Cissy Strut

"Cissy Strut" is a 1969 funk instrumental by The Meters. Released as a single from their eponymous debut album, it reached No. 4 on the R&B chart and No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] The tune was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011, which honors "recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old".^[4][5] The A.V. Club called the song a "classic" deeply rooted in New Orleans music tradition.^[6]

"Cissy Strut"
Single by The Meters
from the album The Meters
B-side	"Here Comes the Meter Man"
Released	1969 (1969)
Recorded	1969
Genre	Funk[1] swamp rock[2]
Length	2:59
Label	Josie
Songwriter(s)	Art Neville Zigaboo Modeliste Leo Nocentelli George Porter Jr.
Producer(s)	Allen Toussaint Marshall E. Sehorn
The Meters singles chronology
"Sophisticated Cissy" (1968) "Cissy Strut" (1969) "Ease Back" (1969)

The Meters also released another single, "Sophisticated Cissy", from the same album.

"Cissy Strut" was featured in the films Jackie Brown,^[7] Red,^[8] King Richard^[9] and Another Round^[10] as well as in the BBC television series The Pursuit of Love.

In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Cissy Strut" at number 158 on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, one of the handful of instrumentals to make the list.^[11]

Covers

According to a compilation set by WRTC-FM Digital Archive Project the song has been covered by Los Holy's, Johnny Lewis Quartet, Sunny & the Sunliners, KVHW, Dirty Dozen Brass Band with Robert Randolph, Dennis Chambers with John Scofield, U.S. Army Band with Steve Gadd, Los Masters, The Butch Cassidy Sound System, Joe Bravo, Earl Van Dyke, Willard Posey Reunion, Derek Trucks Band, King Herbert & The Knights, Lotus, Zero, and Steve Kimock Band.^[12] Other bands that have covered the song are Dave Matthews Band,^[13] Big John Patton, Hypnotic Willie, Slightly Stoopid, Free Creek and Oz Noy.^{[citation needed]}

Cissy Strut album

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[15]

Cissy Strut is a compilation album of thirteen songs released by Island Records in 1974.^[14] All songs were originally released by Josie Records on The Meters' first three albums from 1969 to 1970. Robert Christgau had a positive review and called Ziggy Modeliste's drumming "the secret", adding "it's almost as if he's the lead".^[15]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Look-Ka Py Py"	3:20
2.	"Tippi-Toes"	2:29
3.	"Darlin' Darlin'"	2:54
4.	"9 'Til 5"	2:51
5.	"Thinking"	1:45
6.	"Funky Miracle"	2:28
7.	"Cissy Strut"	3:04
8.	"Chicken Strut"	3:14
9.	"Live Wire"	2:38
10.	"Here Comes the Meter Man"	2:54
11.	"Ease Back"	3:13
12.	"Ride Your Pony"	3:22
13.	"Sophisticated Cissy"	2:55

References

1. Big Gigantic (September 20, 2016). "The 30 Best Funk Songs Ever". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
2. Molanphy, Chris (October 15, 2022). "Give Up the Funk Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
3. "AllMusic – The Meters album – awards". Allmusic.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
4. "Grammy Hall of Fame". grammy.com. The Recording Academy. 2018. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
5. "The Meters to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys". denver.cbslocal.com. CBS Denver. January 15, 2018. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
6. "The Meters remain the measure of New Orleans funk". A.V. Club. March 5, 2014. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
7. "IMDb – Jackie Brown (1997) – Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
8. "RED (2010) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010.
9. "The soundtrack from King Richard, a 2021 movie". December 9, 2021. Archived from the original on December 10, 2021.
10. "Another Round (2020) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021.
11. "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
12. "WRTC Digital Archive Project – All sorts of versions of 'Cissy Strut'". wrtc.streamrewind.com. September 12, 2015. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
13. "DMB Almanac: 2009 International Summer Tour". dmbalmanac.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
14. "AllMusic – The Meters – Cissy Strut". Allmusic.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
15. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)