Happy 50th Birthday to Gris-Gris and Dr. John

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of one of the all time great albums and the birth of a rock and roll icon. January 22nd 1968 Gris Gris was released and the world was introduced, for the first time to Dr. John.

While the world may have heard some music from session musician Mac Rebennack. they had never experienced anything from Dr. John, The Night Tripper. Mac (who was 27 at the time) was inspired by his sister to create this character tying him into New Orleans voodoo lore while he was stuck in LA, and the rest is rock and roll hall of fame history.

Seven years ago we went deep on the album for NYPL so we are not going to rehash those thoughts, we just want to take a moment to celebrate the man and his music, which was lively from the jump.

Today it is especially cosmic because tomorrow the best festival in the country, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival announces its lineup for 2018 and we hope to catch the good doctor yet again down south.

Until then enjoy some tunes from one of the coolest, oddest, and transportive debut albums of all time:




And the grand finale with help from Duane Allman: