AOTW: Dr. John - Tango Palace (SP-740)

[Captain Bacardi]

Dr. John
TANGO PALACE
A&M/Horizon SP-740

Released 1979

Format: Vinyl/Cassette/CD

Produced by Tommy LiPuma and Hugh McCracken

Songs:

• 1. Keep That Music Simple (Giddon Daniels) 3:35
  2. Disco-Therapy (Alvin Robinson/Mac Rebennack) 4:14
  3. Renegade (Mac Rebennack/Gerry Goffin) 3:57
  4. Fonky Side (Mac Rebennack/Doc Pomus) 3:19
  5. Bon Temps Rouler (Mac Rebennack/Doc Pomus) 4:25
  6. Something You Got (Chris Kenner/Antoine Domino) 2:37
  7. I Thought I Heard New Orleans Say (Mac Rebennack/Doc Pomus) 4:26
  8. Tango Palace (Mac Rebennack/Doc Pomus) 4:20
  9. Louisiana Lullabye (Mac Rebennack/Doc Pomus) 4:03

Musicians:

• Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) - Keyboards, Background Vocal (6)
  Abraham Laboriel - Bass
  Steve Gadd - Drums (4, 8, 9), Percussion (3, 5, 6, 7)
  Herman Ernest - Drums (2, 3, 5, 6, 7), Percussion (4, 8, 9)
  Andre Fischer - Drums (1)
  Hugh McCracken - Guitar
  Alvin Robinson - Guitar, Background Vocal (6)
  Fred Staehle - Percussion and Wingertree
  Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
  Neil Larsen - Percussion
  Ronnie Baron - Percussion
  Charlie Miller - Trumpet, Cornet Solo (7)
  Oscar Brashear - Trumpet and Flugelhorn
  Warren Luening - Trumpet and Flugelhorn
  Benny Powell - Trombone
  Herman Riley - Baritone Sax
  Plas Johnson - Tenor Sax, Flute & Clarinet
  Jackie Kelso - Tenor Sax & Clarinet
  Gary Herbig - Tenor Sax Solo (5)
  Larry Williams - Tenor & Alto Sax, Clarinet
  Kim Hutchcroft - Tenor & Soprano Sax
  Background Singers: Petsye Powell, Tami Lynn, Brenda Russell, Ronnie Baron, Jim Gilstrap, Muffy Hendricks, Denise Tramell

Horns Arranged by Harold Battiste and Dr. John

Recorded by Norm Kinney and Al Schmitt at Sound Labs, Hollywood
Assistant Engineers: Linda Tyler and Don Henderson
Mixed by Al Schmitt at Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood
Mastered by Mike Reese at the Mastering Lab, Hollywood
Production Coordinator: Noel Newbolt

Art Direction: Roland Young
Design: Amy Nagasawa
Front Cover Art: Lou Beach
Back Cover Photo: Mark Hanauer (Shot at Merlin McFly's Bar & Grill, Santa Monica, Ca)



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Eh, after hearing (and appreciating, MORE...) City Lights, I picked up one of two still-sealed copies of this...

A "Secondary-Second Time Around Effort", for producer Hugh McCracken, once again at the helm and relocating the production to Sound Labs Recording Studio in Hollywood! "The Good Doctor", Mac Rebennack and the troup ditch the Cocktail Lounge-Jazz Pop, for an almost-return to Dr. John's Rootsier Crescent-City beginnings... Too over-the-top, and all-over-the-place, sound-wise, but some songs have fairly catchy hooks: "Keep that Music Simple", "Bon Temps Rouler", (which is almost like the earlier, "Fire Of Love") and the ballad, "Louisiana Lullabye"... While some songs are the usual "going through the motions": "Tango Palace", "Disco-Therapy" and "Something You Got"... While "Renegade", "Fonky Side" and "I Thought I Heard New Orleans Say", seem to fall a bit in-between...

Sort of an "off-shoot" combo of Dr. John's previous-LP, City Lights and another artist McCracken was producing in L.A. at The Village Recorder, I forgot the name of (think he began with a "T"), but with almost the same musicians here...


Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I'm not all that familiar with Dr. John. This is the only album of his I have, but I have seen him perform on TV. This sounds like a very commercial effort for him, although there are times when his swamp style really kicks in, as on "Fonky Side" and "Bon Temps Rouler". He's got the cream of the crop of studio musicians for his band, and it sounds like it - which may be part of the problem with this album. It's a little too methodical for my liking. Too clean. This should have more of a "dirty" sound to it. It's not a bad album, though.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

TANGLED Palace is more like it...! Mostly "straight-ahead" Jazz-Pop and Dr. John did return to his more "rootsier" approach from his next album, (which I thought was a tribute to Professor Longhair) onward... Thus ending his "contractual obligation" to Horizon, which this seemingly serves as...

Guitarist Hugh Mc Cracken played on Steely Dan albums, too, and probably just thought it appropriate for that kind of thing on those two LP's in Mac Rebbenack's canon, but it just didn't work...

His Jazz stuff, like Bob James, Grover Washington Jr. and Herbie Mann or Larry Weiss (author of "Rhinestone Cowboy", popularized by Glen Campbell) is a little more of where McCracken's guitar work is much more appreciated...


Dave