David Toop digs deeper into the strange hoodoo of Dr. John's Gris-Gris album

David Toop looked more closely at Dr. John's classic 1968 album Gris-Gris and reports his findings in Two-Headed Doctor. 

Two-Headed Doctor 

Listening For Ghosts in Dr. John's Gris-Gris

David Toop

MIT Press, Nov 26, 2024.  264 pages

ISBN: 1913689603, 9781913689605

A forensic investigation into a single LP: Dr. John, The Night Tripper's Gris-Gris album

Two-Headed Doctor is a forensic investigation into a single LP: Dr. John, the night tripper's Gris-gris. Though released in 1968 to poor sales and a minimum of critical attention, Gris-gris has accumulated legendary status over subsequent decades for its strangeness, hybridity, and innovative production. It formed the launch pad for Dr. John's image and lengthy career and the ghostly presence of its so-called voodoo atmosphere hovers over numerous cover versions, samples, and re-invocations. Despite the respect given to the record, its making is shrouded in mystery, misunderstandings, and false conclusions. The persona of Dr. John, loosely based on dubious literary accounts of a notorious voodooist and freed slave, a nineteenth-century New Orleans resident known as Doctor John, provided Malcolm "Mac" Rebennack with a lifelong mask through which to transform himself from session musician in order to construct a solo career.

Somewhere between puzzle, experimental rhythm, blues disguised as rock, and elaborate hoax, Gris-gris was a collaborative project between Rebennack and producer/arranger Harold Battiste (at the time musical director for Sonny & Cher). A few brief sessions held at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles brought together many of New Orleans' finest musicians, including Shirley Goodman, John Boudreaux, Plas Johnson, Jessie Hill, Ernest McLean, and Tami Lynn. Along with their complex histories, the cast of characters implicated in the story includes Ornette Coleman, Lafcadio Hearn, Zora Neale Hurston, Cher, Sonny Bono, Sam Cooke, Ishmael Reed, Black Herman, Prince La La, and many others. The story details in discursive style the historical context of the music, how it came together, its literary sources, production and arrangements, and the nature of the recording studio as dream state, but also examines as a disturbing undercurrent the volatile issue of race in twentieth-century music, the way in which it doomed relationships and ambitious projects, exploited great talents, and distorted the cultural landscape.

Check out David Toop's Two-Headed Doctor here. As a companion piece, you may want to look into the memoir of Dr. John's longtime musical collaborator Harold Battiste Jr. "Unfinished Blues: Memories of a New Orleans Music Man" from 2010 available here. 

Remembering Dr. John on his birthday

Remembering Dr. John on his birthday with an interview, his Midnight Special appearance from 1973 and more.

Dr. John solo piano recordings unearthed for Frankie & Johnny LP

Dr. John's solo set "Frankie & Johnny" was originally recorded back in 1982-83 but never released... until now. Thanks Sundazed!

Here's the scoop...

A lost solo piano record from the Night Tripper! Originally put to tape in ‘82 & ‘83 for the Clean Cuts label, these tracks have remained unheard until now. Two numbers feature the doc's raspy growl while his solo piano navigates us through the rest of the train ride, past touches of blues, jazz, and foot stompin’ boogie-woogie jive. It's the kind of magic that can only come from a dusty tape box. The CD version comes with two bonus tracks! 

In 1981, Dr. John began recording his first of two solo piano albums. The “new” performances featured on this release are of the same quality as the music on Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack and The Brightest Smile In Town. 

His left hand creates a three-note rhythmic pattern that forms the foundation for the performance while his right soulfully plays the melody and then builds off of it in the tradition of the New Orleans piano blues masters. In other songs, it begins as a nostalgic and heartfelt ballad, picking up steam during the performance and switching moods several times before returning to where it began. 

While it is a real shame that he would never again record a full album of unaccompanied solos (Dr. John enjoyed leading a band too much), the release of Frankie & Johnny gives one an additional opportunity to discover just how brilliant and spirited a pianist Mac Rebennack was during his colourful career. 

Get a copy of Dr. John's "Frankie & Johnny" album via Bandcamp right here. Check out "Hobo Blues" along with some performance footage from the period following the tracklisting below. 

Dr. John – Frankie & Johnny

1. Frankie & Johnny 03:30

2. Boll Weevil 04:42

3. Gentilly Boulevard 05:16

4. Rebennack Appliance 01:59

5. Hobo Blues 02:43

6. Conundrum 03:24

7. Some Train Goin' Some Way 06:53

8. Public Belt 04:20

9. The Pontchar Train 03:45

10. Conundrum (alternate take) 04:42

11. Boxcar Boogie (alternate take) 03:34

Dr John's Atlantic singles comp "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya" issued by Omnivore

The 26-track Dr. John singles collection Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya – issued as a limited RSD 2LP set – is out on CD April 26.

