“The Best Of The Grateful Dead" by THE GRATEFUL DEAD – Including Tracks from "The Grateful Dead" (March 1967 Debut), "Anthem Of The Sun" (July 1968), "Aoxomoxoa" (June 1969), "Workingman's Dead" (June 1970), "American Beauty" (November 1970), "Wake Of The Flood" (October 1973), "From The Mars Hotel" (June 1974) and more – Featuring Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreuetmann (March 2015 Rhino 2 x HDCD – David Glasser and Jamie Howarth Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

-->

This Review Along With Over 310 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
CADENCE /CASCADE 

PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground 

Just Click Below To Purchase

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...A Long Strange Trip..."

It seems strange that there hasn't been a proper "Best Of" to cover the Dead’s astonishing career (1993 was the last and that was a single disc I believe).

Unremarkable title aside – and forgiving the complete absence of live material (a domain every fan acknowledges they excel in) – what you do get here is 31 tracks from their thirteen studio albums between 1968 and 1989 on Warner Brothers, Grateful Dead and Arista Records as well as a rare 7" single version of 1968's "Dark Star" – all of it remastered into HDCD in 2015. Here are the not-so-skeletal details...

UK released March 2015 – "The Best Of The Grateful Dead" by THE GRATEFUL DEAD on Rhino 081227955984 (Barcode 081227955984) is a 32-track 2 x HDCD set of new Remasters and breaks down as follows (the letters [A] to [N] after each LP represent personnel codes for the Band - see list):

Disc 1 (79:54 minutes):

1. The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)

2. Cream Puff War

Tracks 1 and 2 from the debut LP "The Grateful Dead" – released March 1967 in the USA on Warner Brothers W 1689 (Mono) and WS 1689 (Stereo). Stereo mix used. [A]

3. Born Cross-Eyed

Track 3 is from their 2nd studio LP "Anthem Of The Sun" – released July 1968 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1749 (Stereo only). [B]

4. Dark Star (Single Version)

Track 4 was released October 1968 in the USA as a 7" single on Warner Brothers 7186 ("Born Cross-Eyed" was the B-side). Note: the UK variant on Warner Brothers WB 7186 reversed the sides and had "Born Cross-Eyed" as the A [C]

5. St. Stephen

6. China Cat Sunflower

Tracks 5 and 6 are from their 3rd studio album "Aoxomoxoa" – released June 1969 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1790 [D]

7. Uncle John’s Band

8. Easy Wind

9. Casey Jones

Tracks 7 to 9 are from their 4th studio album "Workingman's Dead" – released June 1970 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1869 [E]

10. Truckin'

11 Box Of Rain

12. Sugar Magnolia

13. Friend Of The Devil

14. Ripple

Tracks 10 to 14 are from their 5th studio album "American Beauty" – released November 1970 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1893 [F]

15. Eyes Of The World

Tracks 15 is from their 6th studio album "Wake Of The Flood" – released October 1973 in the USA on Grateful Dead Records GD-01 [G]

16. Unbroken Chain

17. Scarlet Begonias

Tracks 16 and 17 are from their 7th studio album "From The Mars Hotel" – released June 1974 in the USA on Grateful Dead Records GD-102 [H]

18. The Music Never Stopped

Track 18 is from their 8th studio album "Blues For Allah" – released September 1975 in the USA on Grateful Dead/United Artists GD-LA494-G [I]

19. Estimated Prophet

Track 19 is from their 9th studio album "Terrapin Station" – released August 1977 in the USA on Arista AL 7001 [J]

Disc 2 (79:08 minutes):

1.Terrapin Station

Tracks 1 is from their 9th studio album "Terrapin Station" (at 16:10 minutes this is the whole of Side 2) – released August 1977 in the USA on Arista AL 7001 [J]

2. Shakedown Street

3. I Need A Miracle

4. Fire On The Mountain

Tracks 2 to 4 are from their 10th studio album "Shakedown Street" (album Produced by Lowell George of Little Feat) – released November 1978 in the USA on Arista AB 4198 [K]

