Babylon (Stereo - Remastered) Dr. John

• 1 Babylon 05:24
• 2 Glowin' 05:39
• 3 Black Widow Spider 04:14
• 4 Barefoot Lady 03:10
• 5 Twilight Zone 08:17
• 6 The Patriotic Flag Waver 04:56
• 7 The Lonesome Guitar Strangler 05:35
• Total Runtime 37:15

Info for Babylon (Stereo - Remastered)

It’s fair to describe Babylon as a political album, at least compared to Dr. John’s other efforts, but when you consider what was going on in the world at the time, with the war in Vietnam battling for headlines with the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., there were plenty of things on people’s minds that came out through their art.

“It was a heavy time for me,” admitted Dr. John, in his autobiography, Under a Hoodoo Moon. “In its lyrics and music, this album reflects these chaotic days. At times hard-driving, at other times following a deliberately spacy, disorienting groove, Babylon was the band's attempt to say something about the times—and to do it with a few unusual musical time signatures. The lead song, ‘Babylon,’ sets the tone. To a 3/4 and 10/4 groove, it lays out my own sick-ass view of the world then—namely, that I felt our number was up. We were trying to get into something...with visions of the end of the world—as if Hieronymus Bosch had cut an album."

"Our second album was cut in late 1968—the year of the Tet offensive, and of the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a heavy time for me: Not only was the Vietnam War raging in all its insanity, but, as a semioutlaw, I was being pursued by various kinds of heat across L.A. In its lyrics and music, this album reflects these chaotic days. At times hard-driving, at other times following a deliberately spacy, disorienting groove, Babylon was the band's attempt to say something about the times—and to do it with a few unusual musical time signatures. The lead song, "Babylon", sets the tone. To a 3/4 and 10/4 groove, it lays out my own sick-ass view of the world then—namely, that I felt our number was up. We were trying to get into something...with visions of the end of the world—as if Hieronymus Bosch had cut an album."

Dr. John, vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion
Richard "Didimus" Washington, guitar, percussion
Plas Johnson, saxophone
Morris Bachamin, tenor saxophone
Alvin Robinson, guitar
Steve Mann, guitar
John McAlister, quarter-tone piano, gongs, celesta
Al Frazier, bass
John Boudreaux, drums
Ronnie Barron, organ
Jessie Hill, backing vocals, percussion
Shirley Goodman, backing vocals
Tami Lynn, backing vocals

Recorded late 1968 at Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles
Produced by Harold Battiste

Digitally remastered

Dr. John
The legendary Dr. John is a six-time Grammy Award-winning musician and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Known throughout the world as the embodiment of New Orleans’ musical legacy, Dr. John is a true icon in American culture. His colorful musical career began in the 1950s when he wrote and played guitar on some of the greatest records to come out of the Crescent City, including recordings by Professor Longhair, Art Neville, Joe Tex and Frankie Ford.

Dr. John headed west in the 1960s, where he continued to be in demand as a session musician, playing on records by Sonny and Cher, Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin and The Rolling Stones' “Exile On Main St.” During that time he launched his solo career, developing the charismatic persona of Dr. John The Nite Tripper. A legend was born with his breakthrough 1968 album “Gris-Gris,” which introduced to the world his unique blend of voodoo mysticism, funk, rhythm & blues, psychedelic rock and Creole roots. Several of his many career highlights include the masterful album “Sun, Moon and Herbs” in 1971 which included cameos from Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger and 1973’s “In The Right Place,” which contained the chart hits “Right Place Wrong Time” and “Such A Night.”

In addition to his six Grammy wins (1989, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2013), he has received six other Grammy nominations over the years. In 2007 he was nominated for “Sippiana Hericane,” his Hurricane Katrina benefit disc. After Hurricane Katrina Dr. John immediately stepped up to the plate with generous relief fund-raising concerts and recordings. In 2007 he was also inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2008 he released “City That Care Forgot,” winning him a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. His latest album "Locked Down", released in 2012 with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys also won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

In 2013 Dr. John was awarded an honorary doctorate from Tulane University alongside His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Dr. John is currently hard at work completing an album in tribute to Louis Armstrong which is scheduled to be released in July of this year. After a half century of creating music for others and himself, Dr. John continues to write, arrange, produce and interpret with a passion that has yet to wane.

This album contains no booklet.