Dr. John - Original Album Series

 Although I have several (great) compilations and some of the good doctor's later works, I did not have these early albums in my collection so I was super stoked to find this 5-CD comp of his first releases at a reasonable cost. Well worth it at any price!

Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. had done some previous recordings, both as a solo artist and a studio musician, but he created his Dr. John, the Night Tripper persona with his debut album Gris-Gris. Here he mixed all that is hip'n'cool'n'mysterious about New Orleans - the various musical styles, the swamplands, the voodoo history and more - into his own musical gumbo that had some swampy swagger and hoodoo highlights making it sound like there was a mystical ritual occurring rather than a recording session. The Doctor combined his terrific keyboard work with some amazing musicians, particularly multiple percussionists, female backing singers, brass, some bluesy guitar and steady, rollin' basslines, to conjure up some very groovy r'n'b and blues ("Mama Roux" and "Jump Steady" in particular) along with his dark, almost ambient sacramental offerings, including his character's introduction in "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya-Ya" and his fantastic take on "I Walk On Gilded Splinters". 

His sophomore effect, Babylon, offers up some more pop-oriented ballads in the title track and "Glowin'" before returning to his unique, hypnotic, percussion-driven gris gris in the upbeat "Black Widow Spider" and the mid-tempo "Barefoot Lady". There is a somewhat psychedelic piano ballad with sweet backing vocals and some trippy effects in "Twilight Zone", followed by the politically-themed "The Patriotic Flag Waver", a kinda groovy r'n'b number that includes military drum rolls and children singing, and the finale, "The Lonesome Guitar Strangler" is a very hip guitar-dominated (natch) number mixing blues and raga and whatever other musical gumbo Mac decided to throw in, including a hint of "Sunshine of Your Love" and some jazz riffin'!

On his third, shamanically titled The Sun Moon and Herbs, he continues to delve into the New Orleans mythos, lyrically and musically, with the mighty "Black John the Conqueror", then there's some fun NO-styled, loping R'n'B in "Where Ya At Mule", while "Craney Crow" returns to his gris-gris inspired, mesmerizing grooves. "Familiar Reality - Opening" is a swingin', catchy-as-hell piece of Dr. John R'n'B, the lengthily titled "Pots on Fiyo (File Gumbo)/Who I Got To Fall On (If the Pot Get Heavy)" is more distilled N'awleans essence in song form, things quiet down a bit for "Zu Zu Mamou" but it's still filled with NO funky grooves, subtle but alluring, and the closer is a neat variation for "Familiar Reality - Reprise" - nicely done!

Funnily, according to Wikipedia, Remedies is actually Dr. John's third release and for some reason it is not included in this collection, which is sad since it includes some fantastic numbers that I am familiar with along with several I have not heard. It seems to be hard to come by, as well. I will have to keep looking for it!

In any case, next in this set is Dr. John's Gumbo, in which the good doctor covers classic New Orleans tunes and kinda gets away from his stage character of the Night Tripper. He opens with a fantastic take on the Mardi Gras classic "Iko Iko" (Sugar Boy Crawford), this blends seamlessly into Huey Piano Smith's "Blow Wind Blow", Earl King's "Big Chief" is a funky, organ-led/whistlin' piece (with a fine sax solo), Mac's own "Somebody Changed the Locks" is a rollickin', barrelhouse piano, NO groover, his take on Ahmet Ertegun's "Mess Around" is THEE version for me - fast'n'fun'n'full of great playin'. Earl King returns with a slow, funky take of his fab N'Awleans theme song "Let The Good Times Roll", Bob Shad's "Junko Partner" is another bouncy, piano'n'horn rocker, the traditional "Stack-O-Lee" is based on Leon T. Gross' version, the legendary Professor Longhair is represented by "Tipitina", "Those Lonely Lonely Nights" is another Earl King number, a slow-dancin', bluesy groover, and, of course, he couldn't leave out Huey Piano Smith's "High Blood Pressure", "Don't You Just Know It" or "Well, I'll Be John Brown", so he combined them into a medley and then closed things out with Smith's fantastic "Little Liza Jane". 

In The Right Place, naturally opens with his smash hit, the infectiously funky "Right Place, Wrong Time" - still terrific after all these years and this was amazing to hear on the AM radio back in the day! For some reason, I never had this album despite loving the hit, and a lot of it is not on the comps that I have, so I am not overly familiar with a good portion. "Same Old, Same Old" is subdued, "Just the Same" is a slow, bluesy ballad, but "Qualified" is back in the saddle with an upbeat New Orleans R'n'B groover,  "Traveling Mood" is pure NO goodness, and "Peace Brother Peace" is a bit of funky gospel. Allan Toussaint's "Life" is another terrific piece of swingin' life in the streets of NO, and "Such a Night" is one of the Doctor's best - Louisiana R'n'B with sultry grooves and fine horn work - while "Shoo Fly Marches On" is good but not overly memorable but "I Been Hoodoo'd" is a look back at his Night Tripper days, with a steady groove and a terrific feel and he ends the proceedings in excellent fashion with a fine piece of horn-driven R'n'B in "Cold Cold Cold".

Dr. John is one of the few people who transport you to the city of New Orleans with his music and I love most of the work that he's done, but especially his early records and every one of these is highly recommended! Each sleeve is a reproduction of the original album artwork, although I'm sure that there is other information on the actual record covers, but if you're just looking for the music, this is an incredible bargain for some fantastic sounds!