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Dr. John's Gris-Gris sessions?

luckluck 4,077 Posts
edited September 2008 in Strut Central
Seven songs and thirty-three minutes of music. This is all that exists of these sessions? I doubt it. Anyone got the scoop on this?b,121b,121b,121b,121

  Comments

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I left my copy of Wexler's biography at school but he talks about these sessions so I'll try to check.
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    Thanks very much.b,121b,121My iTunes genre for this LP (yes, I also have the vinyl) is "Swamp Sweat."
  • willie_fugalwillie_fugal 1,862 Posts
    what else do you have labeled with that genre?b,121b,121johnny jenkins ton-ton macoute, perchance?
  • corsiccorsic oakland, ca 232 Posts
    img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/word3rp.gif" alt="" 21b,121This is one of my favorite albums, anymore of that session would be nice.b,121 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/krusty.gif" alt="" 21
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121Seven songs and thirty-three minutes of music. This is all that exists of these sessions? I doubt it. Anyone got the scoop on this?b,121b,121b,121b,121 b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121b,121The story I always heard was that 'Gris Gris' was recorded during left-over studio time from a Sonny & Cher LP (their musical director Harold Battiste was a NOLA homeboy of Rebennack's and was responsible for bringing him, and folks like Alvin Robinson and Jesse Hill out to the West Coast for session work). It's possible that dur to the economic nature of the sessions there may not be a whole lot of extra stuff around.
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Love this record. It scared the shit out of several ex-girlfriends.
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    Here's a link to liner notes by Richie Unterberger from the CD reissue:b,121a href="http://www.richieunterberger.com/drjohn.html" target="_blank"1http://www.richieunterberger.com/drjohn.html
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I just remembered something from the Wexler biography where Jerry is talking about how he and Dr. John were very close for several years but had a falling out when Wexler blamed him for getting his daughter Anita hooked on smack. Wexler later realized it wasn't any one person's fault but by that time, the damage had already been done.
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121I just remembered something from the Wexler biography where Jerry is talking about how he and Dr. John were very close for several years but had a falling out when Wexler blamed him for getting his daughter Anita hooked on smack. Wexler later realized it wasn't any one person's fault but by that time, the damage had already been done. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121I got to find a copy of that.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121I just remembered something from the Wexler biography where Jerry is talking about how he and Dr. John were very close for several years but had a falling out when Wexler blamed him for getting his daughter Anita hooked on smack. Wexler later realized it wasn't any one person's fault but by that time, the damage had already been done. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121I got to find a copy of that. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Czech your local libraries. They need to put this back in print, for real.b,121b,121The stuff about Jerry and Anita are some of the most fascinating parts of his bio...Anita, in many ways, was like his protoge - she had a solid career as an A&R and producer too. They shared the closest relationship amongst Wexler and his kids (which, apparently, isn't saying much). But he admits that he was also her enabler for much of her drug addicted years and the tragic capper is that after she cleaned up and tried to fix her life up, she discovered she had contracted HIV (and passed it onto her husband) and both died in the early 1980s.
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121Here's a link to liner notes by Richie Unterberger from the CD reissue:b,121a href="http://www.richieunterberger.com/drjohn.html" target="_blank"1http://www.richieunterberger.com/drjohn.html/a1 b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Thanks very much for this link. Since it was recorded on, really, comp time (in LA!), then maybe there wasn't much in the way of extra material. If not, then that fact would really speak to the focus of Rebennack's performance and composition. You'd expect an album of this nature to have been recorded over the course of months of studio improvisation, takes, and splices.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    So, Luck, what's your take on Dr. John's other "swamp sweat" albums from this era? (Meaning 1968-71...I'm obviously not counting later, less "psychy" stuff like Dr. John's Gumbo or "Right Place, Wrong Time".)b,121b,121And, if y'all like Gris Gris, then you'd probably also dig Exuma's two ghoulish albums on Mercury.
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