Tag Archives: Harold Battiste

Dr. John: Babylon

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On January 17, 1969, “Atco” label released “Babylon”, the second Dr. John studio album. It was recorded in 1968, at “Gold Star” in Hollywood, and was produced by Harold Battiste.

Personnel:

  • Dr. John – vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion
  • Alvin Robinson – guitar
  • Steve Mann – guitar
  • Ronnie Barron – organ
  • John McAlister – quarter-tone piano, gongs, celesta
  • Richard “Didimus” Washington – guitar, percussion
  • Al Frazier – bass
  • John Boudreaux – drums
  • Jessie Hill – percussion, backing vocals
  • Plas Johnson – saxophone
  • Moe Bechamin – tenor saxophone
  • Shirley Goodman – backing vocals
  • Tami Lynn – backing vocals
  • Harold Battiste – arrangements
  • Stanislaw Zagórski – design

All tracks by Dr. John, except where noted.

  1. Babylon
  2. Glowin’
  3. Black Widow Spider
  4. Barefoot Lady – Dr. John, Harold Battiste
  5. Twilight Zone
  6. The Patriotic Flag-Waiver
  7. The Lonesome Guitar Stranger

Cher: All I Really Want To Do

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On August 16, 1965, “Imperial” label released “All I Really Want to Do”, the debut Cher studio album. It was recorded in 1965, at “Gold Star” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Sonny Bono.

Personnel:

  • Cher – lead vocals
  • Monte Dunn – guitar
  • Jeff Kaplan – guitar
  • Barney Kessel – guitar
  • Steve Mann – guitar
  • Donald Peake – guitar
  • Mike Post – guitar
  • Randy Sterling – guitar
  • Harold Battiste – piano
  • Michel Rubini – keyboards
  • Bill Marx – accordion, keyboards
  • René Hall – bass guitar
  • Cliff Hills – bass guitar
  • Mel Pollan – bass guitar
  • Lyle Ritz – bass guitar
  • Frank Capp – drums
  • Sharkey Hall – drums
  • Jessie Sailes – drums
  • Frank DeVito – percussion
  • Gene Estes – percussion
  • Brian Stone – percussion
  • Julius Wechter – percussion
  • Harold Battiste – arrangements

Track listing:

  1. All I Really Want to Do – Bob Dylan
  2. I Go to Sleep – Ray Davies
  3. Needles and Pins – Sonny Bono, Jack Nitzsche
  4. Don’t Think Twice – Bob Dylan
  5. He Think I Still Care – Dickey Lee Lipscomb
  6. Dream Baby – Sonny Bono
  7. The Bells of Rhymney – Idris Davies, Pete Seeger
  8. Gir Don’t Come – Chris Andrews
  9. See See Rider – traditional, arranged by Sonny Bono, Charles Greene, Robert Stone
  10. Come and Stay with Me – Jackie DeShannon
  11. Cry Myself to Sleep – Mike Gordon
  12. Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan

Sonny & Cher: Look at Us

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On August 2, 1965. “Atco” label released “Look at Us”, the debut Sonny & Cher studio album. It was recorded in 1965, and was produced by Sonny Bono.

Personnel:

  • Cher – co-lead vocals
  • Sonny Bono – co-lead vocals
  • Barney Kessel – guitar
  • Steve Mann – guitar
  • Monte Dunn – guitar
  • Donald Peake – guitar
  • Harold Battiste – piano
  • Don Randi – piano
  • Lyle Ritz – bass guitar
  • Cliff Hills – bass guitar
  • Frank Capp – drums
  • Hal Blaine – drums
  • Gene Estes – percussion
  • Brian Stone – percussion
  • Michel Rubini – harpsichord
  • Harold Battiste Jr. – arrangements
  • Stan Ross – engineer
  • Haig Adishian – design
  • Robert W. Young – photography

Track listing:

  1. I Got You Babe – Sonny Bono
  2. Unchained Melody – Hy Zaret, Alex North
  3. Then He Kissed Me – Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry
  4. Sing C’est la Vie – Sonny Bono, Charles Green, Brian Stone
  5. It’s Gonna Rain – Sonny Bono
  6. 500 Miles – Hedy West
  7. Just You – Sonny Bono
  8. The Letter – Don Harris, Dewey Terry
  9. Let It Be Me – Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë
  10. You Don’t Love Me – Bo Diddley, Willie Cobba
  11. You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me – Smokey Robinson
  12. Why Don’t They Let Us Fall in Love – Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry

Tom Waits: Blue Valentine

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In September 1978, “Asylum” label released “Blue Valentine”, the fifth Tom Waits studio album. It was recorded July – August 1978, at “Filmways/Heider Recording” in San Francisco, and was produced by Bones Howe. The girl pictured with Waits on the back cover was Rickie Lee Jones.

