- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: DR JOHN RELEASES A NEW ALBUM "A WHOLE NUTHA ZONE"
- Date: 13th May 1998
- Summary: (RTV) DR JOHN SAYING, "IT'S A BOON TO MY LIFE THAT I MEET YOUNG GUYS LIKE SPIRITUALISED GUYS, THEY CALL ME UP TO DO A SESSION AND NEXT THING I KNOW, THEY'RE WORKING ON THE ALBUM WITH ME AND I MEET SUPERGRASS ON A JOOLS HOLLAND TV SHOW AND NEXT THING I KNOW, THEY'RE WORKING ON THE RECORD WITH ME. I HEAR PAUL WELLER'S RECORD OF MY SONG AND THEN SOMEBODY LAYS A BOOTLEG TAPE
- Embargoed: 28th May 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVAB4PBYDSMJD1VCYG6F12EIJ0GW
- Story Text: Voodoo man, sharman, mystic -- whatever description you choose, jazz/blues man Dr John is considered an artist who makes music that is magical.
In January this year, the legendary musician spent eight days at the equally-legendary Abbey Road studios in London recording an album of original songs.
In his newest venture, he was helped by the likes of British legend Paul Weller and his band Spiritualised and would-be legends Supergrass, Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene.
The album "Anutha Zone" is a return to the psychedelic Creole style of works found in his acclaimed 1968 album "Gris-Gris".
"There's something still special about that music to me and there probably always will be," Dr John told Reuters during his most recent visit to London.
Born Mac Rebennack in New Orleans in 1940, Dr John began playing piano aged 6.His first taste of life as a musician came at 14 when he worked as an A and R man at Ace Records.
In those days, his responsibilities included writing the material, hiring musicians, cutting and mastering the records.
During the 60s he worked with Sonny and Cher, Frank Zappa and Phil Spector.The inital "Gris Gris" album which establised the Dr John persona was secretly cut on Sonny and Cher's studio time.
The original Dr John had been a phantom-like New Orleans medicine man in the 19th century.Rebennack, fascinated with the New Orleans variant of vodoo known as gris-gris, adopted the persona.The result was the album "Gris Gris" with its tale of the Night Tripper roaming the streets with his bag of magic remedies in his hand.
More than 30 years in the business has seen Dr John play with everyone from the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan to Eric Clapton and Van Morrison.
His versatility allows him to explore many musical forms and in 1989 he won a Grammy for a duet with Rickie Lee Jones on an album of classics by Cole Porter and others.
He won a second Grammy for "Goin' Back to New Orleans", an album which included a collaboration with the Neville Brothers.
His third Grammy was for a tribute album to blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan.
On his newest work, Dr John is joined by several contemporary British artists, some of whom had worked with him before.
Spiritualised worked with Dr John on their 1997 album track "Cop Shoot Out" and had talked about another collaboration.
They preform on the songs "John Gris" and "Hello God".
Paul Weller and Damon Minchella of Ocean Colour Scene play on "Party Hellfire" and the bitter-sweet ballad "I Don't Wanna Know".
In "Voices in my Head", Dr John jams with members of Portishead, Primal Scream and Supergrass.
Of those "voices", Dr John says: "It's the ones that never shut up in my head, you know.That's one reason I play music is to shut them up." In the words of many seeking to sum him up, you can take the man out of New Orleans but you can't take the New Orleans out of the man.
"Anutha Zone" is out on June 15. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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