Dr. John S/D

for years i only knew dr. john from his kinda schmaltz-o appearance in The Last Waltz, but I heard Gris Gris a few years ago and was blown away. Such a cool record.

no, i don't think it has something to do with howlin' wolf. just listen to eleggua and you will know what i mean. that is pure, true beefheart in mexican mode,fantastico.

well, none of them are quite as spacey as Gris Gris. Babylon has a bunch of weird shit on it - children's choirs, odd time signatures, also this amazing song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b53cvwJdpXA

Remedies *wanted* to be a psych record but his manager fucked that one up pretty bad afaict. By the time he got around to Sun, Moon, and Herbs things had straightened out a little sonically but the material is all still in that voodoo-blues vein (also features Keith Richards and Mick Jagger iirc). Once he hooked up with the Meters he was pretty solidly in the fonk pocket.

it is really obvious how the manager/producer completely fucked this up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtcQCqpv_v0

Gris Gris is really great. Opening track is like taking a swim down the bayou with w/ an old stoned gator. Love all the layers of instruments/voices/sounds floating in and out and around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4J8VrprrGE

scratch vocal, three different takes just strung together one after the other etc.

xp

honestly everything up through like 1976 has something to recommend it

just saw this: http://www.avclub.com/articles/new-orleans-funky-night-tripper-dr-john-talks-new,71950/

actually kind of annoying it is not a longer interview!

haha okay that's a great album cover

and on that photo he even looks like the captain, it is almost spooky:

http://media.avclub.com/images/articles/article/71/71950/Dr-John-CREDIT-LISA-HOULGRAVE_jpg_627x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg

just got back from the show at BAM, it was good. they played guilded splinters and zu zu mamou. and he did a solo piano of such night which was great. the new songs are cool, if a little too dap-tone sounding or something. but props to auerbach for turning him on to mulatu astake.

Auerbach of the Keys has him backed by Daptone folks on those new ones so that would make sense

The Doctor's latest album Locked Down is surprisingly vital sounding. The old dog's still got a lot of bite.

Thinking about trying to go to one of the BAM events. Wonder if I can still
get a ticket

Some of his new stuff is great. I love to hear older people dissing the man and sounding like they are still engaged to the world.

Are these older folks opposed to his lyrics on the latest, or the music, both, something else or are they aficianados of the first album only???

think he means The Man there, not Dr. John

Ha, misread that at first myself but managed to take a deep breath and parse it correctly

Oh, now I get it. Thanks

OK, I'm going Saturday

Would greatly appreciate any setlist or review you could bring back. It seems that he might delve into some NOLA R&B obscurities, which are just about my favorite music genre ever, but it's hard to tell exactly from the description.

Sure

The whole album is pretty solid, but I'm really loving "Ice Age":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBEPKqDBuk0

Sorry about the lack of clarity above folks; The Man. I do try and contribute here like I am having a conversation, but I am shit at it!

I wonder if the Ernie K Doe book will be on sale at this gig?

OK, Dan P, I have enlisted the services of an expert for this project

Awesome, thanks! I'm sure there will be some Fats Domino and memories of Booker, and there will certainly be Irma Thomas hits. Davell Crawford is along, and he has recorded some of his grandfather Sugarboy Crawford's stuff, and it's a longshot but Tami Lynn might even do "I'm Gonna Run Away From You."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAwYfd2vnAA

It actually just dawned on me that I saw Tami Lynn sing a couple songs at Jazzfest last time I was in N.O. and she (um, delicately) wasn't all that good. She did do "Mojo Hannah."

I never saw her sing. I did overhear her once in the old South Street Seaport Strand Bookstore complaining about one of her mentors

Irma Thomas was awesome. fun show.

Standing outside BAM, waiting for Mr. Fine Wine to arrive

Sorry, Dan, don't know if there were too many obscurities. It was actually kind of hard to hear especially the lyrics where I was sitting. Irma Thomas we could hear pretty clearly, she sang two numbers "Wish Someone Would Care" and "(You Can Have My Husband but) Don't Mess with My Man." The biggest pleasant surprises were Ivan Neville singing his dad's "Hercules" and the band playing Smokey Johnson's "It Ain't My Fault," but apparently the latter gets covered a lot. Tami Lynn did not sing "Mojo Hannah" couldn't tell what else she did sing. She seems like a last minute addition since everybody else's bio was printed in there program but her info was inserted on a separate sheet of paper.

Hm. I guess they DID play "Mojo Hannah" http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/04/dr_john_funky_but_its_nu_awlins_bam_april_12_review.php

pic is str8 awesome

At least on Thursday they did

Thanks! The songs listed in the review are all great, if unsurprising (St. James Infirmary, Hey Pocky Way.) Yeah, props to them for digging up Hercules.

I meant to say that "St. James Infirmary" sounded nothing like "St. James Infirmary" until I was able to hear some of the words.

Yeah, "Hercules" and Nicholas Payton were the best things. Don't think I mentioned that Davell Crawford sang "Junko Partner."

Arrgh, "Junco Partner."

i just worked our big Dr John gala at BAM! was a lot of fun

Doc's been doing this mambo arrangement of St. James Infirmary for a while now, so probably this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY5N3gp4IZM

video for revolution with footage from BAM
http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2012/05/08/152296239/live-from-brooklyn-dr-john-launches-into-a-revolution

http://www.offbeat.com/2012/07/01/dr-johns-next-maneuver/

After touring Europe plans to release Querzergue (spelling?) coproduced sessions with singer Will Porter

"in the right place" - 40 years old and still going strong

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Dr_john_-_city_lights.jpg

just listened to City Lights for the first time. it's slicker than the first four records but pretty good in it's own right.

One of my favorite Dr. John songs is from one of his weaker records, Tango Palace. "I Thought I Heard New Orleans Say."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2iVeajkJ8c

Always loved this one off Remedies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE8sHZeqE8Q

I love City Lights, has a vibe approaching steely dan.

Has anybody come acrossany live recordings from the 68/69 era with the original Dr John & the Night Trippers band. I think the earliest thing I've come across so far is one track from 1970 from the Dutch Kralingen festival and quite a few from like '72 and '73.
But at the moment I'm reading Under A hoodoo Moon and he's talking about that band being something else so would love to get to hear what they were like live. I have the studio stuff.