The Meters

How often do we spread out our prayer mats and turn toward New Orleans, the city whose
rhythms are in a sense the mother of us all? From the street parades and the drum rituals of
Congo Square came jazz; from the jump blues of pianists like Professor Longhair, Fats
Domino, and Huey Smith came the vitality of rock and roll; from the all-night New Orleans
R&B radio shows, which were picked up in Jamaica and the Islands, came reggae.... More >

Just what do these people want? They're still making up titles like "Gettin' Funkier All the Time," even singing one called "Do the Dirt." But they're also stretching out a catchy little number called "Stay Away" with what annotator Barry Hansen refers to gingerly as "some most unusual electronic adventures" and putting voice to Neil Young's "Birds" and their own "Lonesome and Unwanted People." And what can it mean that the catchiest little number of all has no words and two titles--"You've Got to Change (You've Got to Reform)"? (Grade: B)