Battiste and Rebennack assembled a group of New Orleans exiles in the studio, and the result was the 'voodoo rock' album Gris-Gris, a recording unlike anything recorded either before or since. The record utilized layered percussion and, on some tracks, two basses as well as guitar. There wasn't a lot of keyboard on the album, although Mac did do some organ work. It featured weird and spooky songs, with chanting, that created images of an imaginary New Orleans and put Dr. John out front as a hip medicine show barker selling his philosophy and potions. Especially strange was the final track, "Walk On Guilded Splinters", an incantation that was simultaneously exhilirating and scary. Weirdly enough, Cher covered this track on the sessions for her 3614 Jackson Highway Album. When Ahmet Ertegun heard Gris-Gris, an album recorded on the sly that he hadn't even known about and seemingly with no commercial potential, he went crazy and said he would not release the album, but changed his mind and released it to an unsuspecting public. What no one knew was that the psychedelic music happening at the time had prepared people for just this type of thing, and Gris-Gris managed to become an underground hit.

A couple more psycho-voodoo albums followed. Babylon's cover featured the Doctor with a mop helmet and a table leg scepter and sold poorly. The third album, Remedies went deeper into New Orleans musical styles, but was delivered by John's manager to the record company before it was completed. Mac fired his manager in London as they were about to begin recording a new album, and he was left with nothing but a drummer. The rock community rallied around him as Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, and a plethora of studio hands arrived to assist in the sessions. A pretty good album, titled The Sun, the Moon and Herbs resulted. Unfortunately, it was not a commercial success and left Dr. John deeply in dept with a career that was sputtering.

GUMBO & METERMEN

With assistance from Jerry Wexler from Atlantic Records, Dr. John moved in a more traditional direction, performing a number of the down-home songs that he remembered from his early life in the Crescent City. The result was the album Gumbo, which charted in Billboard and included renditions of "Tipitina", Earl King's "Those Lonely Nights", "Iko Iko" and a Huey Smith medley. Mac dropped the exotic trappings of the Dr. John hoodoo persona and embarked on a major tour of Europe and the United States, his career at an all-time high.

Mac had always worked with authentic New Orleans musicians and saw no reason to change things now, so he called in the best-Allen Toussaint. They decided to work with Toussaint's Sea-Saint Studio house band, The Meters. Comprised of guitarist Leo Nocentelli, Art Neville (of the Neville Brothers) on organ, George Porter Jr. on bass, and drummer Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste, The Meters backed up nearly every major R&B recording artist to work at Sea-Saint Studio, much as Booker T. and the MG's did at Muscle Shoals. The Meters recorded their own numbers, mostly instrumentals (though there are some great vocal sides) in the time between sessions. They released a number of successful 45 rpm sides and heavily influenced a number of soul, R&B, and rock groups through the late '60s and early '70s. Though they recorded some great LPs as well, many of these have been unavailable for some time due to legal wrangling. The group continues to work today as the Funky Meters.

The first album released as a result of this collaboration was 1973's In The Right Place, which spawned the top ten hit "Right Place, Wrong Time". Mac toured with the Meters and Professor Longhair, playing sold out shows in London and Paris as appearing at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The following year Dr. John, Toussaint, and The Meters returned to the studio to record the followup album, Desitively Bonaroo. Despite the lack of a hit along the lines of "Right Place, Wrong Time", Bonaroo is actually a stronger album, a real classic that stands the test of time. It has even been said that Desitively Bonaroo is the best Meters album ever released, and they do play a crucial role in defining the album's sound and feel. In addition, Mac was writing very well at this time, penning most of the tracks for In the Right Place and Desitively Bonaroo. Having made his name originally as a songwriter, it must have been gratifying for Rebennack to finally have the opportunity to record his music himself just the way he had seen others recording in the glory days of Cosmo's studio. The New Orleans Mac had known growing up and learning the ropes of the music business may have been gone, but Mac had succeeded in recreating much of the feel and sound of that time and place with his band of exiles in Los Angeles.

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