A forensic investigation into a single LP: Dr. John, the night
tripper's Gris-gris.
Two-Headed Doctor is a forensic investigation into a single LP: Dr.
John, the night tripper's Gris-gris. Though released in 1968 to poor
sales and a minimum of critical attention, Gris-gris has accumulated
legendary status over subsequent decades for its strangeness, hybridity,
and innovative production. It formed the launch pad for Dr. John's image
and lengthy career and the ghostly presence of its so-called voodoo
atmosphere hovers over numerous cover versions, samples, and
re-invocations. Despite the respect given to the record, its making is
shrouded in mystery, misunderstandings, and false conclusions. The
persona of Dr. John, loosely based on dubious literary accounts of a
notorious voodooist and freed slave, a nineteenth-century New Orleans
resident known as Doctor John, provided Malcolm "Mac" Rebennack with a
lifelong mask through which to transform himself from session musician
in order to construct a solo career.
Somewhere between puzzle, experimental rhythm, blues disguised as rock,
and elaborate hoax, Gris-gris was a collaborative project between
Rebennack and producer/arranger Harold Battiste (at the time musical
director for Sonny & Cher). A few brief sessions held at Gold Star
Studios in Los Angeles brought together many of New Orleans' finest
musicians, including Shirley Goodman, John Boudreaux, Plas Johnson,
Jessie Hill, Ernest McLean, and Tami Lynn. Along with their complex
histories, the cast of characters implicated in the story includes
Ornette Coleman, Lafcadio Hearn, Zora Neale Hurston, Cher, Sonny Bono,
Sam Cooke, Ishmael Reed, Black Herman, Prince La La, and many others.
The story details in discursive style the historical context of the
music, how it came together, its literary sources, production and
arrangements, and the nature of the recording studio as dream state, but
also examines as a disturbing undercurrent the volatile issue of race in
twentieth-century music, the way in which it doomed relationships and
ambitious projects, exploited great talents, and distorted the cultural
landscape.