Here's the scoop...

Dr. John has proven to be one of music’s foremost generalists, a primary-care cat whose practice extends back some 60 years. The awards (six Grammys and counting) and accolades validated the quality of his output, but it’s the range of what he’s done that truly impresses. These Atco and Atlantic sides were clearly the right-place right-time recordings. They put Dr. John on the map and into the ears and minds of music enthusiasts the world over. —excerpt from liner notes by Gene Sculatti

Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr. lived an extraordinary life, from which we all benefitted. His combination of New Orleans R&B, blues, jazz, funk, and rock permeated the musical landscape of the late ’60s and beyond. While quite young, he was influenced by piano players, including Professor Longhair. As a teenage musical prodigy, Mac was a songwriter, arranger, A&R guy, and a producer for Ace Records, running sessions with legendary artists. During the 1960s, as a “first call” Los Angeles studio musician, he honed his chops doing session work for artists including Sonny & Cher, Canned Heat, and Frank Zappa.

Years later, he developed his persona of Dr. John The Night Tripper and his 1968 debut album, Gris Gris, was a phenomenon, attracting fans across the musical spectrum. Its “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” has been covered by The Allman Brothers, Cher, Paul Weller, The Neville Brothers, and was a centerpiece of Humble Pie’s classic Performance Rockin’ The Fillmore.

More singles and albums followed including “Iko Iko” (from Dr. John’s Gumbo) and “Right Place Wrong Time” (which hit #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.) Both Gris Gris and Gumbo were listed on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of All Time, and Dr. John performed In The Right Place’s “Such A Night” at The Band’s 1976 farewell concert—immortalized in The Last Waltz. He would go on to win six Grammy awards and in 2011 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by John Legend.

Now, his singles from those early and influential Atco/Atlantic years have been collected on Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya: Singles 1968–1974. 26 sides of pure musical medicine from Dr. John. Available as a 2-LP on double Opaque Purple Vinyl for Record Store Day (CD to follow), the packaging contains liner notes from Gene Sculatti. Featuring the hits “Right Place Wrong Time,” “Iko Iko,” “Such A Night,” and rare single edits of other classics, Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya: Singles 1968–1974 is not only the right place to start your Dr. John journey, but the perfect place to relive the classic Atco/Atlantic albums. 

Get a copy directly from Omnivore Recordings right here. Check the track list below followed by the title track and a collection of Dr. John interview footage.  

Dr. John – Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya: Singles 1968-1974 

GRIS-GRIS GUMBO YA YA Dr. John The Night Tripper

I WALK ON GUILDED SPLINTERS (Part I)* Dr. – John The Night Tripper

I WALK ON GUILDED SPLINTERS (Part II)* – Dr. John The Night Tripper

MAMA ROUX – Dr. John The Night Tripper

JUMP STURDY – Dr. John The Night Tripper

THE PATRIOTIC FLAG WAVER (Mono Short Version)* – Dr. John The Night Tripper

WASH MAMA WASH – Dr. John The Night Tripper

LOOP GAROO – Dr. John The Night Tripper

IKO IKO*

HUEY SMITH MEDLEY: “HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE” “DON’T YOU JUST KNOW IT” “WELL I’LL BE JOHN BROWN”*

WANG DANG DOODLE

BIG CHIEF

A MAN OF MANY WORDS – Buddy Guy with Dr. John & Eric Clapton

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL (Edit)

STACK-A-LEE

RIGHT PLACE WRONG TIME

I’VE BEEN HOODOOD

SUCH A NIGHT

COLD COLD COLD

TRAVELING MOOD

SAME OLD SAME OLD

LIFE

(EVERYBODY WANNA GET RICH) RITE AWAY

MOS’ SCOCIOUS

LET’S MAKE A BETTER WORLD

ME – YOU = LONELINESS

Watch Dr. John on Italian TV in 1988

Here's Dr. John performing a selection of New Orlieans faves for 38 minutes over four sessions for Italian TV. 

Dr. John on Italian TV in 1988

0:00 - SOMETHING YOU GOT

3:35 - SUCH A NIGHT

9:32 -  RIGHT PLACE, WRONG TIME

13:14 - DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY WITH YOU

16:55 - TIPTINA

20:40 - BON TON ROULET

24:42 - WILD HONEY

28:00 - GEORGIA ON MY MIND

33:20 -  HUEY 'PIANO' SMITH MEDLEY: Rockin Pneumonia / High Blood Pressure / Don't you just know it)

Posthumous Dr. John studio album due from Rounder in September!