5. Feel Like A Stranger

6. Far From Me

Tracks 5 and 6 are from their 11th studio album "Go To Heaven" – released May 1980 in the USA on Arista Al 9508 [L]

7. Touch Of Grey

8. Hell In A Bucket

9. Throwing Stones

10. Black Muddy River

Tracks 7 to 10 are from their 12th studio album "In The Dark" – released July 1987 in the USA on Arista AL 8452 [M]

11. Blow Away

12. Foolish Heart

13. Standing On The Moon

Tracks 11 to 13 are from their 13th studio album "Built To Last" – released November 1989 in the USA on Arista AL-8575

THE GRATEFUL DEAD Band Members:

GERRY GARCIA [A to N] – Lead Guitar, Vocals, Pedal Steel and Piano

BOB WEIR [A to N] – Guitar and Vocals

RON "PIGPEN" McKERNAN [A to F] – Organ, Harmonica, Vocals, Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar, Congas and Percussion

PHIL LESH [A to N] – Bass, Vocals, Guitar and Piano

BILL KREUETZMANN [A to N] – Drums and Percussion

TOM CONSTANTEN [B and D] – Keyboards and Piano

MICKEY HART [B to F and I to N] – Drums and Percussion

KEITH GODCHAUX [G to K] – Keyboards, Piano and Vocals

DONNA GODCHAUX [G to K] – Vocals

BRENT MYLAND [L to N] – Keyboards and Vocals

GUESTS:

DAVE GRISMAN - Mandolin on "Friend Of The Devil" and "Ripple"

HOWARD WALES – Organ on "Truckin'"

STEVE SCHUSTER – Saxophone on "The Music Never Stopped"

TOM SCOTT – Lyricon and Saxophone on "Estimated Prophet"

DAVID LEMIEUX produced the compilation with the Tapes and Remasters handled by both DAVID GLASSER and JAMIE HOWARTH. It’s housed in a fetching three-way foldout card digipak with two see-through trays holding Grateful Dead skeleton logo CDs (discography info beneath each). The 16-page booklet features new song-by-song liner notes by BLAIR JACKSON (it’s almost entirely text) with pictures of the band on the last and rear pages only. Blair’s insights into each song are suitably detailed and fun – pointing out who played on what and how the track happened. Provided by Jim Marshall - the booklet is also fronted by a gorgeous black and white photo of the boys hanging out by the Haight/Ashbury Road Sign in the late Sixties. And the embossed Skull Logo on the front is gorgeous - the whole thing feels classy and shows that Rhino are back on reissuing form...

But the best news is the new 2015 remasters. Comparing a few tracks to the 2003 Rhino HDCD remasters for the individual albums – I must confess that the earlier cuts from say "Grateful Dead" to "American Beauty" on Warner Brothers sound roughly the same if not a small bit improved. But the Grateful Dead Records and Arista Records stuff is 'so' much better than CDs I had in the Nineties. For that alone – and the extra breath of material Disc 2 brings (over 2 and half hours of music) – this is a bit of a stunner Audio-wise and its available beneath a ten-spot in many places too.

Disc 1 sticks to favourites – the "hey hey" jaunt of "The Golden Road (To The Unlimited Devotion)" from the debut segues into Jerry Garcia's lone credit on "Cream Puff War" – a sort of Garage Pop chugger. The 7" single 2:42 minute edit of "Dark Star" and "Born Cross-Eyed" (a Bob Weir song) was issued in the USA and UK as a seven-inch single on Warner Brothers in the spring of 1968 (funny now to see "Dark Star" as a 'single' when it is always been associated with 25 to 30-minute jams). "Dark Star" is the most un-commercial of singles and has a bit of spoken poetry/banjo in the fade out! Both of the cuts from "Aoxomoxoa" introduced Funk into the Dead’s Psychedelic swagger with Organ and Guitar fighting it out. Both the LPs "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty" are surely everyone’s faves – both introducing a musicality and warmth to their sound that can't be denied. I would have loved to have had "New Speedway Boogie" from "Workingman's Dead" included – but you can’t have everything (check out Marc Cohn's great cover of it on his "Listening Booth: 1970" CD album from 2010).

