Dr. John | |
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 Dr. John at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. |
| Also known as |
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| Born | (1941-11-20)November 20, 1941 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | June 6, 2019(2019-06-06) (aged 77) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1950s–2019 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | nitetripper |
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage nameDr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combinedNew Orleans blues,jazz,R&B,soul andfunk.[1]
Active as asession musician from the late 1950s until his death, he gained a following in the late 1960s after the release of his albumGris-Gris (1968) and his appearance at theBath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music (1970). He typically performed a lively, theatrical stage show inspired bymedicine shows,Mardi Gras costumes, andvoodoo ceremonies. Rebennack recorded thirty studio albums and nine live albums, as well as contributing to thousands of other musicians' recordings. In 1973, he achieved a top-10 hit single with "Right Place, Wrong Time".
Rebennack was born inNew Orleans, Louisiana, on November 20, 1941.[2][3] He was the son of Dorothy (née Cronin) and Malcolm John Rebennack, and had German, Irish, Spanish, English, and French heritage.[4][5] His father ran an appliance shop in the East End of New Orleans, fixing radios and televisions and selling records.[6] Growing up in the3rd Ward of New Orleans, he found early musical inspiration in theminstrel show tunes sung by his grandfather and a number of aunts, uncles, sister, and cousins who played piano. He did not take music lessons before his teens and endured only a short stint inchoir before getting kicked out.[7] When Rebennack was a young boy, his father exposed him to jazz musiciansKing Oliver andLouis Armstrong, who later inspired his 2014 release,Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch. Throughout his adolescence, his father's connections enabled him access to the recording rooms of rock artists, includingLittle Richard andGuitar Slim. Later he began to perform in New Orleans clubs, mainly on guitar, and played on stage with various local artists.[8]
When he was about 13 years old, Rebennack metProfessor Longhair. Impressed by the professor's flamboyant attire and striking musical style,[7] Rebennack soon began performing with him, and began his life as a professional musician.[8] He later recalled that his debut in the studio, in about 1955 or 1956, came when he was signed as a songwriter and artist by Eddie Mesner atAladdin Records. He joined the musicians' union at the end of 1957, with the help of Danny Kessler, and then considered himself to be a professional musician.[9]
At age 16, Rebennack was hired byJohnny Vincent as a producer atAce Records.[9] There, he gained experience working with many artists, includingJames Booker,Earl King, andJimmy Clanton. While a struggling student atJesuit High School, he was already playing in night clubs, something theJesuit fathers disapproved of. He formed his first band, The Dominoes, while at the school.[10] The priests told him to either stop playing in clubs or leave the school. Rebennack was expelled from the high school in 1954[11] and from then on focused entirely on music.
In late 1950s New Orleans, Rebennack led his own band, Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners, (Paul Staehle/Dennis "Bootsie" Cuquet, drums; Earl Stanley, bass; Charlie Miller, trumpet; Charlie Maduell, sax;Roland "Stone" LeBlanc, vocals), while playing gigs with others, includingFrankie Ford and the Thunderbirds, andJerry Byrne and the Loafers. His first (co-written) rock and roll song "Lights Out" (1957), sung byJerry Byrne, was a regional hit.[10] He had a regional hit with aBo Diddley-influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959. AtA&R, he and Charlie Miller recordedmonophonic singles on 45s for Johnny Vincent and Joe Corona for local labels Ace, Ron, and Ric. He oversaw the rhythm section while Miller wrote the horn arrangements and headed up the horns. This continued until Miller moved to New York to study music formally.[12]
Rebennack's career as a guitarist was stunted around 1960,[13] when thering finger on his left (guitar fretting) hand was injured by a gunshot during an incident at aJacksonville, Florida gig.[14][15] After the injury, Rebennack concentrated onbass guitar before makingpiano his main instrument, developing a style influenced by Professor Longhair.[16]
Rebennack became involved in illegal activities in New Orleans, using and selling narcotics and running abrothel. He was arrested on drug charges and sentenced to two years in theFederal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth. His sentence ended in 1965 and he left forLos Angeles.[17]
Once settled in Los Angeles[8] he became a "first call"session musician in the Los Angeles studio scene in the 1960s and 1970s and was part of"The Wrecking Crew" stable of studio musicians.[16] He provided backing forSonny & Cher (and some of the incidental music forCher's first film,Chastity), forCanned Heat on their albumsLiving the Blues (1968) andFuture Blues (1970), and forFrank Zappa andthe Mothers of Invention onFreak Out! (1966).[16]
