Dr. John - Remedies

8.5 - USA - 1970

After the comparatively out-there efforts of his first two albums, Remedies is more of a return to Dr. John roots. The thick voodoo stew of Gris-Gris and Babylon is replaced with a leaner sound more in line with traditional New Orleans r’n’b. Though they lack the otherworldly experimentation of those earlier records, the songs on this one are tighter and more fully-formed. The recording quality is a bit better, too, perhaps due to the efforts of the great Tom Dowd as one of the album’s co-producers. The drums on “Loop Garoo”, for example, are beautifully recorded (and played), and keep the simmering groove floating along while still building up a lingering, possibly supernatural tension. “Chippy, Chippy” is another highlight and includes some wonderful ivory tinkling from the good Doctor.

While Side 1 closes with an extended, eight minute celebration of “Mardi Gras Day” that brings the listener along in its joyous parade, the entirety of Side 2 is occupied by the dark counterpoint of the harrowing “Angola Anthem”. Inspired by Dr. John’s own troubles with the law as well as the experiences of friends who had passed through the notorious Louisiana prison farm, the seventeen minute long bad trip with its clinking chain-like percussion and malevolent imprecations about kangaroo courts and prisoners being told to shoot other prisoners has got to be one of the most evil-sounding things ever  committed to tape. Whereas I always felt that the similarly evil “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” was a bit of carnival huckstering – like a fun-fair ghosthouse – “Angola Anthem” is the real thing and has to be heard to believed.