tedmanzie Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) I've had "The Meters" and "Struttin" for ages on vinyl, but for some reason just picked up "Look-Ka Py Py" this week. [b]wow[/b] i had forgotten how unbelievably brilliant this band was. so sparse and funky, and an amazingly dry sound. anyone here a fan of George Porter, Jr? Edited November 1, 2012 by ted_manzie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 You bet! A bass-players' bass-player. I know exactly what you mean about the dry sound but hadn't seen it described that way before. Of his more recent work I like 'Piety Street' by Jon Schofield. An album that's also got Jon Cleary playing piano on it. A New Orleans funk double whammy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 IIRC it's pretty much The Meters playing on Robert Palmer's Sneaking Sally Through The Alley; a bass line more funky than a funky thing with its funk pants on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The fasting showman Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 ...a lot of credit should also go to a certain Mr Modeliste on drums too, you can see why he's been sampled to death and his influence on Bonham. A great band, love the 'dry' sound description also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Great band that I suspect influenced a great many acts that followed without necessarily getting the credit they deserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 And don't forget Leo Nocentelli on guitar. That band is/was as tight as an extremely tight thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I love the old Meters stuff. I feel like they've influenced my guitar playing more than my bass playing, though George Porter is great too, economical and effective. There's almost nothing in his playing that doesn't need to be there, which I guess is what you mean by "dry". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 [quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1351810755' post='1855847'] IIRC it's pretty much The Meters playing on Robert Palmer's Sneaking Sally Through The Alley; a bass line more funky than a funky thing with its funk pants on! [/quote] I wondered who was playing on that album. Thanks for the info. I need to check out the meters now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 (edited) - Edited February 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 yeah the up front unreverbed sound was what i mean't by dry, but i agree it also applies to the no frills playing style. totally agree about mr m[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]odeliste (!!!) and n[/font][/color]ocentelli too! in fact i got into the meters in that order - drums, then guitar, and more recently bass. makes you wonder if modern recordings just capture too much, or the the engineers are trying to make everything too spangly. modern recordings can be pretty fashionably 'dry' but they don't sound like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 by the way, these albums have made me want a P-Bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 (edited) - Edited February 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prunesquallor Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 A great band - and very influential as people have said. Flea was listening to them a lot during the recording of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pietruszka Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 The meters are awesome! That's my music for the day sorted! Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirky Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Yep, I'm a big fan. I also love Porter's playing with Snooks Eaglin, another New Orleans soul legend. Their version of Lipstick Traces ins one of my favourite Youtube clips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Great band. "Cissy Strut" is one of my favourites to play---one of the first songs I learned when I decided to try and play with fingers instead of just a pick all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 [quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1351810755' post='1855847'] IIRC it's pretty much The Meters playing on Robert Palmer's Sneaking Sally Through The Alley; a bass line more funky than a funky thing with its funk pants on! [/quote] Not an easy album to track down these days ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPS Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Inspired by this thread I've just fired up itunes - Cissy Strut, 9 til 5, Ease Back etc. Greasy funk heaven!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Love the Meters. When I was playing in a funk band a few years ago, I was a bit obsessed by them. We were about to jam Cissy Strut, when the trumpet player suggested we play it "funkier than the Meters". It turned out he meant faster. I became irrationally pissed off and couldn't speak to him for a week for fear of physically ramming my opinions on the true nature of funk down his stupid blasphemous throat. Anyway, great band, check out Dr Johns Right Place Wrong Time album, what a backing band to have! Soul Machine is my favourite track of theirs, beautiful simmering funk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Love The Meters. Its not as dry a recording as you might think. Yes the instruments sound quite dry (bit of room on the drums, could well be a kit recorded with as little as two mics, more likely just four I think), but there is a fair amount of room on the vocals, probably either a plate or a real reverb chamber . Drum sound is typical 70's funk, super damped skins (get your drummer to put his wallet on the snare to get that close to this), and a totally unhyped kick drum (you would never get away with that plop kick sound in a contemporary band, but its just exactly right for this). Tiny bit of a spring reverb (might be a plate) on the guitar and thats it I reckon, its there but its just so small, bit more when the guitar is taking a bit of a break though. The sense of dryness is more the lack of instrumentation, and the space given to everything. Its far cleverer than just nopt using any reverb or delay ambience. There is not a hint of the need to hype the top end, all the normal culprits fo rthis obsession (guitar, vocal, cymbals) are really kept under control, which just makes everything sound far easier to listen to. They are so unafraid to keep the mojo in the mid range and not try and get into a war for presence in the mix. Masses of saturation though, lots of hard driven tape and mic-pres to get that sound. Yes you can do it to digital today for sure, but you have to aim for it from the get go and not get distracted with the far wider available frequency response availalble on digital than on cheaply pressed 45's in the 70's. Its fair to say that this stuff almost entirely mixed itself on the way to the tape, i doubt they did much but bring up the faders and ride them a bit for the mix. A little very gentle eq-ing and that plate/chamber verb on the vocals and its time to party.... Just a tonne of mojo going on in there though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Oh and for full vintage effect dont be afraid to pan the entire kit to one side (check out Rigor Mortis) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1351850386' post='1856093'] Love The Meters. Its not as dry a recording as you might think. Yes the instruments sound quite dry (bit of room on the drums, could well be a kit recorded with as little as two mics, more likely just four I think), but there is a fair amount of room on the vocals, probably either a plate or a real reverb chamber . Drum sound is typical 70's funk, super damped skins (get your drummer to put his wallet on the snare to get that close to this), and a totally unhyped kick drum (you would never get away with that plop kick sound in a contemporary band, but its just exactly right for this). Tiny bit of a spring reverb (might be a plate) on the guitar and thats it I reckon, its there but its just so small, bit more when the guitar is taking a bit of a break though. The sense of dryness is more the lack of instrumentation, and the space given to everything. Its far cleverer than just nopt using any reverb or delay ambience. There is not a hint of the need to hype the top end, all the normal culprits fo rthis obsession (guitar, vocal, cymbals) are really kept under control, which just makes everything sound far easier to listen to. They are so unafraid to keep the mojo in the mid range and not try and get into a war for presence in the mix. Masses of saturation though, lots of hard driven tape and mic-pres to get that sound. Yes you can do it to digital today for sure, but you have to aim for it from the get go and not get distracted with the far wider available frequency response availalble on digital than on cheaply pressed 45's in the 70's. Its fair to say that this stuff almost entirely mixed itself on the way to the tape, i doubt they did much but bring up the faders and ride them a bit for the mix. A little very gentle eq-ing and that plate/chamber verb on the vocals and its time to party.... Just a tonne of mojo going on in there though! [/quote] i agree with all this, and yes you're right it's not totally fx free - quite a long decay on the guitar reverb actually. very deep bass though for a recording from this era (i'm listening to look-ka py py). i've got an repress, don't know if that's helping. such a nice round bass sound! i agree the cymbals are better like this. also the [b]kick[/b]. modern stuff, and almost ALL larger than pub gigs i've been to seem to think that kick drums should sound like a [i]depth charge[/i] going off. i can't stand that enormous booming kick sound! booooom. personally i'm not a fan of old school 'stereo' panning and when i listen at my studio i often kick it into mono. i would be totally happy with just one big speaker to be honest! one speaker is more like a huge being 'talking' to you... this is another thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1351848479' post='1856060'] Not an easy album to track down these days ... [/quote] A few on Amazon for not too much dosh - In fact one less now as after reading this thread again I've invested in "Sneaking Sally...", "In the Right Place" and a Meters complilation CD as all my vinyl was stolen a few years back so replacing as I remember (or am prompted) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The fasting showman Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I think, and I could be wrong, that it's a type 1 tele bass on the early Meters stuff. But yeah in essence a P bass in all but name. I remember seeing a late 60s mixing console and the panpots were a three way switch, left , right or both hence the drastic panning of the era. But yeah, 2 mics on a kit sound great, kick and overhead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 [quote name='ead' timestamp='1351858602' post='1856215'] A few on Amazon for not too much dosh - In fact one less now as after reading this thread again I've invested in "Sneaking Sally... [/quote]A wise investment time to dig out my copy methinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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