As a young man, Rebennack was interested inNew Orleans voodoo, and in Los Angeles he developed the idea of the Dr. John persona for his old friendRonnie Barron, based on the life of Dr. John, aSenegalese prince, conjure man, herb doctor, andspiritual healer who came to New Orleans fromHaiti. This free man of color lived on Bayou Road and claimed to have 15 wives and over 50 children. He kept an assortment of snakes and lizards, along with embalmed scorpions and animal and human skulls, and soldgris-gris, voodooamulets which supposedly protect the wearer from harm.[18][19]
Rebennack decided to produce a record and a stage show based on this concept, with Dr. John serving as an emblem of New Orleans heritage. Although initially, the plan was for Barron to front the act assuming the identity of "Dr. John", while Rebennack worked behind the scenes as Dr. John's writer, musician, and producer, this did not come to pass. Barron dropped out of the project, and Rebennack took over the role (and identity) of Dr. John.[20]Gris-Gris became the name of Dr. John's debut album, released in January 1968, representing his own form of "voodoo medicine".[21]
Beginning in the late 1960s, Rebennack gained fame as a solo artist after adopting the persona of "Dr. John, The Night Tripper". Dr. John's act combined New Orleans-stylerhythm and blues withpsychedelic rock and elaborate stage shows that bordered onvoodoo religious ceremonies, including elaborate costumes and headdress. In 1970, whenHoward Smith asked him where the name "Dr. John the Night Tripper" came from, he responded, "Before that I was Professor Bizarre. Cats used to call me things like "Bishop" or "Governor" or somethin' but they started callin' me "Doctor" for a while, so I just hung it on myself for keeps."[22] On the earliest Dr. John records, the artist billing was "Dr. John, The Night Tripper", while the songwriting credits billed him as "Dr. John Creaux". Within a few years, the "Night Tripper" subtitle was dropped, and Rebennack resumed using his real name for writing and producing/arranging credits.
Gris-Gris, his 1968 debut album combining voodoo rhythms and chants with the New Orleans music tradition, was ranked 143rd onRolling Stone′s "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.[23]Three more albums,Babylon (1969),Remedies (1970) andThe Sun, Moon & Herbs (1971), were released in the same vein asGris-Gris.
During early to mid-1969, Dr. John toured extensively, backed by supporting musicians Richard "Didymus" Washington (congas), Richard Crooks (drums), David L. Johnson (bass), Gary Carino (guitar), and singers Eleanor Barooshian, Jeanette Jacobs fromThe Cake, and Sherry Graddie. A second lineup formed later in the year for an extensive tour of the East Coast with Crooks and Johnson joined by Doug Hastings (guitar) and Don MacAllister (mandolin). The same year, Dr. John contributed to theMusic from Free Creek "supersession" project, playing on three tracks withEric Clapton. Washington and Crooks also contributed to the project.
By the timeThe Sun, Moon, and Herbs was released, he had gained a notable cult following, which included artists such asEric Clapton andMick Jagger, who both took part in the sessions for that album. This album served as a transition from his Night Tripper voodoo, psychedelic persona to one more closely associated with traditional New Orleans R&B and funk. His next album,Dr. John's Gumbo, with drummer Fred Staehle serving as the band's backbone, proved to be a landmark recording and is one of his most popular to this day.
Along withGris-Gris, Dr. John is perhaps best known for his recordings in the period 1972–74. 1972'sDr. John's Gumbo, an album covering several New Orleans R&B standards with only one original, is considered a cornerstone of New Orleans music. In his 1994 autobiography,Under a Hoodoo Moon, Dr. John writes, "In 1972, I recordedGumbo, an album that was both a tribute to and my interpretation of the music I had grown up with in New Orleans in the late 1940s and 1950s. I tried to keep a lot of little changes that were characteristic of New Orleans, while working my own funknology on piano and guitar." The lead single from the album, "Iko Iko", broke into theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart, eventually reaching No. 71. In 2003 the album was ranked number 404 onRolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[24]
WithGumbo, Dr. John expanded his career beyond the psychedelic voodoo music and theatrics which had driven his career since he took on the Dr. John persona, although it always remained an integral part of his music and identity. It was not until 1998'sAnutha Zone that he again concentrated on this aspect of his music wholly for a full album. "After we cut the new record", he wrote, "I decided I'd had enough of the mighty-coo-de-fiyo hoodoo show, so I dumped the Gris-Gris routine we had been touring with since 1967 and worked up a new act—aMardi Gras revue featuring the New Orleans standards we had covered inGumbo."
