It was, by design, the opposite of what Steve Marriott experienced as the leader of the Small Faces: this was heavy, improvised blues rock where live moments trumped the studio. Contemporary bands like Widespread Panic continue the tradition.The original Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore was one of the classic double-live albums of the '70s: a two-LP set from a band that had yet to have a hit but were earning a reputation as in-concert monsters, grinding out a living on a circuit that brought them from coast to coast in America. Humble Pie recorded a famous version for “Performance Rockin the Fillmore” while more recently Paul Weller, the Allman Brothers and Little Feat featured it in concert. “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” remains a favorite among musicians. The singer-pianist has gone on to a long and prolific career as a signature New Orleans R&B/pop/jazz artist. The voodoo haze lifted over the years but the name Dr. John growls and spits out this prediction of doom for his tormentors: A couple of female backup singers complete the call and response. The Night Tripper seems to be placing a curse or praying for vengeance. John summoned up the Dark Continent with the song’s humid and primal conga beat. Ginger Baker and his Air Force often get credit for bringing true African music into rock, but two years earlier Dr. John entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2011. John was in his element, since he had a longtime heroin addiction. The song takes almost a minute to end, as if the singer were drifting off into a dream state, or perhaps emerging from a trance. John showed the hippies how it’s done: “Guilded Splinters” (aka “Gilded Splinters”) slithers and flow-times its way across 7 minutes and 43 seconds. ![]() Is that singer really calling out “Did I murder” over and over? Have some mo’ gumbo spiked with acid.Īt a time when psychedelic-tinged bands favored longer and longer songs, Dr. Certainly it found favor with the psychedelic drug users, who flirted with some seriously bad trips. Indeed, 20th century legend has it that “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” has proved authentic enough to be used in New Orleans voodoo rituals. John’s own seductive-yet-menacing growl was like a psychedelic voodoo ceremony invading your living room. The blend of druggy deep blues, incantational background vocals, exotic mandolin and banjo trills, ritualistic percussion, interjections of free jazz, and Dr. Here’s Richie Unterberger in his “Gris-Gris” liner notes for a CD rerelease: The stage was set for narcotic rhythms, and sounds suited to the soundtrack of “I Walked With a Zombie.” ![]() John would do his Night Tripper bit performing in robes and with elaborate Mardis Gras headdresses. John came from the mid-1800s, belonging to a potions brewer and voodoo practitioner, who may or may not have had some link to Rebbenack’s family. Gris-gris refers to a voodoo spell or amulet. ![]() with a group of fellow New Orleans expatriates, notably Harold Battiste. John’s debut LP “Gris Gris,” a concept album built around the Night Tripper character. ![]() The Night Tripper’s brew of voodoo rhythms, New Orleans R&B and psychedelic sounds produced at least one etched-in-vinyl masterpiece: the frightfully mysterious “I Walk on Guilded Splinters.” In 1968, the veteran New Orleans record producer and songwriter Mac Rebbenack caught the psychedelic bug and started performing under the name Dr.
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