Cabbage Alley

1. You've Got to Change (You've Got to Reform)

2. Stay Away

3. Birds

4. Flower Song

5. Soul Island

6. Do the Dirt

7. Smiling

8. Lonesome and Unwanted People

9. Gettin' Funkier All the Time

10. Cabbage Alley

11. Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove), Pt. 1 [#]

12. Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove), Pt. 2 [#]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, New Orleans's Meters churned out irresistible funk instrumentals that were distilled to their essence and intended to get people up and shaking. When the Josie label went bankrupt in 1971, the band moved over to the Reprise label and began to broaden their horizons, expanding their sonic palette and putting more emphasis on vocals. Cabbage Alley, their Reprise debut, finds them experimenting with tropical sounds ("Soul Island"), Allman Brothers-style guitar leads ("Stay Away"), Neil Young covers ("Birds"), and socially conscious lyrics ("Lonesome and Unwanted People"). Still, it's the simple funk anthems that hit home on cuts such as "You've Got to Change," "Do the Dirt," and "Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug" (a single added here as a bonus). This and its follow up, 1974's Rejuvenation, offer many prime Meters moments, though neither are as consistently brilliant as their Josie recordings found on The Meters, Struttin', and Look-Ka Py Py. --Marc Greilsamer

Product Description
Worldwide CD debut of New Orleans funk classic originally released in 1972. Includes two bonus tracks 'Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push And Shove) (Parts 1 & 2). 2000 release. Standard jewel case.

Cabbage Alley,The Meters,Sundazed Music Inc.,Funk,New Orleans R&B,Pop,R&B,Soul,Soul/R & B,Urban

Average customer rating:

The Meters' ambitious "Cabbage Alley"
The Meters Major Label Debut
We have been waiting years for this re-release

Cabbage Alley
The Meters
Manufacturer: Sundazed Music Inc.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Struttin'
Rejuvenation
Look-Ka Py Py
The Meters
Fire on the Bayou

ASIN: B00004T3XH
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Tracks:

You've Got to Change (You've Got to Reform)
Stay Away
Birds
Flower Song
Soul Island
Do the Dirt
Smiling
Lonesome and Unwanted People
Gettin' Funkier All the Time
Cabbage Alley
Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove), Pt. 1 [#]
Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove), Pt. 2 [#]

Amazon.com

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, New Orleans's Meters churned out irresistible funk instrumentals that were distilled to their essence and intended to get people up and shaking. When the Josie label went bankrupt in 1971, the band moved over to the Reprise label and began to broaden their horizons, expanding their sonic palette and putting more emphasis on vocals. Cabbage Alley, their Reprise debut, finds them experimenting with tropical sounds ("Soul Island"), Allman Brothers-style guitar leads ("Stay Away"), Neil Young covers ("Birds"), and socially conscious lyrics ("Lonesome and Unwanted People"). Still, it's the simple funk anthems that hit home on cuts such as "You've Got to Change," "Do the Dirt," and "Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug" (a single added here as a bonus). This and its follow up, 1974's Rejuvenation, offer many prime Meters moments, though neither are as consistently brilliant as their Josie recordings found on The Meters, Struttin', and Look-Ka Py Py. --Marc Greilsamer

Album Description

Worldwide CD debut of New Orleans funk classic originally released in 1972. Includes two bonus tracks 'Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push And Shove) (Parts 1 & 2). 2000 release. Standard jewel case.

Customer Reviews:

