Search - Dr John :: Dr John & His New Orleans Congregation

New Orleans weirdness (or is that redundant?)

Dr. Memory | rural Illinois | 07/24/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Let's all kneel at the altar with the congregation and give thanks for these nuggets of R&B. Now rise and turn to #7 in your hymnal, "Down the Road". Having sung that, a few words. This hymnal isn't all gems. But there's enough to make it worth an R&B fan's while. The production throughout is often reminscent of U.S. Bonds' compressed-sound records, which is a good thing. And some songs stand out. "Storm Warning" is a fast instrumental with Dr. John's doomy, muscular, heavily reverb'd guitar and a honkin' bari sax break. "Bad Neighborhood" is a stitch; tongue planted firmly in cheek, Ronnie Barron proclaims the neighborhood bad because "Junior fired a slingshot/Through the church window." "Down the Road" is a snare-drum-fired second-line shuffle that'll make you cry, it's so funky. Earl King's "Let the Good Times Roll" is likely the version that inspired Jimi to record it on "Electric Ladyland". "Chick-A Wa Wa" has marvelously stoopid lyrics and Bobby Marchan singing out the top of his head. "Rock" is a blast of funk from early Lee Dorsey and his creamy/gritty vocals. The rest, while not great, is never mediocre thanks to the solid bands the good Dr. assembled. Now, congregation, let's rise once more and sing: "We did the rock and roll till late that night/She said, 'Hey there daddy, turn out the lights.'/Well, I didn't know what was all about/So I backed right back and began to shout/Chick-a wa/Chick-a wa wa wa.""