“Two-Headed Doctor: Listening for Ghosts in Dr. John’s Gris-Gris” by David Toop, Strange Attractor Press, 264 pages
It’s an age-old question: Can we, and furthermore, should we, separate the art from the artist? What do we do about great art by problematic people? Or troublesome art by saintly souls?
Take Dr. John, who is not the first artist that comes to mind when considering the art-versus-artist dilemma. But in his scholarly and spirited “Two-Headed Doctor,” David Toop, a wide-ranging, contemplative English writer and musician with over a dozen books and two dozen albums to his name, begs to differ. Dr. John’s debut album “Gris-Gris,” he claims, is one problematic piece of work…