The Meters' ambitious "Cabbage Alley".......2006-07-17

To anyone familiar with The Meters' seminal Josie albums - "The Meters" (May 1969), "Look-Ka Py Py" (January 1970), and "Struttin'" (June 1970), "Cabbage Alley," their 1972 debut for Reprise, must have seemed like a radical departure. More than half of its tracks feature vocals, and the exploratory mood and stylistic range display a band unafraid to take risks. Clearly, "Cabbage Alley" was intended to be heard as an album, and unlike the Josie classics, features no obvious hit singles, although Sundazed, which has reissued the entire Meters catalog, includes two bonus tracks, a killer single issued several months after this album, "Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push and Shove) Parts 1 & 2."
In retrospect the changes seem less surprising. When the Meters had national hits with their early classics "Sophisticated Cissy," (January '69), "Cissy Strut" (March '69) and the rest - an amazing eleven singles for Josie before the label folded in late 1971 - black music was still primarily marketed on singles. Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, and Marvin Gaye were all instrumental in a shift towards using the album as unified artistic statement. Also, the Sundazed reissue campaign has made it clear that the Meters' integration of vocals, and influences ranging from rock (Hendrix, the Stones), Caribbean, and beyond are already evident in the later Josie recordings. "Struttin'" featured several tracks with group vocals ("Handclapping Song") and solo leads by Art Neville ("Darling Darling Darling"). And the revelatory "Zony Mash," a previously unissued fourth Josie album of sorts, collects both sides of four singles issued on that label after the release of "Struttin'," from the fall of 1970 through the fall of '71, and both instrumentals like the wah-wah driven funk of "Zony Mash" and vocal sides like "Message From The Meters" and "I Need More Time" clearly predict the direction the band was taking before they signed with Reprise. What is perhaps most distinctive about "Cabbage Alley" is the sound - Ziggy Modeliste's drums on those Josie albums is dry, hard, with a visceral presence that enhances his astonishing, always shifting rhythm patterns, atop deep bass grooves by George Porter and the direct presentation of Leo Nocentelli's arsenal of effects - chicken scratch funk rhythm, jazzy Wes Montgomery-influenced work on occasional covers of pop hits, stinging yet dry lead statements. And always, the churning, rhythmic organ of Art Neville. On "Cabbage Alley" the mix is cleaner (even when the music is grungey), Modeliste's kit sound less resonant. Once one gets used to the differences however, "Cabbage Alley," though slightly uneven (how could so eclectic a work not be?) proves highly rewarding.
Even when the material is slight, the musical textures offer fascinating listening. Two hard rockers written by Nocentelli - each over five minutes - open the album. "You Got To Change" suggests hard rock a la Led Zep, but the dense interplay of guitars, various percussion instruments (and yes, Cyril Neville was already adding congas to the later Josie singles), keyboards, and the never-static rhythm section stamp this as an invigorating, listenable gem with a long instumental section (think of the Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" meets "Voodoo Chile") that fades too soon. "Stay Away" despite a pedestrian lyric, simply amazes - Leo Nocentelli had likely heard early Funkadelic, but the virtuosity and imagination - instrumental and production - on display here create a powerful soundscape with dub-like effects. After these two heavy hitters Art's interpretation of Neil Young's gorgeous "Birds" is a dramatic shift, and Leo follows this this with a jazzy, mellow (but splendid) "Flower Song." "Do The Dirt" is a return to simpler themes, musically and lyrically, but it works as a tongue-in-cheek dance number, at 2:35 the shortest track on the set. "Lonesome and Unwanted People" is Nocentelli's latest excercise in social commentary, musically stately and elegant. The lyrics are heartfelt, not subtle. My favorite track on the set is "Gettin' Funkier All The Time," and like many Meters songs it fades too soon for my taste; this deep groove stunner evokes Sly's "Riot" (and in a reigned in way, Miles Davis circa '72), Porter popping his bass while the whole band simply does what it does best, a virtuosic performance around a simple vamp. The original album closes with a splendid version of Professor Longhair's "Hey Now Baby" that doubles as title track. The two sided bonus single elevates this set with an infectious groove that is utterly contemporary (circa '72) while evoking the group's classic Josie hits, and both parts feature some dirty soloing from Nocentelli.
All in all, this set may be off-putting at first to those familiar with the Meters' Josie classics, but deeper listening reveals marvelous telepathic interplay, and "Cabbage Alley" has given me much pleasure. Fortunately, the Meters still had more great music in them before they ended in bitterness and frustration.

The Meters Major Label Debut.......2001-05-23

Many fans of the Meters are of the opinion that Rejuvenation is the best LP from the group's Reprise tenure. I am not one of them. Cabbage Alley is the best LP the Meters made for Reprise. The songs are well written and compact, which differs from Rejuvenation which relied more on the groups musical dexterity. Cabbage Alley displays the writing talents of guitarist Leo Nocentelli. He creates songs and arragements that really dig into the soul of a person. The Meters, who are known for their funk tunes, show a conscience and tenderness on this album without sacrificing the funk they delivered on there three Josie albums. Cabbage Alley is artistry at its finest.

We have been waiting years for this re-release.......2000-08-21

Any fan of the Meters has been appalled by their inability to find this LP. Now that it's out on CD, many dreams have been realized. Unfortunately, my LP copies of Fire on the Bayou, Rejuvenation, and New Directions just lost value; apparently Warner Brothers is re-issuing their whole Meters catalog. The earlier recordings, originally on Josie, consisting mainly of tight, off center funk instrumentals, are also now available. For an introduction to the Meters, one should start with Cabbage Alley and Struttin', which showcase two very different, though equally great, Meters groups.