George Porter Jr. (born December 26, 1947) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and singer of

the Meters The Meters (later The Funky Meters) are an American funk band formed in 1965 in New Orleans by Zigaboo Modeliste (drums), George Porter Jr. (bass), Leo Nocentelli (guitar) and Art Neville (keyboards). The band performed and recorded their o ...

. Along with

Art Neville Arthur Lanon Neville Jr. (December 17, 1937 – July 22, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist from New Orleans. Neville was a staple of the New Orleans music scene for over five decades. He was the founder of the funk band T ...

, Porter formed the group in the mid-1960s and came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of funk. The Meters disbanded in 1977, but reformed in 1989. The original group played in occasional reunions, with the Funky Meters, of which Porter and Neville are members, "keeping the spirit alive" until Neville's retirement in 2018 and death the following year. Porter has his own group, the Runnin' Pardners, and also other projects, such as The Trio with

Johnny Vidacovich John Joseph Vidacovich Jr. (born June 27, 1949) is an American jazz drummer and a member of the band Astral Project with James Singleton, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski, as well as Nolatet with Mike Dillon and Brian Haas. He has also ...

, New Orleans Social Club, Deep Fried, and Porter Batiste Stoltz. He has been performing and recording with a wide range of artists including

Soul Rebels Brass Band The Soul Rebels (also Soul Rebels Brass Band, Soul Rebels or The Rebels) are an eight-piece New Orleans based brass ensemble that incorporate elements of soul, jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and pop music within a contemporary brass band framework. ...

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created song ...

Robert Palmer Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, sartorial elegance and stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, regga ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

Johnny Adams Laten John Adams Jr. (January 5, 1932 – September 14, 1998), was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto. His biggest ...

Harry Connick Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling ma ...

Earl King Earl Silas Johnson IV (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003),
known as Earl King, was an American singer, guita ...

Warren Haynes Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was ...

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, and

Snooks Eaglin Fird Eaglin Jr. (January 21, 1936 or 1937 – February 18, 2009), known as Snooks Eaglin, was an American guitarist and singer based in New Orleans. In his early years he was sometimes credited under other names, including Blind Snooks Eaglin, ...

, among many others. Porter joined

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

's Piety Street Band in 2008 to tour and to record.

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

and

Ricky Fataar Ricky Fataar (born 5 September 1952) is a South African musician of Malay descent who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a spoof on the Beatles, in which he per ...

are also members of this band. In 2010, he replaced

Reed Mathis Reed Mathis (born September 27, 1976) is a bassist, producer, singer, and guitarist who is best known for his 15-year stint as co-leader of the Tulsa progressive jazz band Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. The Bay Area rooted player has also notably work ...

Bill Kreutzmann William Kreutzmann Jr. ( ; born May 7, 1946) is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to ...

's band,

7 Walkers 7 Walkers was an American rock band featuring former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, guitarist Papa Mali, multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard, and bassist George Porter Jr. History The band formed in 2009 out of informal collaboration ...

. Also in 2010 he performed with Runnin' Pardner at New Orleans'

Voodoo Experience The Voodoo Music + Arts Experience (formerly The Voodoo Music Experience), commonly referred to as Voodoo or Voodoo Fest, was a multi-day music and arts festival held in City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. First started in 1999, it was last hel ...

Biography

Early life and career with the Meters

Porter's parents were both avid lovers of music. His father frequently listened to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and his mother sang in the local church choir. He grew up in New Orleans next to future Meters bandmate, Joe "Zigaboo" Modeliste, and the two became friends when George was 10 years old. As teenagers, they played jam sessions together with Porter playing a box guitar.Berry, Jason; Foose, Jonathon; Jones, Tad. ''Up The Cradle From Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II.'' Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 2009. Print. Porter was inspired to play bass guitar by another New Orleans native, Benjamin "Poppi" Francis who also gave Porter some lessons on the instrument. When Porter was still in his teens, he sat in with

Earl King Earl Silas Johnson IV (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003),
known as Earl King, was an American singer, guita ...

. After one of the shows,

came up to him saying he was trying to start a band and asked if he would like to join. Porter agreed spawning the beginnings of

. At first the band was known as Neville Sound and consisted of seven men including Cyril and Aaron Neville as vocalists and Gary Brown on saxophone. After a short time, however, the band was trimmed down to four core members - Art Neville, Zigaboo Modeliste,

Leo Nocentelli Leo Nocentelli (born June 15, 1946) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the funk band the Meters. He wrote the original versions of several funk classics such as " Cissy Strut" and "Hey ...

and Porter Jr. The four were playing six nights a week at a Bourbon Street bar called Ivanhoe when they were approached by

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descr ...

and asked if they wanted to sign a record deal. After the deal, the label wanted the band to change their name to something that better reflected their sound. They settled on "The Meters." By the early seventies, Porter was touring coast to coast with the Meters. At the same time, the Meters were performing as session musicians on numerous hit records, including " Right Place, Wrong Time," "

Lady Marmalade "Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan that is famous for the French refrain of "''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir''?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "''Do you want to sleep with m ...

," "

Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley ''Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley'' is the debut solo album by Robert Palmer, released in 1974. It followed three album releases co-fronting the band Vinegar Joe. Palmer is backed by The Meters and Lowell George of Little Feat. Multiple rev ...

," and " Southern Nights." In 1975, they were touring as the opening act to the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. Porter has said that the best moment in his musical career is when he and the other Meters were opening for the Stones in Paris in 1976. The crowd started to boo them, when

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

came out in support of the Meters and told the crowd to shut up and listen to the music. He said that moment kept the Meters alive for the time being. By 1977, however, the band broke up due to personal differences. After the breakup, Porter Jr. formed a band called Joyride.

After the Meters

Porter played with Joyride and with many other New Orleans musicians in the 1980s. In 1989, Porter reunited with Art Neville and Leo Nocentelli as the Meters, replacing Joe Modeliste on drums with Russell Batiste Jr. In 1990, he started a band called The Runnin' Pardners; a band that is still playing today. Also in the 1990s, Porter became a highly coveted bass player in the studio playing with artists like

and

. In 1994, Porter and Neville re-collaborated to form the band The Funky Meters to carry on the Meters sound. They were joined by Brian Stoltz on guitar and Russell Batiste Jr. on drums. Stoltz left the band in 2007 but rejoined in 2011 and the band still plays today.

2000 to present

In 2000, the original four Meters reunited for a show at the

Warfield Warfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. In 2021 it had a population of 11,260. History Warfield was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement and is recorded in the Do ...

in San Francisco. Modeliste wanted to make the reunion a permanent one but the other members and their management objected. In 2006, however, the Meters performed at the

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...

. This was the first Jazz Fest since

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

so the fact that the Meters reunited for it meant a lot to the city. In 2012, Porter, Leo Nocentelli, Joe Modeliste, and

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

keyboardist

Page McConnell Page Samuel McConnell (born May 17, 1963) is an American multi-instrumentalist, most noted for his work as the keyboardist and a songwriter for the band Phish. McConnell joined Phish in 1985, and is the only member of its long-standing quartet li ...

performed two concerts as The Metermen. Limited shows followed in 2013 and 2014 with two more night shows during Jazz Fest. Porter appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film '' Make It Funky!'', which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. In the film, he performs with

and house band on " Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)", and is seen in clips with other musicians, including

. Since Hurricane Katrina, Porter has done some activist work with other New Orleans musicians informing people of the dangers of eroding wetlands threatening the future of the city. Porter still tours consistently with the Runnin' Pardners, Joyride, and The Funky Meters. He plays sporadically with the four original members of the Meters, now known as The Original Meters and also frequently collaborates with other musicians, many of whom are from New Orleans. On February 24, 2018, Porter sat in with

Dead & Company Dead & Company is an American rock band that formed in 2015 with a lineup of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir (guitar and vocals), Mickey Hart (drums), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer (guitar and vocals), Oteil Burbridge ...

during their New Orleans concert at the Smoothie King Center, playing bass on several songs including "Smokestack Lightning", "Bertha" and taking lead vocals on "Sugaree". He plays sporadically with

Steve Kimock Steve Kimock (born October 5, 1955) is an American rock guitarist. He was a member of San Francisco Bay Area bands Zero and KVHW. His tone and some of his playing approach has been compared to Jerry Garcia, who was a friend of his, and he has ...

on various projects including Voodoo Dead.

Personal life

Porter was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and once considered becoming a priest.

Awards and honors

''OffBeat'''s Best of The Beat Awards

Discography

*''Runnin' Partner'' (1990), Rounder *''Things Ain't What They Used to Be'' (1994) *''Count On You'' (1994) - Japan release *''Funk This'' (1997), Transvideo - EP *''Funk 'n' Go Nuts'' (2000), Transvideo *''We Came to Play'' (2003) - as Johnny Vidacovich,

June Yamagishi June Yamagishi (山岸潤史, born Junshi Yamagishi, June 6, 1953) is a Japanese guitarist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the guitarist for bands Papa Grows Funk and the Wild Magnolias. History Yamagishi was born in Ise City, Mie Pref ...

and George Porter Jr. *''Searching for a Joyride'' (2005), Night Train *''Expanding the Funkin Universe'' (2007), OUW Records - as Porter Batiste Stoltz *''It's Life'' (2007), Transvideo *''Can't Beat the Funk'' (2011) *''Porter's Pocket'' (2025), Color Red

Collaborations

* ''

In the Right Place ''In the Right Place'' is the sixth album by the New Orleans R&B artist Dr. John. The album was released on Atco Records in 1973, and became the biggest selling album of Dr. John's career. The song "Such a Night" was also performed as part of Th ...