In early 1973Thomas Jefferson Kaye produced an album featuring a collaboration with Dr. John,Mike Bloomfield andJohn Paul Hammond. This album,Triumvirate, was recorded in Columbia Studios, San Francisco, and Village Recorders, Los Angeles.
In 1973, withAllen Toussaint producing andThe Meters backing, Dr. John released the seminal New Orleans funk albumIn the Right Place. In the same way thatGris-Gris introduced the world to the voodoo-influenced side of his music, and in the manner thatDr. John's Gumbo began his career-long reputation as an esteemed interpreter of New Orleans standards,In the Right Place established Dr. John as one of the main ambassadors of New Orleans funk. In describing the album, Dr. John stated, "The album had more of a straight-ahead dance feel than ones I had done in the past, although it was still anchored solid in R&B."[citation needed] It rose to No. 24 on theBillboard album chart. In July 1973, the single "Right Place, Wrong Time" peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, as well as peaking at No. 19 on theHot Soul Singles chart.[25] A second single, "Such a Night", peaked at No. 42. Still in heavy rotation on most classic rock stations, "Right Place Wrong Time" remains his most recognized song. Artists such asBob Dylan,Bette Midler, andDoug Sahm contributed single lines to the lyrics, which lists several instances of ironic bad luck and failure.
Dr. John attempted to capitalize onIn the Right Place's successful formula, again collaborating with Allen Toussaint and The Meters, for his next album,Desitively Bonnaroo – from part of which aTennessee festival took as its name – released in 1974. Although similar in feel toIn the Right Place, it failed to catch hold in the mainstream as its predecessor had done. It did produce the single "(Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away", which peaked at No. 92 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart, and to date is the last time he hit the Hot 100. It was his last pure funk album until 1994'sTelevision,[26] although like his voodoo and traditional New Orleans R&B influences, funk continued to heavily influence most of his work to the end, especially his live concerts.
In the mid-1970s Dr. John began an almost 20-year collaboration with the R&R Hall of Fame/Songwriters Hall of Fame writerDoc Pomus, to create songs for Dr. John's releasesCity Lights andTango Palace, and for B.B. King's Stuart Levine-producedThere Must Be a Better World Somewhere, which won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording in 1982. Dr. John also recorded "I'm On a Roll" – the last song written with Pomus prior to his death in 1991 – for the now out-of-print Rhino/Forward Records 1995 tribute to Pomus titledTil the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus. The tribute included covers of Pomus-penned songs byBob Dylan,John Hiatt,Shawn Colvin,Brian Wilson,The Band,Los Lobos,Dion,Rosanne Cash,Solomon Burke, andLou Reed. According to Pomus' daughter, Dr. John and her father were very close friends as well as writing partners. Dr. John delivered one of a number of eulogies and performed with singerJimmy Scott at Pomus' funeral on March 17, 1991, in New York City.
On Thanksgiving Day 1976 he performed "Such a Night" at the farewell concert forThe Band, which was filmed byMartin Scorsese and released asThe Last Waltz. In 1979, he collaborated with the legendaryProfessor Longhair on Fess's (another nickname for Henry Byrd) last recording,Crawfish Fiesta, as a guitarist. The album was awarded the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year in 1980 and was released shortly after Longhair's death in January 1980.
By the mid-1970s, Rebennack was focusing on a blend of music that touched on blues, New Orleans R&B,Tin Pan Alley standards, and more. In 1975, his manager, Richard Flanzer, hired producerBob Ezrin, andHollywood Be Thy Name was recorded live at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California.[27] The studio was transformed into a New Orleans nightclub for the sessions. In 1981 and 1983, Dr. John recorded two solo piano albums,Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack andThe Brightest Smile in Town, for theBaltimore-based Clean Cuts label. In these two recordings he played many of his ownboogie-woogie compositions.
