Dr. John

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Dr. John

Dr. John

Mac Rebennack began his musical career as a guitarist until a hand injury moved him over to piano. It all began in the ‘50s for Dr. John as a teenage guitarist and pianist in the New Orleans R&B scene, eventually following Earl Palmer, Harold Battiste, and other N.O. session players to Los Angeles in the mid-‘60s. And the musical persona Rebennack assumed for much of his solo career- Dr. John Creaux, the Night Tripper- was the product of the collision between Louisiana creole funk and West Coast hippie mysticism. Take, for instance, the way 1968’s Gris-Gris parallels  the imagery of voodoo magic (the historical Dr. John Creaux was proclaimed the King of Voodoo in the 19^th-century New Orleans) into a hallucinatory groove, like on the cut  “I Walk on Gilded Splinters,” which ends up with a sound that draws equally on bayou funk and psychedelic rock. The fusion didn’t always take, of course. 1969’s Babylon quickly dissolves into hippie foolishness, and while 1970’s Remedies has its moments – for instance, the joyous "Mardis Gras Day”- moments just aren’t enough. Dr. John didn’t really hit his stride until he returned to his roots with 1972’s Dr. John’s Gumbo, which offered funky updates of suck classic New Orleans R&B numbers like “Iko Iko,” “Junko Partner,” and Professore Longhair’s classic “Tipitina.” From there, it’s an easy jump to the second-line funk of ‘73’s In The Right Place, which was recorded with the Meters, another legendary New Orleans band. The album contained Dr. John’s only Top 10 single, “Right Place Wrong Time.” There’s more of the same on '74's Desitively Bonnaroo, thanks to the irresistible rhythms of “(Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away” and “Quitters Never Win.” But the voodoo shtick was just that- a gimmick- and eventually Dr. John decided to try a bit of straight-up rock & roll with 1975’s Hollywood Be Thy Name and with 1979’s City Lights he made a bid for light-jazz. Dr. John brought back his skills into focus with 1981’s Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, a solo piano session that brought him back home to the New Orleans piano styling he had cut his teeth on. It’s essential listening, if only for the rollicking “Memories of Professor Longhair.” ‘83’s TheBrightest Smile In Town broadened the the scope some with standards such as “Come Rain or Come Shine," but by the time we got to '89’s In A SentimentalMood, the formula turned into syrupy pop, despite a coy cut: “Makin’ Whoopee.” From there it’s mostly ping-pong, as Dr. John bounced back between light jazz, Mardis Gras revivalism, empty pop, and back to tepid jazz. Of his recent albums you can’t go wrong with 2001’s Creole Moon or 2012’s Locked Down, which was produced by Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. 2014 gave us Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spiritof Satch, which would prove to be Dr. John’s last effort. Unfortunately, Dr. John passed away in December of 2019. Born in New Orleans, and died in New Orleans… his spirit lives on.

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Dr. John