Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Dr. John - 1972 - Dr. John's Gumbo



1972 - Dr. John's Gumbo  

Dr. John's Gumbo is the fifth album by New Orleans R&B artist Dr. John, a tribute to the music of his native city. The album is a collection of covers of New Orleans classics, played by a major figure in the city's music. In 2003, the album was ranked number 402 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Track Listing:

Side A
1. "Iko Iko", song about street parades in New Orleans (James "Sugar Boy" Crawford)
2. "Blow Wind Blow" (Huey "Piano" Smith, Izzy Cougarden)
3. "Big Chief", Professor Longhair song dedicated to Big Chief Jolly, notable Mardi Gras Indian leader. (Earl Gaines)
4. "Somebody Changed the Lock", romantic travails. (Mac Rebennack)
5. "Mess Around", Ray Charles' first hit, based on "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" (Ahmet Ertegün)
6. "Let the Good Times Roll", written by Earl King, also covered by Jimi Hendrix as "Come On".






Side B

1. "Junko Partner", legendary tale of wastrel and drug addict (Bob Shad)
2. "Stack-A-Lee", famous tale of "two men who gambled late" (Traditional)
3. "Tipitina", the great Professor Longhair song (Henry Roeland Byrd)
4.  "Those Lonely Lonely Nights" (Earl King, Johnny Vincent)
5.  "Huey Smith Medley", tribute to Huey Smith and the Clowns (Huey "Piano" Smith, Johnny Vincent)

   1. "High Blood Pressure"
   2. "Don't You Just Know It"
   3. "Well I'll Be John Brown"

6.  "Little Liza Jane", New Orleans R&B standard based on a children's rhyme (Huey "Piano" Smith, Johnny Vincent)


Album Credits: 

 Dr. John - guitar, piano, cornet, vocals
 Lee Allen - tenor saxophone
 Ronnie Barron - organ, piano, vocals
 Harold Battiste - clarinet, saxophone, horn arrangements
 Morris Bechamin - saxophone
 Jimmy Calhoun - bass
 Sidney George - harmonica, saxophone
 Shirley Goodman - vocals
 Ken Klimak - guitar
 Tammy Lann - vocals
 Dave Lastie - saxophone
 Melvin Lastie - trumpet, cornet
 Robbie Montgomery - vocals
 Keith Olsen - engineer
 Alvin Robinson - guitar
 Jessica Smith - vocals
 Fred Staehle - drums, percussion
 Richard Washington - percussion
 John Ewing - trombone
 Tom Wilkes - design, photography
 Barry Feinstein - design, photography


There is nothing that I can say that has not already been said about this album.  This is ESSENTIAL.  I'm sure there is not one single person in New Orleans that has not heard this album.  It's definitely one of my all time favorites.  There is never a Mardi Gras season that goes by without this album being played everywhere...
If you didn't know who Dr. John was before, do yourself a favor and get this right now!

Iko Iko

4 comments:

  1. i am really enjoying this, good call. his vocals remind me a bit of van morrison at times. this is really classic stuff and it just reeks of new orleans

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  2. I'll be posting up the rest of his material over the next few weeks so If you liked that one check out the rest...

    Oh, did you happen to listen to the older albums of his that I posted a while back?

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  3. nope. yeah i'd like to hear some of his originals

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  4. Check out his first album: http://www.mediafire.com/?l24zxyx2nlm

    ReplyDelete

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