SACD The Meters – Fire On The Bayou

Fire On The Bayou as a hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions’ Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series, mastered to DSD from the original analogue master tape. All eleven tracks play in one sequence – from “Out In The Country” to “Mardi Gras Mambo”.

A fifth voice joins the conversation

Fire On The Bayou marks a big change in the Meters’ line-up: on this 1975 album, Cyril Neville appears as a band member for the first time. His congas, percussion and vocals join Art Neville, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste – and in a group this tightly interlocked, one extra instrument creates new relationships between everyone.

The band’s sixth studio album was again recorded at Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans, with Allen Toussaint and the Meters credited as producers, Roberta Grace and Ken Laxton engineering and Wardell Quezergue writing the horn arrangements. The same year, the Meters opened for the Rolling Stones on their American tour.

The city in the programme

“Talkin’ ’Bout New Orleans”, “They All Ask’d For You” and “Mardi Gras Mambo” make the bond with the city explicit, next to songs like “Out In The Country” and “You’re A Friend Of Mine”. Across eleven tracks, the album moves between different forms and starting points.

Two songs come from outside the band: Russ Ballard wrote “Liar”, and “Mardi Gras Mambo” is credited to Frankie Adams, Lou Welsch and Ken Elliot. Listen to what the Meters bring to them – a song’s place on an album depends as much on the shared language of its interpreters as on where it came from.

New parts in a familiar groove

Cyril Neville also shares the writing credits on “Fire On The Bayou” and “Talkin’ ’Bout New Orleans” – so his arrival reaches far beyond the congas and into the songwriting itself. A rewarding way to listen: follow how percussion and drum kit share the work within the same rhythmic framework.

At nearly eight minutes, “Middle Of The Road” is the longest piece, followed by the brief “Running Fast” and then “Mardi Gras Mambo” – a move from long form to short pieces that is part of the album’s design. Heard next to Rejuvenation, the album lets you follow the band’s growth while its players’ interaction stays in focus.

The hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions

CAPR 018 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from Analogue Productions’ Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series. According to the publisher, it was mastered to DSD from the original analogue master tape. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the eleven tracks of the original album.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.

More from the series: Acoustic Sounds 40th Anniversary Series

Also in another edition: Fire On The Bayou

More SACDs by The Meters: Rejuvenation

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.