Rejuvenation (The Meters album)

Rejuvenation
Studio album by The Meters
Released July 1974
Recorded Sea-Saint Studios
Genre Funk
Length 50:46
Label Reprise (MS 2200)
Producer Allen Toussaint, The Meters
The Meters chronology
Cabbage Alley
(1972)Cabbage Alley1972		 Rejuvenation
(1974)		 Fire on the Bayou
(1975)Fire on the Bayou1975
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB+[2]
Rolling Stone[3]
BBC MusicPositive[4]

Rejuvenation is the fifth studio album by the New Orleans funk group The Meters. It was released in 1974. In 2003, the album was ranked number 138 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[5]

Background

The Meters cut their first three mostly instrumental albums with Josie Records, before signing with Reprise and recording 1972's Cabbage Alley, their first album to feature mostly vocal songs and arrangements. Rejuvenation is the follow-up album. It was produced by Allen Toussaint and recorded at his brand new Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans. Some of the songs on the album include horn section arrangements by Toussaint.[1][6]

The somewhat garish front cover artwork features a photograph of a woman sitting on a couch alongside several record albums strewn about her living room, such as Allen Toussaint's 1972 Life, Love and Faith as well as the Meters' own previous LP Cabbage Alley.

Reception

Stephen Erlewine of AllMusic called it "a first-class funk album" and noted the album's rock influences and its hard-edged funk.[1] Robert Christgau had a positive view and singles out the two tracks "It Ain't No Use" and "Just Kissed My Baby" as highlights.[2] Jon Pareles of Rolling Stone called the album "a high point of 1970s funk". He noted the sparse spacing of the music and stylistic influences from Mardi Gras, gospel, R&B and country.[3] Daryl Easlea of BBC Music called the music a "merger of funk and swamp rock" and said the album is "the epitome of groove-laden, hook-rich, in-your-face funk." He singled out "Africa" and "It Ain't No Use" as highlights.[4]

Influence and cover songs

The album's influence is detectable in the work of a number of artists who have performed renditions of its songs. The Red Hot Chili Peppers did a modified version of the song "Africa" on their album Freaky Styley. Throughout their version, the word "Africa" is changed to "Hollywood" and "Mother Land" is changed to "Brother Land".[4] The third track, "Just Kissed My Baby", is used in Grand Theft Auto IV on the funk radio station.[7] The song is sampled on Public Enemy's "Timebomb" from the album Yo! Bum Rush the Show.[8] Chris Duarte did a rendition of "Just Kissed My Baby" on Texas Sugar/Strat Magik.[9] He has also covered "People Say" live.[10] Vdelli covered "Just Kissed My Baby" on the album Out of the Blues.[11] New Orleans' The Dirty Dozen Brass Band covered "Africa" on their Medicated Magic album.[12] The Grateful Dead regularly performed "Hey Pocky A-Way" in their concerts in the late 1980's.[13] Widespread Panic regularly cover "It Ain't No Use" and have played and still play "Just Kissed my Baby" many times. George Porter, Jr. has sat in with Widespread Panic a number of times, most recently at their annual "Panic en la Playa Siete" destination shows. The 01/28/2018 show at Rivirea Maya, MX featured George on bass & vocals performing "It Ain't no Use"

Track listing

All tracks written by Ziggy Modeliste, Art Neville, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter, Jr.

No.TitleLength
1."People Say"5:18
2."Love Is for Me"3:55
3."Just Kissed My Baby"4:43
4."What'cha Say"3:29
5."Jungle Man"3:26
6."Hey Pocky A-Way"4:06
7."It Ain't No Use"11:51
8."Loving You Is on My Mind"3:19
9."Africa"4:01
2001 digitally remastered CD bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."People Say" (Single Version)3:11
11."Hey Pocky A-Way" (Single Version)3:27

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic,[14] with added vocal credits.

Production
  • Allen Toussaint – producer
  • Tim Livingston – project manager
  • Bob Irwin – mastering
  • Al Quaglieri – mastering
  • Ken Laxton – engineer
  • Rich Russell – design
  • Bunny Matthews – liner notes

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Allmusic: Rejuvenation – review". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Robert Christgau. "The Meters – reviews". RobertChristgau.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Jon Pareles (August 3, 2000). "The Meters: Rejuenation". Rolling Stone. Straight Arrow (RS 846). ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 Daryl Easlea (2010). "The Meters Rejuvenation Review". BBC Music. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  5. ↑ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time – 138 – Rejuvenation, The Meters". Rolling Stone. Straight Arrow (Special Issue). November 2003. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007.
  6. ↑ Daniel Knobler (February 2011). "Here Come the Meter Men". Perfect Sound Forever magazine. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto IV– Soundtrack". grandtheft4.ucoz.com. 2011. Archived from the original on April 26, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Public Enemy's 'Yo! Bum Rush The Show' Turns 30". whosampled.com. February 10, 2017. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ "AllMusic: Texas Sugar/Start Magik". Allmusic.com. 1994. Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  10. ↑ "AllMusc: Chris Duarte / The Chris Duarte Group – Live album". Allmusic.com. 2013. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  11. ↑ Fred Schemidtlein (April 29, 2002). "Vdelli – Out of the Blues – review". Home of Rock. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  12. ↑ "AllMusic: Medicated Magic". Allmusic.com. 2002. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  13. ↑ David Malvinni (2013). Grateful Dead and the Art of Rock Improvisation. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 30–31. ISBN 9780810882553. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Allmusic: Rejuvenation – credits". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  15. ↑ Efram Turchick (January 22, 2002). "Interview with Leo Nocentelli". Sundazed.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved October 3, 2011. That's Lowell George playing slide on a song called 'Just Kissed My Baby' on Rejuvenation.
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