The Meters

The New Orleans M.G.'s swing, but not smoothly, the way a big band does--their Caribbean lilt is pure second-line, as elliptical as a saint's march. They're the secret of Allen Toussaint-produced hits by Lee Dorsey, Aaron Neville, and Ernie K-Doe, and because they put out riffs rather than songs their own LPs are consistently danceable and listenable. Of course, to do better than that the band would have to come up with more good riffs in a year than most rhythm sections manage in a decade, and usually they compromise a little--only two r&b hits here, plus several other tracks that might have been, "Wichita Lineman" not among them. (Grade: B+)