Track Listing
DISC 1: THE JOSIE YEARS:
1. Cissy Strut
2. Here Comes the Meter Man
3. Live Wire
4. Sophisticated Cissy
5. Ease Back
6. Stormy
7. Look-Ka Py Py
8. Pungee
9. Thinking
10. This Is My Last Affair
11. Funky Miracle
12. Yeah, You're Right
13. Little Old Money Maker
14. Dry Spell
15. Chicken Strut
16. Same Old Thing
17. Darling Darling Darling
18. Tippi-Toes
19. Ride Your Pony
20. Message From the Meters, A
21. Zony Mash
22. Stretch Your Rubber Band
23. Groovy Lady
24. Doodle-Oop, (The World Is a Bit Under the Weather)
25. I Need More Time
26. Good Old Funky Music
DISC 2: THE REPRISE/WARNER BROS. YEARS:
1. Stay Away
2. Soul Island
3. Do the Dirt
4. Cabbage Alley
5. People Say
6. Hey Pocky a-Way
7. Africa
8. Fire on the Bayou
9. Talkin' 'Bout New Orleans
10. They All Ask'd For You
11. Running Fast - (single version)
12. World Is a Little Bit Under the Weather, (Doodle Loop) The
13. Trick Bag
14. Hang 'Em High
15. Be My Lady
16. Funkify Your Life
17. Give It What You Can
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Earl King | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
The Meters: Leo Nocentelli (guitar); Arthur "Art" Neville (keyboards); George Porter, Jr. (bass); Joseph "Zig" Modeliste (drums); Cyril Neville (congas).
Additional personnel includes: Earl King (vocals); Squirrel (congas); Terry "Pesuki" Smith, Tony Owens (background vocals).
Producers include: Allen Toussaint, Marshall E. Sehorn, The Meters, David Rubinson & Friends.
Compilation producers: John Brenes, Don Snowden, James Austin.
Includes liner notes by A. Scott Galloway and Don Snowden.
FUNKIFY YOUR LIFE is the definitive Meters collection, capturing the group's transformation from slinky instrumentalists to rollicking funkateers. Disc 1, THE JOSIE YEARS, overflows with the band's trademark sound-Art Porter's breezy Hammond organ playing, George Porter's bubbling bass, Ziggy Modeliste's in-the-pocket timekeeping, and Leo Nocentelli's crackling jazz-flavored guitar style. This batch of '60s-era tracks contains the Meters' lone Top 40 hits ("Cissy Strut," "Sophisticated Cissy"), and songs such as "Look-Ka Py Py" and "Same Old Thing" dig deeply into the kind of syncopated groove normally associated with the JB's. Later material like "Zony Mash" and "Stretch Your Rubber Band" experiments with the nuances of bass-heavy reggae and psychedelic funk.
Disc 2, THE REPRISE/WARNER BROS YEARS, consists of the Meters' '70s output, where Cyril Neville joined the line-up, and the band started adding more vocals to the mix. This period found the Meters expanding their sound, exploring soulful Caribbean sounds ("Soul Island"), funky New Orleans dance crazes ("Do The Dirt"), party anthems ("Hey Pocky A-Way"), and sinewy funk ("Africa," later covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers). These songs and more make this Meters anthology a sadly overlooked example of New Orleans funk.
Editorial Reviews
4 out of 5 stars - ...Some of the leanest instrumentals known to mankind....most of what's here can be measured on the Richter scale...
Q (01/01/2001)
...this is essential listening for Crescent City soul fans...
Rolling Stone (04/06/1995)
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