Rocky Road

RE: Dangerous music

66.65.40.90

In Reply to: RE: Dangerous music posted by Neil E. on May 23, 2008 at 20:08:47

I borrowed the Rhino anthology years ago from the library, as I had no Dr. John recs & had seen him in 1986 & loved his set. I loved the 'Storm Warning' track that was issued as Mac Rebennack (a terrific cover of this was done by the Raunch Hands, a mid-80s NYC band that early on did a bunch of great old obscure covers, many of them instrumentals), and most of the early stuff, several tracks from which were from the Gris-Gris album. By the time it got to Gumbo, it wasn't as much my cup of tea, though I do enjoy some Longhair. Gris-Gris is indeed in a different universe, and no less weird than Zappa in its way--which is more in early Captain Beefheart territory--though I far prefer the Doctor to anything but the earliest of Zappa's output. I love the Cucamonga compilation, some of which reminds specifically of Morgus The Magnificent, but otherwise Zappa's music is, let's just say, not to be found in my collection, at least anything after 1967 or so. But...

I looked for Gris-Gris for years & never found it. Anywhere. I wanted more of what I'd heard on the Anthology that was on that record. Finally, a few years ago, I found it on that Russian allformp3s site. I didn't give those pirates too much of my money, but Gris Gris was one of the few things I chose to purchase there.

Years before I'd purchased In A Sentimental Mood, and I like that record, and generally enjoy that direction he went in, far more so than most of his other recordings...but the rest of Gris Gris I found difficult to get into. It's a strange record. I gave up on it after awhile & stick with the tracks I love--the title track, Guilded Splinters, Jump Sturdy, one or two more, can't remember offhand at the moment. The rest were rough.

More recently I came across the Duane Allman version of Guilded Splinters & far prefer the original. Oh, and I noticed 15 years ago that Guilded Splinters was being sampled on rap records, to what I thought was great effect. I also thought it was terrific that Dr. John would get paid for that sort of thing. I think Guilded Splinters is one of the underlying samples on Beck's 'Loser,' which had to provide him with some money one way or the other (it was also used on the first Pharcyde album).

His catalog is hit-or-miss for me, but I'd go see him again anytime, and I think overall he's an overlooked American musical treasure.

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.