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Porter Jr., George (26th December 1947-Present)

He is a bass player and singer-songwriter born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

During the 1965 he became a founding member of the funk group The Meters with Art Neville and over the years it saw disbandment in 1977, re-union in 1989 and renaming themselves as The Funky Meters.  Throughout this whole time he has remained a member but also has been heard performing with Deep Fried, New Orleans Social Club, The Trio with Johnny Vidacovich and his own bands Runnin’ Pardners and Porter Bastiste Stoltz.

As a session musician he has been much in demand by many top artists and has been called upon to perform with singers such as Tori Amos, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, Willy DeVille, Lee Dorsey, Dr. John, Patti Labelle, Paul McCartney, Robert Palmer, Robbie Robertson, Allen Toussaint and many others.  Albums he has appeared on include his own It’s Life, Runnin’ Partner, Searchin’ For a Joyride, Funk This and Funk ‘n’ Go Nuts Caught a Lite Sneeze by Tori Amos, Uh-Oh by David Byrne, She by Harry Connick Jr., Desitively Bonnaroo by Dr. John, and also Victory Mixture by Willy DeVille, Alligator Lips & Dirty Rice by Albert King, Something Silver by LaBelle, Look-Ka Py Py, Fire on the Bayou and Struttin’ by The Meters, Ultimate Collection by Aaron Neville, Sing Me Back Home by New Orleans Social Club, Addictions, Vol. 2by Robert Palmer, Expanding the Funkin’ Universe by Porter Batiste Stoltz and Southern Nightsby Allen Toussaint. .

According to Stef Scarmado of Sirius Radio the song “3 String George” by Gov’t Mule was named for him for the fact that his first bass guitar was missing a string.

Sources:

  1. http://www.georgeporterjr.com/biography.html
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Porter%2C_Jr.
  3. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:h9foxqrgldje
  4. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:h9foxqrgldje~1~T40B
  5. http://www.buffettnews.com/bandmember286.html
  6. http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:George%20Porter,%20Jr.:1927172842