Gris-Gris (1968)

Gris-Gris (stylized as GRIS-gris, , named for a kind of talisman) is the debut album by American musician Dr. John (a.k.a. Mac Rebennack). Produced by Harold Battiste, it was released on Atco Records in 1968. The album introduced Rebennack's Dr. John character, inspired by a reputed 19th century voodoo doctor. The style of Gris-Gris is a hybrid of traditional New Orleans R&B elements and psychedelia. It was recorded in California, albeit with several native New Orleans musicians.

Gris-Gris failed to chart in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was re-issued on compact disc decades later and received much greater praise from modern critics, including being listed at number 143 on the 2003 and 2012 editions and at number 356 on the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Production

Before recording the album, Rebennack was an experienced New Orleans R&B and rock musician playing as a session musician, songwriter, and producer in New Orleans. Due to drug problems and the law, Rebennack moved to Los Angeles in 1965, joining a group of New Orleans session musicians. Rebennack survived by playing with various pop and rock recording sessions, receiving much of this work with the help of New Orleanian arranger Harold Battiste.

Rebennack desired to make an album that combined the various strains of New Orleans music behind a front man called Dr. John, after a black man named Dr. John Montaine, who claimed to be an African potentate. Rebennack chose this name after hearing about Montaine from his sister, and feeling a "spiritual kinship" with him. Rebennack originally wanted New Orleans singer Ronnie Barron to front the band as the Dr. John character, but Don Costa, who managed Barron at the time, advised him against it, claiming it to be a bad career move. Rebennack took on the Dr. John stage name himself.

Gris-Gris was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California. With an album due and no singer prepared, Dr. John managed to book studio time originally reserved for Sonny & Cher.

Release and reception

Gris-Gris was released in 1968 on Atco Records, a sub-label of Atlantic Records. Atlantic records president Ahmet Ertegun was reluctant to release the record at first, exclaiming "How can we market this boogaloo crap?" Gris-Gris failed to chart in the United States and United Kingdom. Modern reception of the album has been very positive. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic gave the album five out of five stars, referring to it as "The most exploratory and psychedelic outing of Dr. John's career". In 1999, Tom Moon of Rolling Stone magazine gave the album a positive review, with a rating of four stars out of five. In 2003, the album was ranked number 143 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, before ranked at number 356 on the 2020 revision.

The Wire included Gris Gris in their 1998 list of "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)". The staff wrote that the album fused inspired instrumental combinations with electronic treatments "that owed much to post-Spector LA studio trickery", resulting in music that "constantly unbalanced the ear's efforts to place the music within a continuation of music history. Plas Johnson's playing in particular sounds more like steam powered organ played at a lizard funeral rather than conventional reeds." AllMusic stated that it "sounds like a post-midnight ceremony recorded in the bayou swamp," and named it "among the most enduring recordings of the psychedelic era; it sounds as mysterious and spooky in the 21st century as it did in 1968."

Personnel

Musicians

• Dr. John (Creaux) "The Night Tripper" – vocals, keyboards, percussion
• "Dr." Harold Battiste – bass, clarinet, percussion, arranger
• "Governor" Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone
• "Dr." Lonnie Boulden – flute
• "Dr." Steve Mann – bottleneck guitar, banjo
• "Dr." Ernest McLean – guitar, mandolin
• "Senator" Bob West – bass
• "Dr." John Boudreaux – drums
• Richard "Dr. Ditmus" Washington – percussion
• Mo "Dido" Pedido – congas

Dave Dixon, Jessie "Dr. Poo Pah Doo" Hill, Ronnie "The Baron of Ronyards" Barron – backing vocals, percussion

Joni Jonz, Prince Ella Johnson, Shirley Goodman, Sonny Ray Durden, Tami Lynn – backing vocals

Technical

• Harold Battiste – producer
• Marvin Israel – design
• Raphael – photography
• Richie Unterberger – reissue liner notes

From liner notes of original LP: