Dr. John: Gris-Gris (mono) [JACKPOT]

Why you'll love it

This limited Jackpot edition restores the original 1968 mono mix from the master tapes, mastered by Kevin Gray. Rolling Stone has ranked Gris-Gris among the 500 greatest albums of all time.

This edition

• Original 1968 mono mix
• Mastered by Kevin Gray
• Cut from the original master tapes
• Limited edition

About the album

Mac Rebennack had been a busy New Orleans session hand for years before he invented Dr. John. Inspired by the tale of a 19th-century voodoo doctor, he originally wanted singer Ronnie Barron to play the part, and when that fell through he put on the feathers himself. The studio time at Gold Star in Los Angeles had been booked for Sonny & Cher.

Producer and arranger Harold Battiste gathered a crew of New Orleans musicians living in LA, and together they cooked up a heady brew of R&B, Creole chant and psychedelic studio trickery. "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya" introduces the character over a slow, spooky groove, "Mama Roux" swings, "Danse Kalinda Ba Doom" and "Danse Fambeaux" sound like rituals caught on tape, and "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" is seven minutes of smoky, hypnotic menace that has been covered countless times since.

Later listeners caught up in a big way, and The Wire put it on its list of 100 records that set the world on fire while no one was listening. The mono mix keeps everything in one thick, murky pot, which is precisely how gumbo is meant to be served.

Also at Kops: more Dr. John on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Atco / Jackpot Records (cat# JPR-051), a reissue of the 1968 album.