David Grisman adds wonderful Mandolin strums to the witty "Friend Of The Devil" and the lovely "American Beauty" Side 2 opener "Ripple" – as pretty a song as they've ever written (gorgeous audio on it). I always thought "Eyes Of The World" terribly weedy fare – far better is the acoustic "Unbroken Chain" with Donna Godchaux providing really sweet duet Vocals. Things go a bit Funky for the "...mosquitos on the river..." song "The Music Never Stopped" where Donna gives it some vox yet again (nice Sax too from Steve Schuster). Speaking of that great instrument - Tom Scott adds Saxophone to the LA reggae-ish sway of "Estimated Prophet" (from their first album for Arista "Terrapin Station"). Its (dare we say it) 'commercial' for the Dead – but I actually love that rhythm (remaster is superb too). The full 16:02 minute/seven-part "Terrapin Station" that took up the whole of Side 2 of the LP may test your patience – but I love the Eastern mysticism vibes and the Prog parts with those mad string flurries in the final section of the suite.

Lowell George of Little Feat fame stepped up to the Producer Chair for "Shakedown Street" and the band returned from Prog to straight-up Rock 'n' Roll with "I Need A Miracle". The disco-funk of the title track probably brings out a rash in hardcore fans and the soft-shoe commercial cod-reggae shuffle of "Fire On The Mountain" probably elicits the same reaction – but they both sound incredible in these new remasters. Far more accomplished is "Feel Like A Stranger" where new Keyboard player Brent Myland really makes his presence known in those tasty fills (fabulous remaster too). His vocal lead on “Far From Me” sounds almost “Rumours” in its sophisticated Rock way and you can hear that Bob Weir hip influence – Funky one moment – pretty the next – and those Queen layered vocals (a bit cool actually). "I will survive!" they sing on their unlikely hit single "Touch Of Grey" – Garcia having fun. We get a bit more downhome boogie on the excellent "Hell In A Bucket" where that motorbike growl travelling across your speakers still takes me by surprise (enjoying the ride). And that's what's so cool about Disc 2 – it surprises you – and in many ways is actually better than the later Seventies stuff in some ways.

So there you have it – a "Best Of" that finally does the band justice (in the studio anyway). What’s needed now is a "Best Of LIVE DEAD" but we’re probably looking at a 3-disc minimum or more. In the meantime – dig in here and remember what those Robert Crumb cartoon teeshirts used to say...Keep On Truckin'...

"Chicago III" by CHICAGO – January 1971 Third Double-Album on Columbia Records (USA) and March 1971 (UK) on CBS Records - featuring Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, Peter Cetera, Daniel Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Walter Parazaider (July 2002 UK Warner Strategic Marketing/Rhino Reissue - 2LP Set Onto 1CD – David Donnelly Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Motorboat To Mars..."

Apart from maybe Zappa and The Mothers - I can't think of any other American band that could have managed THREE double-albums of original studio material in a row during an twenty-month period - but CHICAGO did.

Their Columbia Records debut as "Chicago Transit Authority" hit the shops in late April 1969, the second simply called "Chicago" though more commonly known as "Chicago II" came in January 1970 whilst the ingeniously named "Chicago III" came out in January 1971 - all 2LP studio sets. And then, they whacked out a further four-LP live box recorded at Carnegie Hall later than same year (November 1971 as "Chicago IV") resplendent with posters and other cool inserts. Pour it on boys why don't you...

And their 2LP platters weren't jacked-up with 16-minutes songs – 12-minutes of which consisted of a filler guitar solo. No. Columbia went with the band's artistic bint and let them stretch. If the songs were long, they were long and needed to be released into the wild as such. These were full-on musical compositions that certainly contained Prog Rock and often had Classical leanings too. "Chicago III" was no different to the two before. With three large pieces (Travel Suite, An Hour in The Shower and Elegy) and a total of 23-tracks – it was not for the faint-hearted or those pressed for time. And it looked the part of a 'big release' too. The front sleeve sported the now familiar CHICAGO logo (which they've used ever since) while both the inner gatefold and two inner sleeves came with custom script lettering for the recording details and lyrics. "III" also sported a giant foldout poster of our heroes amidst a sea of soldier's gravestones (alluding to the mentions of Vietnam in some of the songs). Pour it on why don't you...indeed.

