Way Out In The Swamp

The album Gris-Gris was where clean cut New Orleans r 'n' b musician Mac Rebennack metamorphosed into Dr John The Night Tripper and embarked on a distinguished decades long career as that persona. Recorded and released at the height of psychedelia and the hippy dream, it cast a unique New Orleans perspective on those days. The novelty weirdness and other wordly qualities helped it to be embraced by the hippies but listening from this distance it is clear to see the solid strands of New Orleans varied musical history buried in the tracks. From the slaves of Congo Square, to the more latin afro-Caribbean rhythms, through early jazz and onto the distinctive shuffle beat of New Orleans r 'n' b and the Mardi Gras Indian tribes, it is all there. But what makes the disc special and sets it apart are the two tracks which open and close the album, strangeness that has rarely been heard before or since. Both Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya and the remarkable Walk On Gilded Splinters inhabit this dream world of humid, steaming swamp, voodoo religious imagery, ambiguous and mysterious spirituality and superstition. The recording technique adds to the effect, Rebennack's distinctive throaty vocals recorded up close and in your face and backing vocals, sparse instrumentation and hypnotic percussive effects placed way back in the mix but building an atmosphere at all times. Listen and enter a different world.