{"id":800,"date":"2014-05-29T20:20:22","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T20:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/?p=800"},"modified":"2014-05-29T20:24:04","modified_gmt":"2014-05-29T20:24:04","slug":"rs-405-dr-john-dr-johns-gumbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/?p=800","title":{"rendered":"RS #404: Dr. John, Dr. John’s Gumbo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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#404<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Dr. John, Dr. John’s Gumbo<\/em><\/h3>\n
Release Date:<\/span>\u00a01972<\/div>\n
Previously Owned:<\/span> No<\/div>\n
First Time Listen:<\/span> Yes<\/p>\n
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Dr John’s Prescription Gumbo. Take with food.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Impressions: <\/span>Dr. John is one of those guys that you know for his cajun piano playin’ voodoo image more than his songs.\u00a0 Okay, Doc, let’s see what you got. Allons-y… <\/em>Starts off with the oft-covered “Iko Iko” and it’s distinct “bomp bomp bompbomp” rhythm. A decent enough song, but sort of been ruined to me by years of abuse by Grateful Dead cover bands. Sorry, Doc. “Blow Wind” blow ambles along with a bouncy\u00a0syncopated piano and horn gumbo sound that makes me want to reach for a hurricane. The shuffling drums and earthy organ of “Big Chief” along with some nice whistling manages to overcome the goofball “me big Chief” Indian-style lyrics. Most of these are standards or covers like “Mess Around,” “Let The Good Times Roll” and, uh well, “Stack-A-Lee” but I really got into the drunken shambolic original “Somebody Changed The Lock.” The funky backbeats, wildly energetic piano, horns and Creole charm of Dr. John give these old standards a new “at the time” sheen and…wait<\/em>… I didn’t know “Junco Partner” was a cover? I just heard this on the Clash’s Sandanista.\u00a0<\/em>Weird, dude. Where was I? Oh yeah, Doc was playing a Huey “Piano” Smith Medley, and not just in the song entitled “Huey ‘Piano’ Smith Medley.” Seems like Dr. John’s “Nawlins” style has turned into a cartoon over the years, but this catches him mostly before that happened, or at least before the public got tired of it.<\/p>\n

Starred Songs:<\/span> “Blow Wind Blow,” “Those Lonely Lonely Nights”
\n<\/span>Sneaky Track: <\/span>“Somebody Changed The Lock”
\nShould this be on the list:<\/span> It’s quality enough to be here, but so easygoing that it could be left off the list and nobody would probably get too worked up about it or whatever comme ci comme \u00e7a<\/em>, n’est pas?<\/em>
\nWill You Listen To This Album Again:<\/span> I could see popping it on at a Cajun-flavored BBQ. (Hmmm…I feel like I’ve said that already about a bunch of bluesy, rootsy, ’70s albums and I will definitely now have to keep track of these so-called BBQ albums.)
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Summary:<\/span> Easy-to-digest gumbo of blues, R&B, rock, New Orleans jive and classic piano-driven covers does the job and makes you want to dig for some Huey “Piano” Smith
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Rating:<\/span>\u00a0\u2605\u2605\u26051\/4<\/div>\n