Dr. John was also a prominent session musician throughout his career. He provided back-up vocals on theRolling Stones' 1972 song "Let It Loose", and backedCarly Simon andJames Taylor in their duet of "Mockingbird" (fromHotcakes) in 1974, andNeil Diamond onBeautiful Noise in 1976. He also contributed the song "More and More" to Simon'sPlaying Possum album. He played on three songs onMaria Muldaur's 1973 solo debut album, including his composition "Three Dollar Bill". He sang on four songs and played piano on two songs on Muldaur's 1992Louisiana Love Call. He was co-producer onVan Morrison's 1977 albumA Period of Transition and also played keyboards and guitar. He contributed three songs as writer or co-writer ("Washer Woman", "The Ties That Bind", and "That's My Home") and also played guitar and keyboards on Levon Helm's 1977 release,Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars. He performed on the March 19, 1977, episode of NBC'sSaturday Night Live.
He played keyboards on the highly successful 1979 solo debut album byRickie Lee Jones. He toured withWilly DeVille and contributed to his albumsReturn to Magenta (1978),Victory Mixture (1990),Backstreets of Desire (1992), andBig Easy Fantasy (1995). In 1997 he contributed piano and vocals to theSpiritualized song "Cop Shoot Cop" which appears on their album,Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. His music was featured in many films, including "New Looks" inNational Lampoon's European Vacation in 1985 and "Such a Night" inColors in 1988. In 1992, Dr. John released the albumGoin' Back to New Orleans, which included many classic songs from New Orleans. Many great New Orleans–based musicians, such asAaron Neville,the Neville Brothers,Al Hirt andPete Fountain, backed up Dr. John on this album. He also performed as the first American artist at the Franco Follies festival in 1992.
Dr. John's longtime confidant and former personal manager, Paul Howrilla, was responsible for moving Dr. John from Los Angeles to New York and securing "crossover" work, as well as modifying Dr. John's image from the 1970s to the 1990s. Paul Howrilla was the brains behind the scenes, as Dr. John would attest. They remained close friends. Dr. John also provided vocals forPopeyes Chicken & Biscuits' "Luv dat chicken ..." jingle, as well as thetheme song ("My Opinionation") for the early-1990s televisionsitcomBlossom. A version of "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" withHarry Connick Jr. was released on Connick's album20 and VHSSingin' & Swingin' in 1990. Dr. John moved back to Louisiana in 2009.
From the late 1970s to 1991, Dr. John co-wrote over 115 songs with legendaryBrill Building songwriterDoc Pomus. Some of the songs created with Pomus were recorded byMarianne Faithfull,B.B. King,Irma Thomas,Johnny Adams, and others. On March 17, 1991, Dr. John performed "My Buddy" at the funeral for Pomus.
His movie credits includedMartin Scorsese's documentaryThe Last Waltz, in which he joinedthe Band for a performance of his song "Such a Night", the 1978 Beatles-inspired musicalSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, andBlues Brothers 2000, in which he joined the fictional bandthe Louisiana Gator Boys to perform the songs "How Blue Can You Get" and "New Orleans". His version of theDonovan song "Season of the Witch" was also featured in this movie and on the soundtrack. In 1996, he performed the song "Cruella de Ville" during the end credits of the film101 Dalmatians.
He wrote and performed the score for the film version of John Steinbeck'sCannery Row released in 1982. His hit song "Right Place Wrong Time" was used extensively in the moviesDazed and Confused andSahara and the seriesAmerican Horror Story: Coven. Dr. John was also featured in several video and audio blues and New Orleans piano lessons published by Homespun Tapes. Other documentary film scores include the New Orleans dialect filmYeah You Rite! (1985)[28] andAmerican Tongues in 1987.
Between July and September 1989, Dr. John toured in the firstRingo Starr & His All-Starr Band, alongsideLevon Helm,Rick Danko,Nils Lofgren,Jim Keltner,Joe Walsh,Billy Preston,Clarence Clemons and himself of piano, bass and vocals.[29] The tour produced the 1990 live albumRingo Starr and His All-Starr Band.
In 1997, he appeared on the charity single version ofLou Reed's "Perfect Day". In the same year, he played piano on theSpiritualized song "Cop Shoot Cop ...", from their critically acclaimed albumLadies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. FrontmanJason Pierce, a fan of Dr. John's music, reciprocated by guesting on Dr. John's 1998 albumAnutha Zone along with drummer Damon Reece and guitarist Thighpaulsandra. He recorded the live albumTrippin' Live with drummer Herman V. Ernest III, David Barard, bass, Tommy Moran, guitar, trumpeter Charlie Miller, tenorRed Tyler, and baritone saxRonnie Cuber.
