"I Walk on Guilded Splinters" (sometimes "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" or "Walk on Gilded Splinters") is a song written by Mac Rebennack using his pseudonym of Dr. John Creaux. It first appeared as the closing track of his debut album '' Gris-Gris'' (1968), credited to Dr. John the Night Tripper. The song has subsequently been performed and recorded by many other musicians, including

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...

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Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

, Marsha Hunt, Johnny Jenkins,

Humble Pie Humble Pie are an English Rock music, rock band formed by Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. They are known as one of the first Supergroup (music), supergroups of the late 1960s and enjoyed success in the early 1970s ...

, King Swamp,

the Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

, the Flowerpot Men,

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

, Tedeschi Trucks Band and

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

Title and origins

According to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the legal title of the song is "I Walked on Guilded Splinters". The original liner notes for ''Gris-Gris'' contained several unconventional spellings, such as "dreged" and "reincannted", and many later versions of the song have used the orthodox spelling "…Gilded…" rather than "…Guilded…". Dr. John stated that the song was based on a traditional voodoo church song. He said: "It's supposed to be 'Splendors', but I turned it into 'Splinters'... I just thought splinters sounded better and I always pictured splinters when I sung it." The New Orleans musician Coco Robicheaux, whose name is called out in the song, said:

"Dr. John, he was very much interested in metaphysics... In voodoo they call the gilded splinters the points of a planet. Mystically, they appear like little gilded splinters, like little gold, like fire that holds still. They’re different strengths at different times. I guess it ties in with astrology, and influence the energy. That's what that's about."

Dr. John recording and reception

The sessions for the ''Gris-Gris'' album took place in the

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California. In its entire history, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded by David S. Gold ...

in Los Angeles, California. The album aimed to combine various strains of New Orleans music. It centered on a character named "Dr. John" who was based on a 19th-century healer called Dr. John Montaine, who claimed to be an African potentate. The musicians mostly originated from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and as well as Rebennack (vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion) included arranger and record producer Harold Battiste (bass, clarinet, percussion), together with Richard 'Didimus' Washington (guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, percussion),

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. () (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s " The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and bar ...

(saxophone), Lonnie Boulden (flute), Steve Mann (guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

), Ernest McLean (guitar, mandolin), Bob West (bass), Mo Pedido (

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

), John Boudreaux (drums), and backing singers who included Jessie Hill, Ronnie Barron, Shirley Goodman and Tami Lynn. Critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

wrote that "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" was "the album's most durable song, a creepy voodoo soup that both smoldered with ominous foreboding and simmered with temptations of sensual delights." Tom Moon of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' described the track as "a masterpiece of vibe that has retained its aura even after being sampled and covered every which way. An ambling processional framed by a simple pentatonic guitar melody, it's everything you want in voodoo music: a feast of pummeling drums, swirling ethereal voices and the patient, mumbled incantations of Dr. John, all coalescing into the sound of a solemn, revelatory ritual." Thom Jurek, at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, also described it as the album's masterpiece, stating:

"Dr. John is brazen about the power of his spells in a slippery, evil-sounding boast. Congas, tom-toms, snaky guitar, and harmonica underscore his juju, while a backing chorus affirms his power like mambo priestesses in unison. A ghostly baritone saxophone wafts through the turnarounds. Droning blues, steamy funk, and loopy R&B are inseparably entwined in its groove."

Later recordings

An edited version of the song was released in 1969 as a promotional single on the

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label by

, produced by

Jerry Wexler Gerald Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integra ...

. It was also included on her album, '' 3614 Jackson Highway''. The ''Gris-Gris'' recordings had been made during studio time originally reserved for

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as rhythm and blues, R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. ...

, and were released on the Atlantic subsidiary label

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

. In the United Kingdom and Europe, a version of the song was released by Marsha Hunt as a single on

Track Records Track Record (a.k.a. Track Records) was founded in 1966 in London by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of the rock group The Who. It was one of the first British-owned independent record labels in the United Kingdom. The most succ ...

in 1969. The recording was arranged and produced by

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, and the single reached number 46 on the UK singles chart. Johnny Jenkins recorded the song as the opening track on his album '' Ton-Ton Macoute!'' (1970), produced by, and featuring, guitarist Duane Allman. It was issued as a single by

Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio fou ...

, and was later sampled by

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

in his 1993 song " Loser". The recording with Jenkins also featured on the Duane Allman album '' An Anthology Vol. II'', released in 1974. Long after Duane Allman's death,

performed the song at their 2004 concert at the Fox Theatre in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, issued as part of their ''Instant Live'' album series. A version of the song lasting over 23 minutes was recorded by

on their live album '' Performance Rockin' the Fillmore'' (1971). The song was also recorded by the band

, accompanied by Dirty Dozen Brass Band for their live album, '' Another Joyous Occasion'' (2000).

recorded the song on his album '' Stanley Road'' (1995).

recorded the song in a 13-minute version on his live album of New Orleans-related soul and rock covers, '' Walk on Jindal's Splinters''. Although the recording itself is a straight cover of the song, Biafra's play on the song title for the album itself refers to Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. The

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock music, rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley (American musician), Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as ...

' recording "Ever South" from their release ''American Band'' (2016) features a rhythm track emulating the original "Gris-Gris" recording. Louisiana native Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne offers an authentic, yet unique spin on the song on his album, ''Thunder Chicken'' (1999) by Papa Mali & The Instagators, on Fog City records. Chicago musician Little Lord Robert uses a refrain from the song's lyrics for "Highway Joe" on his album ''Saint Chicago''. Little Lord Robert sings "till it burns up" in place of "till I burn up". Brit-pop band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentJohnny Jenkins cover into their 2000 hit " Go Let It Out".https://www.whosampled.com/sample/27278/Oasis-Go-Let-It-Out-Johnny-Jenkins-I-Walk-on-Guilded-Splinters/ The song appears in the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

miniseries adaptation of '' Little Fires Everywhere''. The version sung by Paul Weller is played over the montage at the end of Season Four of ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

''.

References

{{authority control 1968 songs Dr. John songs 1969 singles