'' -

(Atco Records, 1973) * ''

'' -

(Island Records, 1974) * ''

Nightbirds ''Nightbirds'' is an album by the all-female singing group Labelle, released in 1974 on Epic Records. The album features the group's biggest hit, "Lady Marmalade". It became their best-selling album. Background Nona Hendryx became the primary ...

'' -

Labelle Labelle was an American funk rock band that originated out of the Blue Belles, a girl group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around ...

(Epic Records, 1974) * ''

Desitively Bonnaroo ''Desitively Bonnaroo'' is a 1974 album by the New Orleans rhythm and blues musician Dr. John. The album was produced by Allen Toussaint and features sizable musical support from The Meters. The album mines the territory featured on his previou ...

'' - Dr. John (Atco Records, 1974) * ''Keep On Lovin' You'' -

Z. Z. Hill Arzell J. "Z. Z." Hill (September 30, 1935 – April 27, 1984)Dahl, Bill. "Z.Z. Hill" Allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 March 2014. was an American blues singer best known for his recordings in the 1970s and early 1980s, including his 1982 album for Ma ...

(Hill Records, 1975) * '' Phoenix'' - Labelle (Epic Records, 1975) * ''

'' -

(Epic Records, 1977) * ''New Orleans Heat'' -

Albert King Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...

(Tomato Records, 1978) * ''

Victory Mixture ''Victory Mixture'' is a 1990 album by Willy DeVille. The album consists of cover versions of New Orleans R&B and soul classics by DeVille’s musical idols. Trouser Press said about the album, “A rootsy covers collection, ''Victory Mixture' ...

'' -

(Sky Ranch Records, 1990) * '' Storyville'' -

(Geffen, 1991) * '' Uh-Oh'' -

(Warner Bros. Records, 1992) * ''Soul of the Blues'' -

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been called ...

(Black Top Records, 1993) * '' There's Room for Us All'' -

Terrance Simien Terrance Simien (born September 3, 1965) is an American zydeco musician, vocalist and songwriter. He and his group The Zydeco Experience won the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album in 2008 and for Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2 ...

(Black Top Records, 1993) * ''

Under the Pink ''Under the Pink'' is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", and peaked at number 12 in the US. The alb ...

'' -

(Atlantic Records, 1994) * ''

Boys for Pele ''Boys for Pele'' is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos. Preceded by the first single, " Caught a Lite Sneeze", by three weeks, the album was released on January 22, 1996, in the United Kingdom, on January 23 in the ...

'' - Tori Amos (Atlantic Records, 1996) * ''

From the Choirgirl Hotel ''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' (stylised in all lowercase) is the fourth studio album by American musician Tori Amos. It was released on May 5, 1998, on Atlantic Records. The album was Amos's first to be recorded at her own Martian Engineering St ...

'' - Tori Amos (Atlantic Records, 1998) * ''

Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning " master" or "teacher," plural: maestros or maestri) is an honorific title of respect, sometimes abbreviated Mo. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and oper ...

'' -

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

(Heads Up, 2008) * ''

Bible Belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States and the Midwestern state of Missouri (which also has significant Southern influence), where evangelical Protestantism exerts a strong social and cultural influence. The region has been de ...

'' -

Diane Birch Diane Birch (born January 24, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter. Early life Birch was born in Michigan. At the age of seven she began studying piano using the Suzuki method. While growing up she listened to opera, classical and church musi ...

(S-Curve Records, 2009) * ''Let It Burn'' -

Ruthie Foster Ruthie Cecelia Foster (born February 10, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter of blues and Folk music, folk music. She mixes a wide palette of American song forms, from gospel and blues to jazz, folk and soul. She has often been compared to Bo ...

(Blue Corn, 2011) * ''Good Road to Follow'' -

John Oates John William Oates (born April 7, 1948) is an American musician, best known as half of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates along with Daryl Hall. He has played rock, R&B, and soul music, serving as a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record ...

(Elektra Records, 2014) * ''Miami Moon'' -

Devon Allman Devon Allman (born August 10, 1972) is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and record producer. He is the son of musician and singer-songwriter Gregg Allman and has appeared occasionally as a guest musician for Gregg Allman and The All ...

(Create Records, 2024)

References

External links

* *
Limnios, Michael. ''New Orleans' Premier Bassman George Porter Jr. Talks About Meters, Earl King, Snooks Eaglin, and Saints City's Music.'' Transcribed by Denise Sullivan. 2013.Rawls, Alex. ''New Orleans Off Beat Magazine. Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award: George Porter Jr.'' January, 2012.George Porter Jr.
NAMM Oral History Interview (2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, George 1947 births African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American male singers American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rhythm and blues bass guitarists Living people Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Singers from Louisiana Guitarists from Louisiana The Meters members 7 Walkers members 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians African-American Catholics 21st-century African-American musicians