I've always liked early Chicago before the big soppy ballads showed them where the real money lay. But I'd have to admit that much of those endless brass improvs will test the patience of today's 2020 audience, But I say let's take a few minutes for the boys who used to once dream of bus terminals only to end up in early 1971 on a motorboat to Mars (yeah baby)...

UK released 27 July 2002 - "Chicago III" by CHICAGO on Warner Strategic Marketing/Rhino 8122-76173-2 (Barcode 081227617325) offers the 1971 Double-Album Remastered onto 1CD in total and plays out as follows (71:29 minutes):

1. Sing A Mean Tune Kid [Side 1]

2. Loneliness Is Just A Word

3. What Else Can I Say

4. I Don't Want Your Money

TRAVEL SUITE (Tracks 5 to 10)

5. Flight [Side 2]

6. Motorboat To Mars

7. Free

8. Free Country

9. At The Sunrise

10. Happy 'Cause I'm Going Home

11. Mother [Side 3]

12. Lowdown

AN HOUR IN THE SHOWER (Tracks 13 to 17)

13. A Hard Risin' Morning Without Breakfast

14. Off To Work

15. Fallin' Out

16. Dreamin' Home

17. Morning Blues Again

ELEGY (Tracks 18 to 23)

18. When All The Laughter Dies in Sorrow [Side 4]

19. Canon

20. Once Upon A Time...

21. Progress?

22. The Approaching Storm

23. Man vs. Man: The End

Tracks 1 to 23 are the double-album "Chicago III" – released January 1971 in the USA on Columbia Records C2 30110 and March 1971 in the UK on CBS Records 66260 (both in Stereo). Produced by JAMES WILLIAM GUERICO – it peaked at No. 2 in the USA and No. 31 in the UK

CHICAGO was:

ROBERT LAMM - Vocals and Keyboards

TERRY KATH - Vocals and Guitar

PETER CETERA - Vocals and Bass

JAMES PANKOW - Trombone

LEE LOUGHNANE - Trumpet and Vocals

WALTER PARAZAIDER - Vocals and Woodwinds

DANIEL SERAPHINE - Drums

Rhino's CD reissues for the first three twofers all initially came with outer card wraps and gatefold card digipak inners - aping the original vinyl artwork to a degree (they've been subsequently reissued as jewel case versions) and that's what you get here. While the inner digipak mimics the inner gatefold of the original double-album right down to the script text (a see-through plastic CD tray allows you to see what’s beneath), for some reason the 12-page booklet leaves out the two inners with the lyrics and the foldout poster - a bit of a boob really (perhaps they weren't able to secure them).

Making up for that are a period publicity photo of the seven-piece band and a US magazine cover (cheap at 60c), along with new interviews by liner-notes writer DAVID WILD with original band members - Trombonist Pankow and Trumpeter Loughnane. It's a potted history and interesting read where the boys praise Columbia for allowing the band to pursue big songs and not just hit singles - Pankow fondly remembering (35 years later) what made it all so special then and still resonates now - the band and the people around them were all in it for the 'music' and not the suits/cash-men who would later take over. DAVID DONNELLY has done the Remaster at DNA Studios in California and the power is fantastic. I've had the British vinyl originals for years and these Rhino transfers rock. To the music...