The album Dr. John was recording with Aaron Neville and Willie Nelson is being released as Things Happen That Way on Sept 23. 

Here's the scoop...

Over the course of his six-decade-long career, Dr. John, embodied a near-mythic multitude of musical identities: global ambassador of New Orleans funk and jazz and R&B, visionary bluesman, rock and roll innovator, one-time top 10 hitmaker, self-anointed and massively revered high priest of psychedelic voodoo. On Things Happen That Way, due September 23 from Rounder Records, the six-time Grammy-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famer otherwise known as Malcolm John “Mac” Rebennack Jr. reveals yet another dimension of his cosmically vast musicality: a lifelong affinity for classic country & western music.  Things Happen That Way arrives as the latest and final studio album from an artist who remained wholly unpredictable, alchemizing the charmed simplicity of traditional country into a wildly enchanting body of work.

 

The first single from the album – a haunting and hypnotic new rendition of "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" which originally appeared on Dr. John’s groundbreaking 1968 debut Gris-Gris – is out now. Check it out below. Country-rock powerhouse Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real joined Dr. John for the newly recorded version of the classic track.  “It’s a great honor to attempt to interpret the work of Dr. John,” says Lukas. “His music has inspired me since childhood. He was a friend to many, and we all miss him dearly. His music is medicine.”

 

Things Happen That Way marks the fulfillment of a longtime goal of the legendary singer/songwriter/pianist, who first began plotting a country inspired album decades ago. In bringing his album’s songs to life, Dr. John drew on a lineup of musicians befitting of a universally beloved luminary. Along with an elite cadre of New Orleans session players, the album also includes cameos by icons Willie Nelson and Aaron Neville. 

 

Things Happen That Way opens on the delicate surrender of the Willie Nelson-penned, "Funny How Time Slips Away," a track whose soulful harmonies never overpower Dr. John’s performance on piano and vocals. A co-conspirator of Rebennack’s for countless years, Nelson shares a warm remembrance that perfectly encapsulates the album’s transportive power: “Dr. John had the most unique musical style and language that would take me to another time and place whenever I heard him play or sing.” Spotlighting his endless ingenuity as a song interpreter, Dr. John also masterfully reimagines Hank Williams’ "Ramblin’ Man" and "I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry." Elsewhere on the album, Aaron Neville joins in for a joyfully brass-heavy take on The Traveling Wilburys’ "End of the Line," while Willie Nelson lends his balm-like vocals and signature guitar work to a soul-stirring rendition of the traditional gospel song "Gimme That Old Time Religion." 

 

Though much of Things Happen That Way bears an exquisitely reflective mood, the album also offers up several new uptempo originals from Dr. John: "Holy Water" (a savvy and poignant look back at his early-’60s criminal charge for narcotics and subsequent two-year prison sentence, with backing vocals by Katie Pruitt), "Sleeping Dogs Best Left Alone" (a swinging and self-aware piece that knowingly speaks to the danger in playing with proverbial dynamite), and "Give Myself A Good Talkin' To" (a world-weary but high-spirited reflection on the vicissitudes of human nature). 

 

With each track once again illuminating his outsize imagination and idiosyncratic yet profoundly insightful storytelling, the album then closes out with a captivating cover of "Guess Things Happen That Way." In a departure from the buoyant determination of Johnny Cash’s version, Dr. John delivers an aching expression of grief and quiet hope, imbuing every line with so much unvarnished emotion. At turns devastating and triumphant, elegant and raw, with his unexpected passing, this album serves as a glorious farewell from one of the most singular, essential, and infinitely fascinating figures in music history.

 

The album’s liner notes, penned by Rebennack’s longtime friend, renowned television producer Ken Ehrlich (creator of PBS’ groundbreaking music series Soundstage, and producer of the GRAMMY Awards for four decades) offer the sage observation that Things Happen That Way is “the most personal and intimate journey into his soul that has ever been put on tape.”

 

Dr. John – Things Happen That Way 

1.Funny How Time Slips Away

2.Ramblin’ Man

3.Gimme That Old Time Religion (feat. Willie Nelson) 

4.I Walk On Guilded Splinters (feat. Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real)

5.I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

6.End Of The Line (feat. Aaron Neville)

7.Holy Water

8.Sleeping Dogs Best Left Alone

9.Give Myself A Good Talkin’ To

10.Guess Things Happen That Way

You can pre-order Dr. John's Things Happen That Way album via Bandcamp right here here. Listen to "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" below. 

 

That time Dr. John joined Leon Redbone for "Frosty The Snowman"

Here's Dr. John and Leon Redbone reprising "Frosty The Snowman" for Leon's Christmas Island album from 1988.  

