"THEY ALL ASK'D FOR YOU" - THE METERS

Foundation of Funk featuring Zigaboo Modeliste and George Porter, Jr. with special guests Ivan Neville, Tony Hall and Ian Neville
Acura Stage Friday, Apr 26 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM

They All Ask'd for you is more than an anthem for the Audubon Zoo,  it is a cherished part of every New Orleanians childhood.  The Meters' hit was not written specifically for the zoo.
 
So, where did the song come from?

GODFATHERS OF FUNK

The Meters were assembled in 1965 by Art Neville.  Neville had been playing with guitarist Leo Nocentelli in Art Neville & the Neville Sounds and set out to start a new band with him.  

Neville had seen bassist George Porter Jr. playing with Irving Bannister & the Allstars at Cindy Club on N. Galvez St. and asked porter if he would like to start gigging. 

The original drummer of what was to become The Meters was out for two weeks so Neville added Zigaboo Modeliste.  Modeliste had been playing in Deacon John’s band.  As George Porter Jr. recalls, “Modeliste’s percussions brought The Meters to a new level,” so he was kept on.

That is how the Godfathers of Funk  . . . The Meters were formed.

The Meters: Neville, Modeliste, Nocentelli and Porter Jr. (Photo Credit: unknown, revive-music.com)

THEY ALL ASK'D FOR YOU: AN OBSCENE SONG?
 
Good thing they kept Modeliste because he was the one that brought They All Ask'd For You to the band.
 
When Modeliste was a child his parents used to have house parties.  By the end of the night they would start singing a song that Modeliste would hear through the walls. 
 
The original words were not “They all ask’d for you,” Modeliste substituted "ass" with "ask'd."

The song that plays more as a children story or nursery rhyme evolved from an obscene song.

The Meters were clowning around in the studio and recorded the song as a joke.  Allen Toussaint put the song on the album. 

“He (Toussaint) did not ask if we wanted to have it on there. He just put it on there. We were powerless to do anything, because we signed such bad contracts. I was happy after they released it, though, because any day you go to the Audubon Zoo, you will hear it all day long. “ 

Zigaboo Modeliste from interview with Nick Deriso in 2011

NOT JUST ABOUT THE ZOO . . . ABOUT NEW ORLEANS

 They All Ask’d for You has become not just an anthem for our world renowned Audobon Zoo but of all New Orleans.

If you would like to see how other Meters' songs originated go to your YouTube page.

Foundation of Funk featuring Zigaboo Modeliste and George Porter, Jr. with special guests Ivan Neville, Tony Hall and Ian Neville
Acura Stage Friday, Apr 26 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM