Gris Gris

Not fair for me to rate this album because it's one of my all time favorites. Weird and spooky. Voo doo and gumbo.

Is he allowed to do this?

I bet Rachel Doezel flicks her bean to this type of shit

Dr. John is the very definition of a character. I’m sure he has an eccentric and entertaining live presence but on Gris Gris, musically I find there’s a frustrating emphasis on quirk over quality. “That would sound strange” rather than “that would sound good.” I don’t find the core of these songs interesting enough to overcome the slightly annoying vibe given off by the Dr. Not for me!

Interesting album from my home state of Louisiana. I honestly wasn’t feeling it. A bit average.

it's the 'poifect day' man from the BBC advert! different. a tricky rating because I wouldn't listen again but it's not as bad as Syd Barrett so not fair to give a 2 to.

I always wanted to like him more but there just isn't quite enough there to make the grade.

It was interesting. And that is where it ended for me. Enjoyed the last couple of songs more than the start.

If you don’t understand New Orleans culture, you’re not going to understand this album or the fact that Dr. John ain’t culturally appropriating anything

Was a bit sceptical because on paper this sounded like some sort of comedy release and that mixed with blues – which I'm not particularly fond of – sounded like a struggle. But it turned to be quite okay actually. Sort of psychedelic, rooty, experimental-ish, I guess blues, to some degree? Well, anyway, it was a pleasant surprise.

Weird, moody, directional, and, as far as I know, Unique Of Its Type. Is it good? I dunno, you really gotta be pointed in the same direction Dr. John's going. At it's worst, it's just kinda weird rambling over bayou music, but it has moments of real talent and excellence and I feel like I was regularly surprised to find them. I'd heard Walk On Guilded Splinters before thanks to a certain Jello Biafra, so it was nice to hear the original. I dunno what to do with this album, as with so many. Was there a period where bayou-adjacent music was big? Part of this reminded me of a Scooby Doo episode from almost a decade later. I guess it's a flavor that keeps popping up and is nice in small doses.

This album makes me want to move to the swamp, get a pet gator, cook jambalaya and learn the mysteries of the bayou. Atmospheric, groovy. Loved it

Nope… unpolished. It was instruments… but was it music? Not to me

Weird one.

Kinda liked some of it and some was whatever. Maybe revisit later? Sorta danceable at times. Would be good stoned

Now this would've been the perfect halloween album if only it arrived three days earlier. Oh well, a little post-Halloween fun I guess. Kooky white guy voodoo music. Gotta love it. Favorite track: Mama Roux 3.5/5

This weird-ass album is right up my alley. LFG.

Sorry, not music.

Good album. Has a lofi type of sound. Somewhat funky, but not as much as his later albums will develop. Probably a 3.5 for me.

Not enjoying this southern mumbo jumbo

I feel this album was kinda a slow burn. Took a long while to get going and when it did…it was still pretty mediocre

Que reverendo carajo es esto??? Es como si fuera musica de una pelicula como para niños, malisimo!

Artistes inconnus. Original (ambiance, accompagnement, structure des morceaux), mais je n’ai pas accroché : je n’aime pas trop la voix ni les choeurs. Pas de seconde écoute envisagée. =>2/5

Wanted to hate this as a racist appropriation of Black culture, but some of it is kinda cool, and it definitely had an influence on Tom Waits, which, sadly makes me rethink Waits himself a little…

What a spectacularly weird album. I can’t tell if I really enjoy this or if I absolutely hate it. I’ve heard it front to back about 10 times trying to make that call, and at this point in time I don’t know if I ever will. First, the premise of a white guy attempting to sound like a voodoo doctor is questionable at best, and racist at worst. I don’t know what on Earth inspired this guy to come up with the character of Dr. John, but I have to know if he’s in other bands at least. The fact that this is his debut album is genuinely hilarious, and if it’s also his first/only band on top of that, the dedication to stick with being this character is amazing. The thing is, if we’re calling this guy a voodoo doctor, the album to its credit does a good job of putting you in that world. It’s easy to visualize the scenery of this album, and he sounds like he’s performing voodoo in the same room as you. I still don’t know what Gris Gris is though, and to be completely honest with you, I think it’s funnier if it stays that way. Only lasting 33 minutes long, this one at times feels like it can stretch on for over an hour, which is my biggest complaint with the album. After the first couple of seconds, I get it. I get the entire point of the album. It’s fine. It’s interesting. It’s unique. It’s not particularly good, but it’s also not the same Beatles knockoff for the 400th time, so it gets bonus points for not boring me to death. However, god damn am I having a difficult time deciding on a favorite song, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Probably a good thing, as it means I found several things to enjoy with this album. Almost in equal measure though, there’s a lot that irritates me with this album. Nothing that would let it slip to a 2, but perhaps more than any other album I’ve rolled on the site so far, I can plainly see all the reasons why someone would dislike this album. The I guess you could call optical illusion of the album art is also cool, and admittedly it took me a while to realize he had 2 faces, but it’s also another interesting application of the voodoo doctor premise. I still don’t know if that’s allowed or not, like another reviewer comically mentioned, but it’s unique and at the end of the day I’m going to give it 3 stars for being so. Like, is he even speaking a real language for some of this, or is that all fake as well to sell the character?? So many questions I don’t know if I want the answers to. Ok, I’ve decided that my favorite song is “Danse Fambeaux”. The background singers chanting and the cool instrumentation rise above the other songs to propel it into number 1 for me. What an interesting fellow Dr. John is. I don’t know how many more ways I can call this album a strangely wonderful concept, but it was a hell of a listen. Definitely became better the more time I spent with it, but I’m glad I bothered to do so, as pretty quickly it got a hold of me, and I get what he’s going for. I still don’t know what genre you’d even call this. It’s got just a little bit of every genre that exists, but it’s good. A 3 out of 5. Would listen to more of this, and perhaps at some point I will. Curious to hear the evolution of Dr. John. I can’t even fathom what direction he ended up taking this character, and I am particularly interested to find out the answer actually.

It was okay. I would listen again.

eh .. nein.

Interessanter Mix verschiedener Stile, gefällt.

Love Dr. John, but this was freaking weird.

It was hard for me not to picture the mullet character Dr. Teeth while listening to this one.

He sounds like someone who's trying really hard to be an interesting character. A lot of the mythology surrounding New Orleans feels affected to me. Yeah I've never been there. The album doesn't really go anywhere but it's pretty short so it doesn't really have the opportunity to do so. Maybe I'd like it on another day, but it was a Monday and I didn't need to hear a guy straining to be eccentric.

My first reaction was ??? but then I settled into it. This was an interesting album! The songs went on for a while without changing a lot, but the vibes were fun for Halloween week. Probably wouldn't revisit, but I appreciate the glimpse into a very specific American niche.

you go magic man 3.5

Olipa aikamoista. Vähän lentävää omaan makuun.

Melkosta hoilotusta. Genretyksen mukaan "swamp rock" tai "swamp blues" osu kyllä hyvinkin kohalleen. Suo paistoi läpi hyvinki. Muutamassa kohtaa ihan viihdyttävä, mutta pääosin aika mitäänsanomatonta suohoilotusta. Ei ärsyttäny kuitenkaan, niin keskiverto kuuntelukokemus.

Finally something actually interesting in this list

Enchanting voodoo

Meh.

3.5. Weird, wild, and wonderful. It’s easy to hear how much this influenced the Tom Waits stuff I adore.

The inner workings of Jim Morrison’s mind, sung at times by Van, but nowhere near as bad I thought it would be.

Day1018 - the whole album seems like a gimmick and i just didn’t get it

Fascinating representation of New Orleans music in the late 60s. You have this NOLA voodoo bayou music mixed with psychedelia. This should have been fully included in the soundtrack to Mafia 3, but I digress. I always enjoy this, the more I listen to it. So maybe some day this could get to 4 stars. 3.5 rounded to 3

i found this slightly creepy………

I didn’t start listening to Dr. John until Dr. John’s Gumbo. This is a whole different animal. I can see how it didn’t resonate in 1968, but it is a great album. I’ll be coming back to this gem. I love being pleasantly surprised.

Ojämt med "Mama Roux," och avslutningsspåret som höjer sig över resten. Stark tvåa

Första och sista spåret är okej. Men överlag för mycket mumbo jumbo.

Häxktorn John utför sin exorcism med största noggrannhet. Det skramlas å frustas. En kakafoni av besvärjelser. Det krävs uppmärksam lyssning för att uppskattas. Men tar man sig tid utmejslas ett riktigt fint album. Influenser av blues, jazz, kreol, afrokultism smälter samman i en fin kompott. Till och med urflippade Croker Courtbullion fyller sin funktion.

Egensinnig kreolsk gryta. Det blir bäst när voodoo-doktorn själv väser fram texterna. Mindre bra är spåren med bara körer, de känns mer som utfyllnad, vilket inte ska behövas på ett album med bara sju spår. Håller titelspåret som bäst i gott sällskap med den funkiga Danse Fambeaux och den suggestiva I walk on guilded splinters. Dessa tre spår räcker till en stark trea.

Interessante. Álbum conceitual sobre um médico de voodoo, com sonoridade afro americana misturada com o movimento psicodélico tão influente dos anos 60. O artista é californiano, então sinto um toque de apropriação cultural, mas nada tão sério. Ouviria esse álbum novamente? Provavelmente não. Mas não é ruim. É curioso, e algo verdadeiramente diferente do típico de sempre. Uma boa inclusão à lista. 3/5

Even though I am not a big fan of this kind of music, I must admit I found the album fascinating. I enjoyed the idea of making a voodoo record, and it’s executed perfectly. Also, the vocals reminded me of Tim Armstrong. I won’t listen to it again, though. It’s not something I enjoy with my headphones on

Louisiana. Bet

This is some weird shit. It does improve some after the first song, but mainly on the strength of the accompanying musicians and the musical styles he draws on.

Awful

doesn't stand out much in any way

#125 - Dr. John - Gris Gris ⭐️ Mercifully, this album is only 33 minutes long. But I still couldn’t wait for it to be over.

As with anything experimental this has some misses along with the hits. On balance, an interesting listen.

Nope. Kinda reminded me in Tom Waits

Some of that good voodoo jazz. Really enjoyed it, but also idk how likely i am to really replay it.

This is not the Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem album I was hoping for.

Haven't heard of him before. I was ready for the worst but this is a rare case where a strange/quirky album is actually listenable 3/5

okay

Wtf

Not my favorite Dr. John album…. But this was a fantastic tone setter for Halloween weekend.

First listen Saved 4/7

6/10

Interesting, really grew on me as it went on. Version on spotify has a terrible sound though, would be nice to hear a better version. 3.5 rounded down Heard before? No Owned: No, 110/441 (24%) Will I get: No

Sly Stone, he slide on down to New Orleans. He fix himself a bowl of jambalaya, he take some of that gris gris medicine and he do the Bayou Junble Boogie. This is a slimy little record, that humps your leg and wanders off without apology. It sounds like it was recorded by musicians who weren't in the same room, or planet at the time. It's catchy in a slightly disturbing way, and leaves you feeling like you want a shower.

Funky, doesn't sound like it's from the 60s. Enjoyable enough, 3* Highlights: mama roux

High 3 I think. It sounded interesting and was nice to have in the background and work to. At first I thought it was going to be too strange and disruptive but it settled quickly for me.

It’s super interesting, wish I enjoyed it more

Dr John was a low 3 for me, interesting psych flavours but nothing sticking

Did not enjoy

Anlther wierd one

Ok ok

Actually bad. Big fail. Horrible

Tom Waits' worst album...

Weird album, but some interesting stuff Standout songs: Danse Fambeaux I Walk on Guilded Splinters

a very, very strong 4. this rules!

It was quite a strange album this right here.

no thanks white boi :-)

Had to fight not to abandon this album after about three tracks. Perseverance paid off, and there is something attractively hypnotic about the later part. Comes across as massively self-indulgent, but scored as a partial success.

Started out fine and just went down hill…

Very experimental and interesting. Some of the elements reminded me of music from African religions' ones, and apparently, this was also the idea

I had never heard of Dr. John before this project, or at least I thought I hadn’t. Once I looked him up, I realized I already knew “Right Place, Wrong Time” and “Down in New Orleans.” So apparently Dr. John and I had met before. I just never caught his name. Gris-Gris, his 1968 debut, got off to a great start. “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” immediately pulled me into its strange, swampy New Orleans atmosphere. I ran a Mardi Gras 5K in New Orleans a few years ago and fell in love with the music of the city, so there were elements of this album that were right up my alley. “Danse Kalinda Ba Doom” was strange, but the percussion and chanting gave it a hypnotic quality that kept me interested. “Mama Roux” was catchy enough, but by “Danse Fambeaux” the album was starting to level off for me. “Croker Courtbullion” was where it really began to lose me. Thankfully, “Jump Sturdy” brought me back. That was one of the tracks where the New Orleans sound I love really came through. The long closer, “I Walk on Guilded Splinters,” didn’t quite finish the album on a high note for me. It wasn’t bad, but it felt like it wandered around without really going anywhere. There’s a lot about Gris-Gris that I appreciate. The percussion, atmosphere, and New Orleans influences give it a personality all its own. But the album started much stronger than it finished, and there weren’t enough songs I’d want to return to for me to add it to the collection.

this is the debut album of malcolm john rebannack, using his stage persona dr. john, who's essentially a quirky musical voodoo doctor who can cure all your ills and troubles. the album blends rock, r&b, psychedelia and more, recording between sonny and cher recording sessions, he called various new orleans musicians to create a wonderful and mysterious record. it failed to find any success upon release, but as time went on it's achieved cult status. this one's strange! clearly much stranger compared his other work, even if i haven't heard them yet, haha. like other concept albums, this one too is very clear-as-day. i feel like i'm strapped somewhere, with a group of witch-doctors chanting and draining me of my life essence. it's very wacky at times, maybe a little too wacky... i think when the album turned on it was some real odd and captivating swampy rock funk music, but the more i listened to it it felt like it was just audio of someone sitting in a caldron, a bunch of grandmothers and a guy with a top hat on, all babbling in my ears and shaking salt into the bubbling liquid. i might end up relistening to this one, but this first listen... it was something alright.

Well that’s pretty superb. I Walk on Guilded Splinters is brilliant - I only knew the Paul Weller cover which is good- but this is better! Now I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of covers - Cher, Humble Pie, Johnny Jenkins, Allman Bros…..

I've always enjoyed Dr. John in smallish doses. I've not heard this before & unfortunately it's a bit too 'out there' for my taste.

Cajun psychedelia. Nah...

utter shite

I wish I had known about this album and Dr. John when my college buddies and I started going to New Orleans. But there's a lot I wish I had known back then... A lot of this album sounds more atmospheric than like fully formed songs, but "Jump Sturdy" and "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" sound like later Dr. John, a sign of things to come.

wasn't expecting to enjoy this but it was really interesting

Quite boring. Some parts could have been from the Mamas and Papas - California Dreaming

This is a weird one. It has a bit of a Tom Waits vibe at points, though not as good. Parts of this record I really like, and parts sound like haunted elevator muzak or something. It's ok, but I doubt I'll ever circle back to it. 6.5/10

i'm hoping for the best, but i'm expecting the worst. gris-gris gumbo ya ya--this 5 minute song feels longer than the 13min city, country, city (war / the world is a ghetto) i listened to earlier today. this is fine. not egregious but not something really in my wheelhouse. idk, 2/5? 3/5? i appreciate the instrumentalists--is that a mandolin on danse fambeaux?--and the backup vocals are good, but the ambience is not speaking to me and i don't love dr. john's voice. esoteric music isn't my jam. 15min into the 33min album and i'm calling it. i've done my due diligence.

A relatively unknown album, according to the numbers. Completely unknown to me. It just weirded me out a bit too much to really be seen positively. But there definitely is talent and a knack for good music in there somewhere. 2/5

Total weirdo shit. Flute and birdcalls on Croker Courtbullion is like some kind of Les Baxter inspired swamp-exotica. This rocks!

The cover gives a fair warning: Dr. John sounds just as strange as he looks. His gravelly voice, the chanting, and all that percussion make for a murky, slightly unsettling take on psychedelia. It’s an interesting sound, and I like that he never seems tempted to make it more respectable. Whether it holds my attention for a whole album is another matter. Some passages pull me in, but others leave me waiting for something beyond the atmosphere. I remember the character and the mood much more clearly than the individual songs. An interesting encounter with the doctor, though I’m in no hurry to book another appointment.

Me lembra um Jorge Ben. Bem legal esse R&B. O Danse Kalinda Ba Doom é muito bom. Agora, o final do álbum dá uma decaída. Dito isto, gostei de Danse Kalinda Ba Doom, Mama Roux e Danse Fambeaux

um jazz rock bem bacana. nenhuma música ficou comigo, mas entendi o apelo.

Interesting (hadn't heard it or of it before), but not my bag