Trader John's Crawfish Soiree

This double CD collection consists of two hard to find albums, Trader John's and Crawfish Soiree, previously released on the Australian AIM label in 1998 and 1996 respectively. Crawfish Soiree includes demo versions of songs which Dr. John chose for his 1965 debut in Los Angeles, the album Zu Zu Man. Most of the music on that album was Dr. John in boogie-woogie, R&B mode but Zu Zu Man, a version of which is included here, augurs the voodoo feel and textures of his 1968 cult classic Gris Gris album. Although the performances are not perfect, they capture these Dr. John obscurities in pure and raw form. Crawfish Soiree is a compilation of rare and unreleased 70s studio recordings. The Blue Label version is digitally remastered with greatly improved sound quality and is housed in deluxe fold out packaging including historical notation on Dr. John by Martin Celmins.