In September 2005, he performedBobby Charles' "Walkin' to New Orleans", to close theShelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coasttelethon. This was for the relief ofHurricane Katrina victims, following the devastation of his hometown of New Orleans. In November 2005, he released a four-songEP,Sippiana Hericane, to benefit New Orleans Musicians Clinic,Salvation Army, and the Jazz Foundation of America. On February 5, 2006, he joined fellow New Orleans nativeAaron Neville, Detroit residentAretha Franklin and a 150-member choir for thenational anthem atSuper Bowl XL as part of a pre-game tribute to New Orleans. On February 8, 2006, he joinedAllen Toussaint,Bonnie Raitt,The Edge, andIrma Thomas to perform "We Can Can" as the closing performance at theGrammy Awards of 2006. In 2014 he performed at theNBA All Star Game as didPharrell Williams andJanelle Monáe.
On May 12, 2006, Dr. John recorded a live session atAbbey Road Studios forLive from Abbey Road. His performance was aired alongside those ofLeAnn Rimes andMassive Attack on theSundance Channel in the US andChannel 4 in the UK. He performed the opening theme music to thePBS children's programCurious George, broadcast since 2006.
On July 30, 2006, Dr. John performed asolo piano benefit for New Orleans composer and arrangerWardell Quezergue (King Floyd's "Groove Me") at a New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund benefit at the Black Orchid Theatre in Chicago.[30] Special guestMike Mills ofR.E.M. was in attendance, along with an all-star funk band.
Dr. John performed the theme music to theFox dramaK-Ville. In 2007, he contributed toGoin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, performing "Don't Leave Me This Way". In January 2008, Dr. John was inducted into TheLouisiana Music Hall of Fame. Later, in February, he performed atAll-Star Saturday Night, part of theNBA All-Star Weekend hosted by New Orleans. The same year, Dr. John released his Grammy Award-winningCity that Care Forgot, about Hurricane Katrina's devastation in New Orleans.
In the 2009Disney filmThe Princess and the Frog, Dr. John sang the opening tune, "Down in New Orleans". He reigned as King of theKrewe du Vieux for the 2010New Orleans Mardi Gras season. On May 13, 2010, Dr. John played alongsideThe Roots onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon (episode 246) and was warmly greeted by Jimmy's first guest,Keith Richards. In June 2010, Dr John played at theGlastonbury festival,Shepton Mallet,UK.
Dr. John played keyboards and had a major role in shapingGregg Allman's 2011 albumLow Country Blues, which was produced byT-Bone Burnett.[31] In 2011, he collaborated withHugh Laurie on the song "After You've Gone" on Laurie's albumLet Them Talk. The same year, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and The Meters performedDesitively Bonnaroo at theBonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, as part of the festival's tenth year celebration. The name of the festival was taken from the 1974 Dr. John album,Desitively Bonnaroo. The same year he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along withNeil Diamond,Alice Cooper,Darlene Love andTom Waits.
In 2012, Dr. John releasedLocked Down, a collaboration withDan Auerbach ofThe Black Keys, who produced the record and played guitar on it.[32] The album received very positive reviews for its raw,Afrobeat-influenced sound. TheLos Angeles Times said that it showed Dr. John "exiting a period of relative creative stagnation by creating something magical, the embodiment of everything he's done but pushed in a clear new direction". It won a Grammy Award, as did Auerbach for producing it.[33]
In 2014, Dr. John released aLouis Armstrong tribute album,Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch,[34] on Concord Records USA and Proper Records in Europe. Dr. John described the inspiration of the album as Louis Armstrong coming to him in a dream and telling him "do my music your way". TheLos Angeles Times said, "Tribute albums come and go, but it's a real rarity that can snap a listener to attention like Dr. John's new salute to jazz founding father Louis Armstrong."[35] That spring, "The Musical Mojo of Mac", a New Orleans concert to honor Dr. John, was introduced byBrian Williams and kicked off byBruce Springsteen singing "Right Place, Wrong Time", with Dr. John and an all-star band which included event producerDon Was on bass.
