Cabbage Alley is the fourth studio album by the funk group the Meters, produced by Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn and released in May 1972 by Reprise Records. It was the band's first album for the label, following the demise of Josie Records a year earlier, and the signing afforded the group a higher recording budget and re-introduced organist and keyboardist Art Neville to the lineup, having briefly left the band some time earlier. The Meters used the album to explore a variety of musical styles, including reggae, rock and boogaloo, while retaining the group's distinctive second line-based, syncopated funk music. The music is softer and jammier than the group's earlier records and also sees them increase the use of chants and vocals, particularly from Neville, marking a further departure from the group's instrumental beginnings. The group also incorporated then-popular studio effects like tape delay and phasing. The album is named for a then-recently demolished back alley in the group's native New Orleans which had been a centre for the city's second line funk music, while the surrealist album sleeve was inspired by the art of René Magritte The title track and "Do the Dirt" were issued as singles. On release, Cabbage Alley received wide acclaim from music critics, some of whom deemed it the group's best album yet. Despite the reviews and the album's smoother sound, it was a commercial disappointment, which was partly attributed to Reprise's poor marketing. The album has been re-released several times, including by Sundazed Records in 2000. Background and recording Active since the 1960s, the Meters were regarded as leaders in authentic New Orleans funk, with a danceable, rhythmic sound characterised by the second line syncopation of drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and bassist George Porter Jr., complemented by organist and keyboardist Art Neville and riff-oriented guitarist Leo Nocentelli. By 1972, the group had achieved several R&B hits in the United States with danceable instrumentals, but spent much of their time as the house band for Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn's production company Sansu Enterprises. As the group's single "Chicken Strut" (1970) was rising in popularity, Neville acrimoniously exited the band due to an inter-band dispute regarding whether to sign with Otis Redding's manager, Phil Walden. In 1971, the Meters' label Josie Records went bankrupt, leaving the group with substantial unpaid royalties. According to Porter Jr, Sehorn–serving as the group's manager–negotiated a deal to sign the