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2019 George Porter Jr
001-2019-005
54:34 Master Camera files on Hard Drive, Mp4
Fri Apr 26 2019
Interviewer - David Fricke
01:39 Porter describes the Foundations of Funk, including how their name came about 03:17 Porter speaks to his desire to get beyond the fifteen-twenty classic songs from the Meters’ catalogue; how much of the Meters’ music was never recorded, and how he’s trying to move away from the constraints of popularity and familiarity 06:19 Demonstration 07:04 Demonstration 08:25 Porter discusses the song he wrote that got onto a Meters album 10:21 Porter reflects on the Meters performance at the inaugural Jazz Fest in 1970 13:18 Porter speaks to European touring bands paying more attention to the Meters than local ones, and the gap that existed between his band and those they would open for early on, such as the Rolling Stones; the variety of audiences he’s experienced, and his ethos to never slack off as you never know who might be watching; remembers an experience he had with Bill Wyman on the ’76 European tour 19:52 Porter describes his path to the bass, directly from the guitar; demonstrates and discusses his first favorite bass lick, from Earl King 24:46 Porter reminisces over Allen Toussaint and how he taught him to be a more open and less busy player 27:33 Porter reflects on how recording sessions varied in terms of control 30:40 Porter muses on warm-up exercises and demonstrates an example 32:20 Porter reflects on his dynamic – musical and personal – with Zigaboo Modaliste, and reflects on how drummers seem to be changing, offering the contrast of Terrence Houston, his drummer in Runnin’ Partners; describes the change of bringing Cyril Neville into the band, and transitioning toward more vocals with Art Neville 37:34 Porter discusses the diversity of his musical knowledge, which he attributes partly to the New Orleans radio stations of his childhood, which focused on New Orleans music and allowed him to familiarize himself with it. He relates an anecdote of being musically hazed at the Dew Drop, and recovering 41:53 Demonstrates “Tune Up,” the song he was hazed with 44:16 Porter admits to having missed the fact that a song of his was used on The Sopranos, and explains why and how he formed the Joy Ride band, in the wake of the Meters, including his motivations for leaving the Meters, who had become stultifying to him 50:19 Porter explains some of the reasoning behind his diversity of gigs, beyond needing to pay the bills 54:35 Interview ends
video recording
Public Access is available in the Archive due to copyright restrictions. Copyrights are retained by the participants. The video is available for viewing at the archive.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Archive