Unearthed live AUDIO of The Meters & The Metrics from 1980 and 1983

Zigaboo Modeliste by Henry Heikkinen

Happy 50th Jazz Fest everyone! Here are some very rare audio recordings of The Meters that I have cleaned up and corrected the speed on. Years ago I traded for 2 CDRs marked as “The Meters 11/28/80”, and it turned out to be 2 different recordings that seem to be incomplete. Also, both recordings were running fast, probably from a bad cassette transfer. I’ve slowed them down and cleaned them up as best I can. Enjoy this rare funk as you get your mind right for the 50th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this year!

Download the recordings here and here.

The Metrics
1983 or 1984
New Orleans, LA @ ???

SBD > ??? > cassette > ??? > CDR > EAC > FLAC > WAV > Cool Edit Pro (pitch slowed down 0.9 semitones) > CD Wave Editor (tracking) > FLAC

01. People Say 7:27
02. Cissy Strut > 3:57
03. Love The One You’re With > 2:57
04. Hey Pocky A-Way 7:18
05. They All Ask’d For You 7:00
06. Big Chief 5:48
07. Standing In Your Stuff // 6:00

George Porter, Jr. – bass, vocals
Zigaboo Modeliste – drums, vocals
David Torkanowsky – keyboards, ?vocals?
Scott Goudeau – guitar, ?vocals?
Tony Dagradi and/or Fred Kemp – saxophone

We know that this group played at Jazz Fest in 1983 and 1984. There is an audience recording that exists of their 1984 Jazz Fest performance. I have not heard it, but I have seen the info file and it’s a totally different setlist with no Meters tunes really except Gossip. So this recording could be from Jazz Fest 1983 or at some other time from 1982 to 1984. I presume and assume this was recorded in New Orleans.

I found this as filler on the 11/28/80 Meters CDRs I traded for years ago. Upon closer inspection of my CDR’s, it was actually about 45 minutes of 11/28/80 and then this Metrics recording on the other side of the cassette.
The tape was also running too fast. This is my first attempt at shifting/fixing the pitch, so it may not be correct, but it sounds closer to reality than it did. It’s also an incomplete recording. I don’t know how much is missing from the end. 2019-01-19 – Funk It Blog

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The Meters (with Sam Henry subbing for Art Neville)
November 28th, 1980
New Orleans, LA @ Tipitinas

FM/SBD (WTUL) > 3rd Gen (presumably a cassette) > DAT > ??? > FLAC > WAV > Cool Edit Pro (amplified) > CD Wave Editor (tracking) > WAV > FLAC

01. WTUL radio intro
02. Rigor Mortis
03. Fire on the Bayou >
04. Jungle Man
05. talk & tuning
06. Africa
07. Cissy Strut
08. Just Kissed My Baby
09. People Say >
10. “Try To Get Over” >
11. They All Ask’d For You

Sam Henry – organ & vocals (subbing for Art Neville)
George Porter, Jr. – bass & vocals
Leo Nocentelli – guitar
Zigaboo Modeliste – drums & vocals

They are announced as “The Funky Disgusting Meters”! It sounds like George Porter’s group, Joyride, was the opening act because Zig calls them out during the jam into Jungle Man.

Here’s a little more info on the history between Sam Henry and The Meters (courtesy of the Home Of The Groove blog):
https://homeofthegroove.blogspot.com/2006/08/gospel-bird-vs-soul-machine-updated.html

VIDEOS: Fiya Powa! – Late Night Superjam feat. Ivan Neville, Stanton Moore, Tony Hall, Skerik, Roosevelt Collier & Andrew Block

Fiya Powa!

Fiyawerx Productions presents Fiya Powa!
May 2nd, 2013 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s (3am start time on May 3rd)

Ivan Neville – keys, vocals
Stanton Moore – drums
Tony Hall – bass, vocals
Skerik – saxophone
Roosevelt Collier – pedal steel guitar
Andrew Block – guitar

Part 1 of 10: Standing On Shaky Ground [Delbert McClinton cover]

Part 2 of 10: Papa Was A Rolling Stone [The Temptations cover]

Part 3 of 10: Born To Wander [Rare Earth cover]

Part 4 of 10: Just Kissed My Baby [The Meters cover]

Part 5 of 10: Just Kissed My Baby [The Meters cover] (continued)

Part 6 of 10: Skerik cocaine Careless Whisper tease, Fire On The Bayou [The Meters cover]

Part 7 of 10: drum solo

Part 8 of 10: Improv, Fight The Power [The Isley Brothers cover]

Part 9 of 10: Fight The Power [The Isley Brothers cover] (continued)

Part 10 of 10: Foxy Lady [Jimi Hendrix cover]

Members of Dumpstaphunk & The Neville Brothers pay tribute to The Meters at private jazz fest party at the Maple Leaf

Nearly a year ago, during the 2nd weekend of the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the 4th Annual SF Management Crawfish Boil kicked off at the Maple Leaf Bar. The music started at 7pm, so you’d have to forego your after-jazz fest nap if you wanted to see this show. All proceeds from the event were donated to the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation.

Shari Frank, the event coordinator, always makes it a point to put together a unique combination of musicians. For 2011, it was Ivan Neville, Ian Neville, and Tony Hall (from Dumpstaphunk) with David Russell Batiste (from The Funky Meters). Mark Rechler’s Circus Mind opened the show with choice covers such as Bill Wither‘s Use Me and Joe Cocker‘s version of Traffic‘s Feelin Alright. Midway, Gaynielle Neville, Cyril Neville‘s lovely wife, and her entourage stormed the stage for a few originals and a romp through the Sly & The Family Stone classic, Everyday People.

Video 1 of 4: Ain’t No Use (To Cut You Loose) [w/ Mark Rechler & Steve Finkelstein],
Doodle Oop (The World Is A Little Bit Under The Weather) [w/ Steve Finkelstein]

Slowly, the musicians filtered in and out, before we were left with 3/4th of Dumpstaphunk (Ivan Neville, Ian Neville & Tony Hall) + 1/4 of The Funky Meters (Russell Batiste). This is when things got interesting with some very deep cuts from The Meters‘ time-honored back catalog. What’cha Say. Gettin’ Funkier All The Time. These are Meters tunes that rarely if ever have been played live by either the original lineup or the Funky Meters lineup. Ivan and his friends put forth faithful interpretations that also expanded into heavy funk improvisations. Mojo Hannah, a Tami Lynn tune that was a staple of The Neville Brothers‘ repertoire was particularly soulful.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get much funkier, Cyril Neville busted onto the stage with an exhilarating performance of The Meters’ Chug A Lug, which then turned into a percussion jam between Cyril and Russell Batiste. Then Ivan teased in the chords of Zigaboo Modeliste‘s crescent city anthem, Welcome To New Orleans. That’s when my crew and I knew that we’d arrived.

Video 2 of 4: Chug A Lug [w/ Cyril Neville] > Welcome To New Orleans [w/ Cyril Neville]

Video 3 of 4:Gettin’ Funkier All The Time, Just Kissed My Baby

Video 4 of 4:What’Cha Say, Mojo Hannah,
The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry) [w/ Steve Finkelstein]

The full audio recording of this performance is available to stream or download over at Live Music Archive.

And if you’re interested in the 2012 SF Management Crawfish Boil, to take place on Saturday, May 5th, go to the SF Management website.

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