funk aboard in songs like like "Pungee," "9 'Til 5," "Rigor Mortis," "Funky Miracle," and "Yeah, You're Right." [Some reissues also feature two previously unreleased bonus tracks, "Grass" and "Borro." Look-Ka Py Py was listed #216 on the Rolling Stone list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.



The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py (flac 206mb)

01 Look-Ka Py Py 3:17
02 Rigor Mortis 2:36
03 Pungee 2:59
04 Thinking 1:40
05 This Is My Last Affair 2:53
06 Funky Miracle 2:27
07 Yeah, You're Right 2:48
08 Little Old Money Maker 2:41
09 Oh, Calcutta! 2:44
10 The Mob 2:48
11 9 'Til 5 2:48
12 Dry Spell 2:29
bonus
13 Grass 2:40
14 Borro 2:12

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As the third full-length album released by the Meters, Struttin' may not appear to be drastically different than its predecessors, at least not on the surface. After all, the title of the lead single "Chicken Strut" intentionally recalls their previous biggest "Cissy Strut," and it has the same basic Meters groove. And if the essential sound remains unchanged, that's because that organic, earthy funk is the Meters' signature. Other groups have tried to replicate it, but nobody ever played it better. Because of that, Struttin is an enjoyable record, even if it never quite feels like anything more focused than a series of jam sessions; after all, that's what it was. This time around, however, the Meters did make a conscious decision to emphasize vocals, and not just with shout-alongs on the chorus ("Chicken Strut," "Same Old Thing"), but with Art Neville's leads on covers of Ty Hunter's soulful uptown shuffle "Darling, Darling, Darling," Jimmy Webb's groovy ballad "Wichita Lineman," and Lee Dorsey's "Ride Your Pony" (the Meters provided support on the original recording). This gives the album a bit more diversity than its predecessors, which is welcome, even for devotees of the group's admittedly addictive sound. But the real difference is how the band seems willing to expand their signature sound. "Hand Clapping Song" is a spare, syncopated breakdown without an obvious through-line, while "Joog" turns the group's groove inside out. These variations are entertaining -- as entertaining as the vocals -- and the songs that are solidly in the Meters tradition are also fun. The results are pretty terrific, though given the fact that Struttin' never really pulls itself into a coherent album, it may be the kind of first-rate record only aficionados of the band will need to seek out.



The Meters - Struttin' (flac 223mb)

01 Chicken Strut 3:12
02 Liver Splash 2:41
03 Wichita Lineman 2:59
04 Joog 2:14
05 Go For Yourself 3:11
06 Same Old Thing 2:50
07 Hand Clapping Song 2:56
08 Darling Darling Darling 2:53
09 Tippi-Toes 2:27
10 Britches 2:50
11 Hey! Last Minute 2:59
12 Ride Your Pony 3:18
Bonus Tracks
13 Funky Meters' Soul 2:57
14 Meter Strut 2:47

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

by your binary logic, who might turn the other cheek? Did Fallujah, Bagram and Guantanamo pass you completely by? "They" would be the people turning the other cheek. You might benefit from reading this, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagram_torture_and_prisoner_abuse
So you want to raise the stakes in a game of tit for tat? You appear to be no better than the people you despise. Your comments are vicious, make no sense in terms of how liberal and open democracies need to conduct themselves, and demean your blog. msj

Rho said...

Im talking of cowards killing defenseless people, as for torturers these people are from the same ilk. I'm not naive as such i wouldn't be surprised ISIS was a CIA project that got out of hand (surprise surprise). The Jews made the same mistake with Hamas (set up to undercut the PLO).
Geo-politically i would go as far as terror is created to strengthen the police-state that is being shaped, to accomodate the 1%, keeping the 99% of their back..

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho

Can you please re-up the self-titled first Meters album?

Many thanks