Personnel:

  • Tom Waits – vocals, electric guitar, piano
  • Ray Crawford, Roland Bautista, Alvin “Shine” Robinson- electric guitar
  • Da Willie Gonga (George Duke), Harold Battiste- piano
  • Charles Kynard – organ
  • Scott Edwards, Jim Hughart, Byron Miller – bass
  • Rick Lawson, Earl Palmer, Chip White- drums
  • Bobbye Hall Porter- congas
  • Herbert Hardesty, Frank Vicari- tenor saxophone
  • Bob Alcivar- arrangmemts, orchestra conductor

Track listing:

All tracks by Tom Waits, except where noted.

  1. Somewhere” (From West Side Story) – Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
  2. Red Shoes by the Drugstore
  3. Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
  4. Romeo Is Bleeding
  5. $29.00
  6. Wrong Side of the Road
  7. Kentucky Avenue
  8. A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun
  9. Blue Valentines

Dr. John: Dr. John’s Gumbo

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Drjohnsgumbo

On April 20, 1972, “Atco” label released “Dr. John’s Gumbo”, the fifth Dr. John album. The album is a collection of covers of New Orleans classics, and was produced by Harold Battiste and Jerry Wexler. In 2003, “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked the album at number 402 on its list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Dr. John – vocals, guitar, piano, cornet
  • Shirley Goodman- vocals
  • Tammy Lann – vocals
  • Robbie Montgomery – vocals
  • Jessica Smith – vocals
  • Ken Klimak – guitar
  • Alvin Robinson- guitar
  • Ronnie Barron – vocals, organ, piano
  • Lee Allen- tenor saxophone
  • Harold Battiste- clarinet, saxophone, horn arrangements
  • Morris Bechamin – saxophone
  • Jimmy Calhoun – bass
  • Sidney George – harmonica, saxophone
  • Fred Staehle – drums, percussion
  • Richard Washington – percussion
  • Dave Lastie – saxophone
  • Melvin Lastie – trumpet, cornet
  • John Ewing – trombone
  • Keith Olsen- engineer
  • Tom Wilkes – design, photography
  • Barry Feinstein- design, photography

Track listing:

  1. Iko Iko – James “Sugar Boy” Crawford
  2. Blow Wind Blow – Huey “Piano” Smith, Izzy Cougarden
  3. Big Chief – Earl King
  4. Somebody Changed the Lock – Mac Rebennack
  5. Mess Around – Ahmet Ertegün
  6. Let the Good Times Roll – Earl King
  7. Junko Partner – Bob Shad
  8. Stack-A-Lee – Traditional
  9. Tipitina – Henry Roeland Byrd
  10. Those Lonely Lonely Nights – Earl King,Johnny Vincent
  11. Huey Smith Medley – Huey “Piano” Smith, Johnny Vincent
    • High Blood Pressure
    • Don’t You Just Know It
    • Well I’ll Be John Brown
  12. Little Liza Jane” (Huey “Piano” Smith, Johnny Vincent)

Dr. John: Gris-Gris

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Dr John Night tripper

On January 22, 1968, “Atco” label released “Gris-Gris”, the debut Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) album.  It was recorded in 1967, at the “Gold Star Studios” in Los Angeles, and was produced by Harold Battiste. Magazine “Rolling Stone” ranked “Gris-Gris” at number 143 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Dr. John- vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion
  • Richard ‘Didimus’ Washington – guitar, mandolin, percussion
  • Steve Mann – guitar, banjo
  • Ernest McLean- guitar, mandolin
  • Bob West – bass
  • Harold Battiste – bass, clarinet, percussion, arrangements
  • John Boudreaux – drums
  • Mo Pedido – congas
  • Plas Johnson- saxophone
  • Lonnie Boulden – flute
  • Dave Dixon, Jessie Hill, Ronnie Barron- backing vocals, percussion
  • Joni Jonz, Prince Ella Johnson, Shirley Goodman, Sonny Ray Durden, Tami Lynn- backing vocals
  • Marvin Israel– design

Track listing:

  1. Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya – Dr. John Creaux
  2. Danse Kalinda Ba Doom – Dr. John Creaux and Harold Battiste
  3. Mama Roux – Dr. John and Jessie Hill
  4. Danse Fambeaux – Dr. John Creaux
  5. Croker Courtbullion – Harold Battiste
  6. Jump Sturdy – Dr. John Creaux
  7. I Walk on Guilded Splinters – Dr. John Creaux