The N&G Listening Club V1 - Archive only

Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya is the stand out track for me so far. The bass line is so laid back. I can imagine Mama Roux will show up on a 4th of July playlist in the near future (singing about the red, white and blue). Jump Sturdy feels like it belongs in some type of Disney movie. It really brings cohesiveness to the album though, tying together the stand alone tracks with the abstract (Danse Kalinda Ba Boom (totally hear Tune-Yards in this) & Croker Courtbullion) and making the entire effort feel like a story. Good pick. I'm interested in getting this on vinyl...seems like it would be a great way to experience it.
 
Crenshaw Blvd said:
Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya is the stand out track for me so far. The bass line is so laid back. I can imagine Mama Roux will show up on a 4th of July playlist in the near future (singing about the red, white and blue). Jump Sturdy feels like it belongs in some type of Disney movie. It really brings cohesiveness to the album though, tying together the stand alone tracks with the abstract (Danse Kalinda Ba Boom (totally hear Tune-Yards in this) & Croker Courtbullion) and making the entire effort feel like a story. Good pick. I'm interested in getting this on vinyl...seems like it would be a great way to experience it.
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Disney came up in my mind too! I think it was Croker Courtbullion that did it.
 
Crenshaw Blvd said:
Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya is the stand out track for me so far. The bass line is so laid back. I can imagine Mama Roux will show up on a 4th of July playlist in the near future (singing about the red, white and blue). Jump Sturdy feels like it belongs in some type of Disney movie. It really brings cohesiveness to the album though, tying together the stand alone tracks with the abstract (Danse Kalinda Ba Boom (totally hear Tune-Yards in this) & Croker Courtbullion) and making the entire effort feel like a story. Good pick. I'm interested in getting this on vinyl...seems like it would be a great way to experience it.
Click to expand...


Actually I could see the whole thing getting the Tim Burton treatment.
 
I'm just about to start my second spin... this is my first time listening to it.

This has been one of those records that has always been on my radar. I remember first encountering it when I was sixteen and flipping through Rolling Stone's first crack at their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Like most people who had a copy of that issue, there was a scramble on my part to tally up what I had heard, what I owned, and what I needed to buy (all CDs, of course. In fact, I remember my copy of the magazine came with an SACD sample disc).

I never scooped this one up. I honestly think a lot of my decision had to do with the album artwork. Like any good sixteen year old, I was into the Smiths and other melancholic-new-wave-new-romancer-is-communism-a-good-idea?-type music. Indeed, late-60s smoky psychedelic projections complete with bubble letter font didn't seem to visually appeal to me, so there was no way in hell I'd like whatever was on the disc.

That was half my life ago, and I'm pleased to say I'm (slightly) more open-minded now. The album is solid, but the artwork is still debatable to me. I don't think it aligns with the music at all.

Yeah, yeah, yeah don't judge a book by its cover, I know. However, I find artwork to be especially important to the listening experience. I want the artwork to tell me what I'm about to hear. And before you jump all over me for this, let me remind you that you're probably the same. I can almost guarantee that being able to hold the album artwork in your hands is one of the reasons you buy vinyl in the first place. Artwork is important.

So what do you think, folks? Is the artwork any good? Is there a difference between "good" and "iconic" artwork? Do you think it matches up with the music? If not, what would you change?

Hmmm…
 
I just wanted to chime in and say this is my favorite Dr John album and thanks for bringing it to more people’s attention. It’s a psychedelic classic and truly a one of its kind album.

If you are interested in getting it on vinyl, the Speakers Corner version is the best in my own experience. I had a first pressing that sounded great too but was noisy and they are next to impossible to find in clean condition. The Jackpot mono is good too but sounded ever so slightly boxed in. For the life of me, I couldn’t tell a difference between the songs on stereo and mono releases besides the mono having that sound be more boxed in (it is supposedly a dedicated mix). I’ll have to sit down and critically listen sometime. The stereo has good space KG did a fantastic job.

If you are interested in checking out more Dr John, get Gumbo. It’s a collection of New Orleans standards and probably his most popular album. It’s completely different than the psychedelic swamp music of Gris Gris and awesome party music.
 
DataBase said:
I'm just about to start my second spin... this is my first time listening to it.

This has been one of those records that has always been on my radar. I remember first encountering it when I was sixteen and flipping through Rolling Stone's first crack at their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Like most people who had a copy of that issue, there was a scramble on my part to tally up what I had heard, what I owned, and what I needed to buy (all CDs, of course. In fact, I remember my copy of the magazine came with an SACD sample disc).

I never scooped this one up. I honestly think a lot of my decision had to do with the album artwork. Like any good sixteen year old, I was into the Smiths and other melancholic-new-wave-new-romancer-is-communism-a-good-idea?-type music. Indeed, late-60s smoky psychedelic projections complete with bubble letter font didn't seem to visually appeal to me, so there was no way in hell I'd like whatever was on the disc.

