Dr. John, the night tripper – GRIS-gris album art
Reissue of the original 1968 release by Atco.
GRIS-gris is the debut album by Dr. John, originally released on Atco Records, a sub-label of Atlantic Records, in 1968. The record cover was designed by Marvin Israel, with photography by Raphael. The typeface is Hobo Carousel, a variant of the often ridiculed ATF classic, made at Photo-Lettering, Inc., with contour and horizontal hatching in the upper halves of the letterforms. Hobo Carousel, together with the less flamboyant Outline, Outline Shade, and Contour, was announced by PLINC in 1966.
Atlantic records president Ahmet Ertegün was reluctant to release the record at first, exclaiming “How can we market this boogaloo crap?”. Gris-Gris failed to chart in the United States and United Kingdom. Modern reception of the album has been very positive. […] In 2003, the album was ranked number 143 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. — Wikipedia
On 6 June 2019, Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr. aka the Night Tripper has passed away at 77.
Four of the Hobo variants offered by Photo-Lettering, Inc., as shown in the Alphabet Thesaurus Vol. 3 (1971) on page 379 (rearranged). Hobo Carousel was also used by Craig Mierop for a record cover in 1968. The opposite page in this PLINC catalog presents Eminence, a face that was used for another iconic record cover.
Back cover with liner notes and track list in reversed Helvetica:
My group consists of Dr. Poo Pah Doo of Destine Tambourine and Dr. Ditmus of Conga, Dr. Boudreaux of Funky Knuckle Skins and Dr. Battiste of Scorpio in Bass Clef, Dr. McLean of Mandolin Comp. School, Dr. Mann of Bottleneck Learning, Dr. Bolden of The Immortal Flute Fleet, The Baron of Ronyards, Dido, China, Goncy O’Leary, Shirley Marie Laveaux, Dr. Durden, Governor Plas Johnson, Senator Bob West Bowing, Croaker Jean Freunx, Sister Stephanie and St. Theresa, John Gumbo, Cecilia La Favorite, Karla Le Jean who were all dreged up from The Rigolets by the Zombie of the Second Line. Under the eight visions of Professor Longhair reincannted the charts of now.
First re-pressing from 1972, now with the Atlantic logo on the cover.
