" 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.
The Meters also released another single, "Sophisticated Cissy", from the same album.
"Cissy Strut" was featured in the films Jackie Brown,
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.
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.
Other bands that have covered the song are Dave Matthews Band,
Big John Patton, Hypnotic Willie,
Slightly Stoopid,
Free Creek and
Oz Noy.
Cissy Strut album
Cissy Strut is a compilation album of thirteen songs released by
Island Records in 1974.
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".