That was half my life ago, and I'm pleased to say I'm (slightly) more open-minded now. The album is solid, but the artwork is still debatable to me. I don't think it aligns with the music at all.

Yeah, yeah, yeah don't judge a book by its cover, I know. However, I find artwork to be especially important to the listening experience. I want the artwork to tell me what I'm about to hear. And before you jump all over me for this, let me remind you that you're probably the same. I can almost guarantee that being able to hold the album artwork in your hands is one of the reasons you buy vinyl in the first place. Artwork is important.

So what do you think, folks? Is the artwork any good? Is there a difference between "good" and "iconic" artwork? Do you think it matches up with the music? If not, what would you change?

Hmmm…
Click to expand...
I would agree that the artwork isn't spectacular...but I do think it is fitting for the album. It sounds like this record was a work in progress with shifts in plans (who is the lead singer) etc. The album art likely was impacted (maybe VMP was in charge of that album art too?). But even though it isn't spectacular, I do think it is pretty fitting when looking at and listening to the piece now. It is spooky...and cheesy and gives off an essence of something spiritual coming from within. I don't currently knock the art...but I could totally see how tough it would be to market this album...especially if it was something new conceptually in the marketplace.
 
DataBase said:
I'm just about to start my second spin... this is my first time listening to it.

This has been one of those records that has always been on my radar. I remember first encountering it when I was sixteen and flipping through Rolling Stone's first crack at their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Like most people who had a copy of that issue, there was a scramble on my part to tally up what I had heard, what I owned, and what I needed to buy (all CDs, of course. In fact, I remember my copy of the magazine came with an SACD sample disc).

I never scooped this one up. I honestly think a lot of my decision had to do with the album artwork. Like any good sixteen year old, I was into the Smiths and other melancholic-new-wave-new-romancer-is-communism-a-good-idea?-type music. Indeed, late-60s smoky psychedelic projections complete with bubble letter font didn't seem to visually appeal to me, so there was no way in hell I'd like whatever was on the disc.

That was half my life ago, and I'm pleased to say I'm (slightly) more open-minded now. The album is solid, but the artwork is still debatable to me. I don't think it aligns with the music at all.

Yeah, yeah, yeah don't judge a book by its cover, I know. However, I find artwork to be especially important to the listening experience. I want the artwork to tell me what I'm about to hear. And before you jump all over me for this, let me remind you that you're probably the same. I can almost guarantee that being able to hold the album artwork in your hands is one of the reasons you buy vinyl in the first place. Artwork is important.

So what do you think, folks? Is the artwork any good? Is there a difference between "good" and "iconic" artwork? Do you think it matches up with the music? If not, what would you change?

Hmmm…
Click to expand...

I dig the artwork. I like how it’s one of those ambiguous images, with the hair forming a face off to the side. It puts the viewer into a mind-altering game of mind. It leans into the more scary spiritual aspects rather than skulls and swamps and “mystic strange black people” tropes that are usually stereotypically associated with voodoo. I like that it’s not cliche, and it does seem to market itself well to...people that might stay up late in smoke filled rooms, if you get my meaning.
 
supahypeag said:
I dig the artwork. I like how it’s one of those ambiguous images, with the hair forming a face off to the side. It puts the viewer into a mind-altering game of mind. It leans into the more scary spiritual aspects rather than skulls and swamps and “mystic strange black people” tropes that are usually stereotypically associated with voodoo. I like that it’s not cliche, and it does seem to market itself well to...people that might stay up late in smoke filled rooms, if you get my meaning.
Click to expand...

Crenshaw Blvd said:
I would agree that the artwork isn't spectacular...but I do think it is fitting for the album. It sounds like this record was a work in progress with shifts in plans (who is the lead singer) etc. The album art likely was impacted (maybe VMP was in charge of that album art too?). But even though it isn't spectacular, I do think it is pretty fitting when looking at and listening to the piece now. It is spooky...and cheesy and gives off an essence of something spiritual coming from within. I don't currently knock the art...but I could totally see how tough it would be to market this album...especially if it was something new conceptually in the marketplace.
Click to expand...

Interesting that you both nod to the spooky element of the artwork... this is what I don't like about it. It is definitely spooky, but I don't find the music particularly spooky? What am I missing?
 
DataBase said:
Interesting that you both nod to the spooky element of the artwork... this is what I don't like about it. It is definitely spooky, but I don't find the music particularly spooky? What am I missing?
Click to expand...
I found myself planning a Halloween party in my head while listening to it. For me, it feels like the music and sounds that would be coming out from the open windows of a cabin you stumble upon deep in the woods in the middle of the night.
 
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