Columbia issued the brass-funky vocal-growling radio-friendly 2:14 minutes of "Free" as the album's starter 45 in February 1971 (Columbia 4-45331) - a Robert Lamm song that could easily have been passed off as the next Blood, Sweat & Tears or Sly & The Family Stone single (label mates also on Columbia). Chicago was awarded with a No. 20 chart peak - the quirky instrumental  "Free Country" being its flipside). In fact as you play the opening "Sing A Mean Tune Kid" on Side 1 - you could be mistaking its nine-minutes for Rare Earth or even After The Fire or shades of yes, Blood, Sweat & Tears - another Robert Lamm brass-driven funkster. The sexy half-spoken/half-sung "Loneliness Is Just A Word" would end up as the B-side of the album's second US 45 "Lowdown" in April 1971 on Columbia 4-45370. Managing a peak of No. 35 - I'd argue that the better B-side should have been the Plug Side. Future principal vocalist Peter Cetera gets his first tune on the album with the decidedly Eagles-country-ish "What Else Can I Say". The boys goof off at the beginning of "I Don't Want Your Money" - the album's Helter Skelter guitar moment where Chicago suddenly sound like John Mayall discovering Rock. 

The first of three multiple-song couplings comes in the shape of "Travel Suite" where Chicago wrong-foot the listener once again by sounding like they've been listening to too much America on "Flight 602". Next up is a short drum solo called "Motorboat To Mars" which is followed by the infinitely better "Free" - the boys discovering their inner Sly Stone. The full 5:02 minutes of "Free Country" is piano and flute Prog that is pretty for its first half and then improv discordant for the remainder. Lamm asks how can he be happy if he can't see his girl "At The Sunrise" - soon joined on duet vocals with Cetera - a catchy tune that could easily have been single number three. The Travel Suite continues with seven minutes of la-di-dah in "Happy 'Cause I'm Coming Home" - an upbeat almost Latin beat shuffler - followed by Lamm's "Mother" where Trumpet and Trombone do battle to a backbeat.

An Hour In The Shower encompasses five songs - all by Terry Kath - blues slipping down the drain as the morning water cascade pours. As he takes "Off To Work" he lays into Rock guitar backed up by those brass jabs. The problem is that the next three parts hog the same acoustic strum as they segue into each other without being interesting. "Elegy" opens with a poem "When All The Laughter Dies In Sorrow" printed on the inner gatefold (terribly dated unfortunately) followed by a doomy brass preamble called "Canon". This in turn leads into the flute-meandering "Once Upon A Time..." that later goes funky-workout with the superb toe-thumper "The Approaching Storm" – probably one the better numbers on record no. 2. But by "Man vs. Man: The End" it already feels like they're running out of ideas and improvs have replaced actual tunes.

The packaging is cool, the Audio rocks and even if the music on "Chicago III" is seriously dated in places - those cool moments and funky passages make it worth your while investigating door number three...

"The Atco Albums Collection" by DR. JOHN [THE NIGHT TRIPPER] (September 2017 Rhino/Atco 7CD Box of Remasters in Mini LP Card Sleeves) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Almost 300 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 3 of 3

- Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde, Underground

Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Rock and more

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Gilded Splinters..."

The Night Tripper's catalogue used to come and go when I worked in Reckless Records (Islington and Berwick Street) with alarming regularity. Dr. John was and is an acquired taste. Of the seven albums presented here - only four charted Stateside and three of those were just inside the Top 200 ("In The Right Place" finally broke him out into the mainstream in 1973 and made No. 24). The original British issues on Atco and Atlantic plum labels/orange and tan K labels were the same (all non-charters) and are consequently quite rare in good condition in 2018.

In fact many of us 'rock geezers' were introduced to the colourful Malcolm Rebennack from New Orleans via our 99p purchase of Atlantic Super 2464 013 – "The Age Of Atlantic" label sampler LP put out in October 1970 that had "Wash, Mama, Wash" from his 3rd album "Remedies". And of course we were aware of the mighty "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" - a song like Dave Mason's "Feelin' Alright" or Ron Davies "It Ain't Easy" that lent itself to cover versions - huge numbers of Rock bands digging its spooky sway. Humble Pie give it an entire side on their fantastic live double album "Performance..." in 1972 and Paul Weller laid into it big time for his equally brill 1995 set "Stanley Road". Dr. John has always 'been there' so to speak...

