I’ve covered a lot of legendary artists over the past two weeks, while featuring albums released in 1974 as part of my ‘Decades’ series.
Today’s song, by contrast, comes from a band I’d never heard of before now.
The Meters are a New Orleans funk band that recorded from the late 60s through the late 70s. They weren’t as popular as contemporaries like James Brown but were quite influential in their own right.
The band’s fifth studio album, Rejuvenation, came out in 1974. It was their second to feature vocals, courtesy of Art Neville. Art’s brother Cyril played percussion for the band, and yes, they went on to form The Neville Brothers with Aaron, whose success eclipsed them all.
Funk isn’t my genre, but this album was a blast to discover. The New Orleans R&B influence is particularly strong, and the band is extremely tight. It makes sense that they backed up Allen Toussaint for a spell. They also opened for both Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones.
Am I alone in being totally unaware of these guys?
So pretty darn confused
Giving everybody
In the world the blues
Food is getting high
And the fuel is getting low
The rich are getting richer
And the poor are getting poor
People say, people say
Have I got a right to live?
People say, people say
Have I got a right to live?
People say, people say
(What the people say?)
(What the people?)
Have your share and my share
And your share is my share too
Your eyes are blind folded
And your mind controlled
What the powers do to you
Destruction is in the air, oh yeah
And when is it going to quit
Somebody end the madness
Gettin’ sick and tired of it
People say, people say
Have I got a right to live?
People say, people say
Have I got a right to live?
People say, people say
(What the people say?)
(What the people?)
(What the people say?)
(What the people say?)
(What the people say?)
(What the people say?)
(What the people say?)
You gotta listen to ’em
(What the people say?)
Robbing and they’re stealing
And they’re breaking in your home
It’s getting a little dangerous
To walk the street alone
Somebody better get on the case
Real thing
(Real thing)
And you got no time to waste
People say, people say
Have I got a right to live?
People say, people say
Have I got a right to live?
People say, people say
(What the people say?)
(What the people?)
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’ve never heard of them, but I like their New Orleans funk vibe.
I would love to say that I’ve been listening to them for years but alas that is not true. I’ve never heard of them either. I do like their sound 😊