The Meters

The Meters were better known - and better paid - as New Orleans' finest backup band than as a self-contained feature act. Their lean, peppery R&B gave a funky flavor to recordings by out-of-towners like Paul McCartney and Labelle, but on their own, their rhythms were too tricky, their vocals too understated, and their sound altogether too spare to reach a broad audience.

When Art Neville formed...