Dr. John - Gris Gris (Mono Mix) LP

Covered in a variegated spray of New Orleans mardi gras feathers and shiny voodoo baubles, Mac Rebennack's highly personal mythology was finally made real on this 1968 album. This was his first appearance made under the new guise of Dr. John Creaux, the Night Tripper. before then, he'd been a pivotal figure on the crescent city R&B circuit. Afterward, he became one of its most significant blues ambassadors.

This album is a classic of the admittedly specialized psychedelic swamp-gumbo genre, boasting at least four tracks that have become cult favourites. Gris-gris Gumbo Ya-ya, Mama Roux, Jump Sturdy and I Walk On Gilded Splinters each delicately mix catchy choruses and weird spatial sound effects, with radical stereo separation, intensely croaking, close-quarter vocals from the doctor, pneumatic keyboard riffs, pinprick electric guitar, and booming Afro-Caribbean percussion.

The album still stands at its original 33-minute length, with no bonus cuts unearthed, but its high density more than compensates for any brevity.

Tracklist:

1. Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya
2. Danse Kalinda Ba Doom
3. Mama Roux
4. Danse Fambeaux
5. Croker Courtbullion
6. Jump Sturdy
7. I Walk on Guilded Splinters

About this product: this reissue is pressed on green vinyl.