Watch Robert Frank's road movie Candy Mountain from 1987

The cast of Candy Mountain includes Dr. John, Tom Waits, Joe Strummer, David Johansen and Mary Margaret O'Hara as Darlene. 

R.I.P. Dr. John, 1941-2019

Iconic New Orleans musician Mac Rebennack died of a heart attack on Thursday at the age of 77. He'll be greatly missed.

One For The Weekend: Herb Hardesty

Here's a swank swinger from New Orleans tenor saxophone great Herb Hardesty, a sideman for Fats Domino, Dr. John and Tom Waits.

Happy Birthday Dr. John!

Raising a glass to the incomparable Dr. John on his 76th birthday with his dancefloor gem Zu Zu Man. 

Dr. John's Rock & Roll Santa Claus

Dr. John's Atco/Atlantic singles collection due in September from Omnivore

Omnivore's 22-track compendium of Dr. John's Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974 is out September 18. 

Here's the press release from Omnivore Recordings...

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Dr. John’s Atco and Atlantic sides were clearly the right-place right-time recordings. They put Mac Rebennack on the map and into the ears and minds of music enthusiasts the world over. On September 18, 2015, Omnivore Recordings will release the 22-song compilation Dr. John: The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968–1974.

The collection contains the six-time Grammy® Award winner and Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s A- and B-sides recorded for the Atlantic labels from 1968-74, among them some of Dr. John’s best-known songs: “Right Place Wrong Time,” “Iko Iko,” “Cold Cold Night,” “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya,” “Loop Garoo,” “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” and more. Included also are “A Man Of Many Words,” featuring accompaniment from Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton, and the mono short version of “The Patriotic Flag Waver.”

Arrangers and producers include Allen Toussaint, Harold Battiste, Tom Dowd, Jerry Wexler, Eric Clapton, Ahmet Ertegun, and Michael Cuscuna. Writers include Willie Dixon, Huey Smith, Buddy Guy, Allen Toussaint,  Earl King, James “Sugar Boy” Crawford, Alvin Robinson, Jessie Hill, and Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack himself. Musicologist Gene Sculatti wrote compilation liner notes.

From Sculatti’s notes: “Dr. John has proven to be one of music’s foremost generalists, a primary-care cat whose practice extends back some 60 years. His expertise encompasses rock ’n’ roll, swamp pop, New Orleans, R&B, funk, jazz, and the Great American Songbook—and he’s made worthy contributions to recordings by the Stones, B.B. King, Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Buffalo Springfield, Gregg Allman, and others. The awards (six Grammys and counting) and accolades long ago validated the quality of his output, but it’s the range of what he’s done that truly impresses.

“These Atco and Atlantic sides were clearly the right-place right-time recordings. They put Dr. John on the map and into the ears and minds of music enthusiasts the world over.”

    CD Track List:
1. The Patriotic Flag Waver (Mono Short Version)
2. Mama Roux
3. Jump Sturdy
4. I Walk On Gilded Splinters (Part I)
5. I Walk On Gilded Splinters (Part II)
6. Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya
7. Loop Garoo
8. Wash Mama Wash
9. Iko Iko
10. Huey Smith Medley: “High Blood Pressure” “Don’t You Just Know It” “Well I’ll Be John Brown”
11. Wang Dang Doodle
12. Big Chief
13. A Man Of Many Words (Buddy Guy With Dr. John & Eric Clapton)
14. Right Place Wrong Time
15. I Been Hoodood

16. Such A Night

17. Cold Cold Cold
18. Life
19. Let’s Make A Better World

20. Me – You = Loneliness

21. (Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away
22. Mos’ Scocious

Dr. John plays Louis Armstrong's piano

Dr. John's salute to Louis Armstrong, Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit Of Satch, is out now.  

Black Keys sneak some rock 'n' roll into boring Grammys gala

RIP James Crawford, 1934-2012

New Orleans rhythm and blues great James "Sugar Boy" Crawford passed away on September 15.

Revealing Jerry Wexler 2002 interview

Part 1




Part 2



Part 3



Part 4

One For The Weekend: Dr. John

Dan Auerbach goes Ethiopian with Dr. John

The first track to appear from Dr. John's new album Locked Down (out April 3) that the New Orleans icon recorded in collaboration with the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach is the Farfisa-backed cooker Revolution. 

Just as interesting as the unusually overt political commentary from the artist formerly known as Mac Rebennack is the way in which the horns, drums and wheezing organ are used to create a throwback Ethiopian groove. If it wasn't for Dr. John's familiar growl, you could easily mistake Revolution for a late 60s Mulatu Asatatke joint straight outta Addis Ababa. Looking forward to hearing if that sneaky Auerbach tries to incorporate some Girma Bèyènè and Mahmoud Ahmed moves on the other tracks. Listen to Revolution right here.