But here at last is a decent splurge worth getting your teeth into. You get his first seven albums from 1968 to 1974 newly remastered for this 2017 set and given those natty Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves (Disc 1, 3 and 4 are credited to Dr. John The Night Tripper whilst the others are simply Dr. John). The good news is that "Babylon", "The Sun Moon & Herbs", "Dr. John's Gumbo" and "In The Right Place" all get their gatefold sleeves repro'd ("In The Right Place" gets that elaborate tri-gatefold) and the CDs reflect the original label colouring - Pink and Mustard for "Gris-Gris" and mostly the yellow Atco variant thereafter. The bad news is that there's no booklet to back up the music's historical place and influence or even give you musician credits and advise of the guests involved (I've provided those credits below where available). Shame that - but at least the cool-looking clamshell box is reasonably priced (roughly 3.50 per CD) and the new Stereo Remasters 'rock' right across the seven-album board. Let's get into the Gris-Gris and the Gumbo Ya Ya...

UK released 15 September 2017 (22 September 2017 in the USA) - "The Atco Albums Collection" by DR. JOHN on Rhino/Atco 081227933876 (Barcode 081227933876) is a 7CD Clamshell Box Set of New Remasters that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "Gris-Gris" (33:27 minutes):

1. Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya [Side 1]

2. Danse Kalinda Ba Doom

3. Mama Roux

4. Danse Fambeaux

5. Croker Courtbullion [Side 2]

6. Jump Sturdy

7. I Walk On Gilded Splinters

Tracks 1 to 7 are his debut album "Gris-Gris" (credited to Dr. John The Night Tripper) - released January 1968 in the USA on Atco SD 33-234 (Stereo) and in the UK on Atco 588 147 (reissued June 1972 on Atlantic K 40168). Musicians included Steve Mann on Guitar, Plas Johnson on Saxophone, Lonnie Boulden on Flute, Ernest McLean on Mandolin, Bob West and Harold Battiste on Bass and John Boudreaux on Drums

Disc 2 "Babylon" (37:19 minutes):

1. Babylon [Side 1]

2. Glowin'

3. Black Widow Spider

4. Barefoot Lady

5. Twilight Zone [Side 2]

6. The Patriotic Flag-Waiver

7. The Lonesome Guitar Strangler

Tracks 1 to 7 are his second studio album "Babylon" (credited to Dr. John) - released January 1969 in the USA on Atco SD 33-270 (Stereo) and April 1969 in the UK on Atco 228 018 (Stereo).

Disc 3 "Remedies" (40:44 minutes):

1. Loop Garoo [Side 1]

2. What Goes Around Comes Around

3. Wash, Mama, Wash

4. Chippy, Chippy

5. Mardi Gras Day

6. Angola Anthem [Side 2]

Tracks 1 to 6 are his third studio album "Remedies" (credited to Dr. John The Night Tripper) - released April 1970 in the USA on Atco SD 33-316 (Stereo) and August 1970 in the UK on Atco 2400 015.

Disc 4 "The Sun Moon & Herbs" (39:25 minutes):

1. Black John The Conqueror [Side 1]

2. Where Ya At Mule

3. Craney Crow

4. Familiar Reality-Opening [Side 2]

5. Pots On Fiyo (Filé Gumbo) / Who I Got To Fall On (If The Pot Get Heavy)

6. Zu Zu Mamou

7. Familiar Reality-Reprise

Tracks 1 to 7 are his fourth studio album "The Sun Moon & Herbs" (credited to Dr. John The Night Tripper) - released August 1971 in the USA on Atco SD 33-362 (Stereo) and November 1971 in the UK on Atco 2400 161. Guest Musicians included - Graham Bond, Chris Mercer, Bobby Keys, Jim Price and The Memphis Horns on various Horns, Steve York of The Graham Bond Organization on Bass, Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels of Stephen Stills' Manassas on Congas and Bobby Whitlock (of Derek & The Dominoes) with Doris Troy on Backing Vocals. Charted October 1971 and eventually peaked at No 184 on the US LP charts.

