Trick Bag is the seventh studio album by the funk group the Meters. The name comes from their cover of the Earl King single of the same name.
Background In spring of 1976 the band was on tour opening for the Rolling Stones on their Tour of Europe '76. According to Jason Berry's Up from the Cradle of Jazz, several tracks on this album are preliminary recordings and were selected for release in the absence of band members.
Reception
Stephen Erlewine had a negative view and critiqued the album's attempt to sound mainstream. He singles out three tracks as exceptions: "Mister Moon", "Doodle Loop" and "Honky Tonk Women". Joe McEwen of Rolling Stone critiqued the song choices and the attempt to please the commercial market. He said two tracks are in-line with the band's style: "Doodle Loop" and "Chug-a-Lug", and had a positive view of the title track "Trick Bag". Robert Christgau also critiqued the song choices and had a positive view of the title track.
Sampling The instrumental intro to the second track, “Find Yourself”, has been sampled in a number of Hip-Hop songs, including "Feel Me Flow” by Naughty by Nature (1995) and “Honeydips in Gotham” by Boogiemonsters (1994).
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic.
Ziggy Modeliste – drums Art Neville – keyboards, vocals Cyril Neville – congas, percussion, vocals Leo Nocentelli – guitar, backing vocals George Porter Jr. – bass guitar Kenneth "Afro" Williams – percussion Tony Owens – backing vocals Terry Smith – backing vocals Earl King – father's vocals (track 7)
Production The Meters – producer Allen Toussaint – producer Bob Irwin – mastering Bill Dahl – liner notes Rich Russell – design Ed Thrasher – art direction Michael P. Smith – photography Tom Copi – photography
References