Disc 5 "Dr. John's Gumbo" (39:50 minutes):

1. Iko Iko [Side 1]

2. Blow Wind Blow

3. Big Chief

4. Somebody Changed The Lock

5. Mess Around

6. Let The Good Times Roll

7. Junko Partner [Side 2]

8. Stack-A-Lee

9. Tipitina

10. Those Lonely Lonely Nights

11. Huey Smith Medley: (a) High Blood Pressure (b) Don't You Just Know It (c) Well I'll Be John Brown

12. Little Liza Jane

Tracks 1 to 12 are his fifth studio album "Dr. John's Gumbo" [aka "Gumbo"] - a collection of cover versions (as Dr. John) released April 1972 in the USA on Atco SD 7006 and July 1972 in the UK on Atlantic K 40384. It peaked at No. 112 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 6 "In The Right Place" (33:43 minutes):

1. Right Place Wrong Time [Side 1]

2. Same Old Same Old

3. Just The Same

4. Qualified

5. Traveling Mood

6. Peace Brother Peace

7. Life [Side 2]

8. Such A Night

9. Shoo Fly Marches On

10. I Been Hoodooed

11. Cold Cold Cold

Tracks 1 to 11 are his sixth studio album "In The Right Place" (as Dr. John) - released February 1973 in the USA on Atco SD 7018 and March 1973 in the UK on Atco K 50017. With Allen Toussaint, The Meters and Art Neville of The Neville Brothers as guest musicians (Toussaint also Produced) - the album peaked at No. 24 in the USA LP charts.

Disc 7 "Desitively Bonaroo" (37:15 minutes):

1. Quitters Never Win [Side 1]

2. Stealin'

3. What Comes Around (Goes Around)

4. Me - You = Loneliness

5. Mo's Scoious

6. (Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away

7. Let's Make A Better World [Side 2]

8. R U 4 Real

9. Sing Along Song

10. Can't Git Enuff

11. Go Tell The People

12. Desitively Bonaroo

Tracks 1 to 12 are his seventh studio album "Desitively Bonaroo" (as Dr. John) - released April 1974 in the USA on Atco SD 7043 and March 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 50035. Produced by and featuring Allen Toussaint (also wrote "Go Tell The People") - The Meters were once again the Backing Band and the LP peaked at No. 105 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

I've always had a hard time with the "Gris-Gris" debut album - a lot of mumbo to me at the time and unfortunately large parts of it still feel that way. But what hammers you here is the New Remaster - it elevates everything. The Harold Battiste part-instrumental "Crocker Courtbullion" for instance that opens Side 2 is suddenly 'huge' - all that mad conga-and-flute voodoo rhythm swirling around your speakers like you're inside a bird menagerie where someone has handed out tablets to the canaries and birds of prey. Having lived with old variants of "Jump Sturdy" - this 2017 version feels alive like it never did before and the stunning "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" is fantastic in all its 7:40 minute magnificence. All those finger-clicks, conga slaps, plaintive flutes and girly chants jump out of your speakers with gutter 'malice'. Fabulous stuff...

Apart from "Barefoot Lady" which was a co-write with Producer Harold Battiste - Dr. John fully-penned the 2nd album "Babylon" and again the 2017 Remaster really has lifted the LP up into another league. The 'represented in the Bible' "Babylon" roars into existence as does the 'yes it is' of "Glowin'" - guitars and horns so clear. Dr. John gets heavy on "Black Widow Spider" - his fuzzed-up guitars and odd rhythms sounding not unlike Captain Beefheart. Other highlights include the acoustic guitars of "Barefoot Lady" - pianos and cymbals tingling in the eight-minute "Twilight Zone" and the almost Allman Brothers gee-tar of the album finisher "The Lonesome Guitar Strangler" - a strange hybrid tune of strummed mandolins, Jazz rhythms and an instrumental guitar-break that features a few moments of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love".

Although it was probably his most commercially accessible album – 1970's "Remedies" was more of a New Orleans homage than the full on invention of Swamp-Rock, Bayou-Funk and Psych-Fusion that came from the earlier outings. "Chippy, Chippy" sounds like its title - a piano upbeat bopper - but like "What Goes Around Comes Around" already feels slightly old-hat somehow. Side 2 of the record is taken up by 17:35 minutes of the driving "Angola Anthem" - a track that acts like Side 1 never happened. Politics, anger, racing 'shoot you just for fun' rhythms suddenly make the album feel righteous and real (and the Remaster is fantastic too – drums, tambourines, voices, guitar flicks). By the time we get to LP number four in 1971 The Night Tripper seemed to have reclaimed some of his Gris-Gris mojo. Cool tunes like the sexy yet bullish "Where Ya At Mule" and the Sgt. Pepper sleaze-rhythm of "Craney Crow" (harking back to "I Walk On Gilded Splinters") showed he could still hit you with that crazy groove that’s hard to explain. All those famous session names too (many British) add to the two parts of "Familiar Reality" - but my rave-crave is the nuts Tuba shuffle of "Zu Zu Mamou" sounding fantastic when those acoustic guitars slink in. The girls singing of somebody ripping out your mind – he whispers of street lights – she burns candles – snake eggs - time to visit the doctor methinks. "The Sun Moon & Herbs" album should have done better than its lowly No. 184 showing on the American LP charts.

His cover versions album "Dr. John's Gumbo" has always been seen as a filler - a strangely odd thing in the spring of 1972. But amidst the obvious Professor Longhair and Ray Charles tracks ("Tipitina" and "Mess Around") - there are more obscure goodies - stuff like his own 1960 song "Somebody Changed The Lock" and James Wayne's "Junko Partner" which The Clash would revisit on the 1980 triple-album "Sandinista!" And the four Huey "Piano" Smith covers (three in a medley plus the album’s final song "Little Liza Jane") are great fun to my ears.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer fans (of all people) owe the album name to their heroes' fifth LP "Brain Salad Surgery" to lyrics Keith Emerson heard in the opening track "Right Place Wrong Time". Perhaps more importantly the presence of The Meters as the Doctor's rhythm section along with major contributions from song-masters Allen Toussaint and Art Neville of The Neville Brothers seemed to bring out both the Funk and Soul in the Mac. There's a lovely overall feel to everything on the LP "In The Right Place" (one of my faves). Even better is the 2017 Remaster - which is just gorgeous and suddenly full of beans. Take the piano and brass intro to the champagne and soda pop equality song - "Qualified" - a co-write with Jesse Hill, an old friend of Professor Longhair and Huey Smith and the writer of the New Orleans R&B classic "Ooh Poo Pah Doo". It feels huge as the girls sing the song title with passion – his whistling intro to "Traveling Mood" is the same. The album gets Aretha Funky and 1973 Righteous with "Peace Brother Peace" - a call to peaceful arms all over this world. Allen Toussaint's distinctive vocals can be heard in his lone song contribution to the album - the father-father look what they done "Life" - a cool groover. "Shoo Fly Marches On" is another hot-in-the-slot shuffler with the single "Cold Cold Cold" ending the album on a mid-paced high (I thought I was your something special, he bemoans).

For album number seven – the wittily titled "Desitively Bonaroo" – Dr. John used the same ace team in 1974 as he had in 1973 – The Meters, Art Neville and Allen Toussaint – and threw out another Soul-Funky doozy. Highlights include the right-on, right-on "(Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away" and the every body sing "Let’s Make A Better World". Funk lovers will dig the slow and sexy groove of (the pre Prince song-title) "R U 4 Real" and the drop-down cool bass-line of "What Comes Around (Goes Around)" with its lovely brass fills. A rare moment of pain comes in the slow drag of "Me – You = Loneliness" where Mac recalls places he can’t go anymore – I’d suggest this album isn’t one of them. For me after the scrappiness of the first few albums - "Desitively Bonaroo" ends the box set on a high.

Yet despite the pretty repro artwork, the perceived cool of the man and the truly excellent upgraded audio on titles that have too long languished in the reissue nether world – I've never thought Dr. John's actual music catalogue on Atco a long litany of masterpieces that some claim it is (hence the four stars).

But make no splintered mistake - this is a fantastic and reasonably priced 'dip in and enjoy' Box Set - and The Night Tripper deserves no less.

"I Been Hoodooed" baby – and frankly "Mama Roux" - I like it...