Dr. John recorded "Let 'Em In" in thePaul McCartney tribute albumThe Art of McCartney. "It's a wonder to behold, as the ageless Dr. John re-envisions "Let 'Em In" as a laconic come on, an invitation to party or maybe something more, once a few more glasses have been raised", wrote Something Else. "At the same time, he ends up lacing the song with darker feelings, as well."[36]
Foo Fighters'Dave Grohl interviewed Dr. John about music in the New Orleans-themed episode of theirHBO seriesSonic Highways "(including the hypnotic reveal of Dr. John's given name)", wrote a Decider reviewer.[37]
From 2014 to 2016, Dr. John performed with an alternate band, including at a Hollywood Bowl tribute "Yes We Can Can" for his late friendAllen Toussaint on July 20, 2016. Also performing Allen Toussaint compositions were New Orleans artistsIrma Thomas,Cyril Neville, the bandGalactic, and the Allen Toussaint Band. In 2016, a double album and DVD of the concert,The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: Celebrating Mac and his Music, was released.[38][39][40]
In 2017, Members of Dr. John's band The Gris Gris Krewe with music directorRoland Guerin performed "Right Place Wrong Time" in the video kicking off the 2017NBA All-Star Game. The same year, Dr. John was a headliner on The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Tour with Music DirectorsWarren Haynes andDon Was, reprising his "Such a Night" performance from the original concert and film withThe Band.
The year 2017 also saw his first single "Storm Warning", recorded as a tribute toBo Diddley, featured on theLogan Lucky soundtrack. In April, he joinedJohn Legend (who inducted him into the Rock Hall) andJon Batiste onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and he appeared inTig Notaro's critically acclaimed Amazon TV seriesOne Mississippi.
On November 1, 2017, Dr. John celebrated Mac Month as proclaimed by theNew Orleans City Council in a reception atNapoleon House, and his birthday was proclaimed Dr. John Day in the City of New Orleans for the fact that he "rose to international recognition for his musical funkitude in performing, writing and producing." Louisiana GovernorJohn Bel Edwards also issued a Statement of Recognition to Dr. John for "embodying the culture of the state from New Orleans to the Bayou."
Dr. John's birth date was corrected in 2018 when his hometown newspaper,The Times-Picayune, discovered in their records that he was actually born on November 20, 1941, as opposed to the commonly listed November 21, 1940. He added a year to his age as an underage prodigy with a local hit, so he could get into gigs.[41]
On September 23, 2022,Rounder Records and the Dr. John estate released Dr. John's posthumous country & western albumThings Happen That Way with guestsAaron Neville,Willie Nelson, andLukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. "The New Orleans piano man who embodied the musical mélange of his hometown had the kind of drawly, lived-in voice that only improved with age,"The New York Times wrote. "So Things Happen That Way, Dr. John's final album, recorded the year he died, 2019 - captures him in peak form."[42] The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album in November 2022.[43]
On June 2, 2023, Montreux Jazz Fest and the Dr. John estate releasedDr. John: The Montreux Years, with live performances from 1986 to 2012. "It's a great way to say adieu", statedOffbeat Magazine.[44]
In November 2023,Dr. John: Solo Piano Live in New Orleans 1984 was released by the Dr. John estate and 501 Record Club.[45]
On April 20, 2024,Dr. John: Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya: Singles 1968-1974 was released byOmnivore and the Dr. John estate, on double purple vinyl as a specialRecord Store Day release, and as a CD on April 26, 2024.[46]
In November, 2024,When The Saints Go Marching In Medley was released byMontreux Jazz Festival and the Dr. John estate, as a preview to the digital albumDr. John: Live in Montreux 1986 released to commemorate Dr. John's birthday, Nov. 20.
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According toAllMusic, Dr. John "first became a star by taking the sounds and traditions ofNew Orleans blues,jazz, andR&B and twisting them into new forms".[1]Billboard described him as asoul,funk andboogie-woogie musician who "became a New Orleans musical icon not as a pop star of the present, but as a channeler of those who came before."[47]NPR placed his style withinNew Orleans rhythm and blues.[48]Ultimate Classic Rock said that he was known "for his influential brand ofblues rock".[49] He was also a "majorswamp rock artist", according toAmericana UK.[50]
Dr. John was married three times and toldThe New York Times that he had "a lot" of children.[51]
His first wife was Lydia Crow, with whom he had two children, Craig and Karla. His second wife was Lorraine Sherman, with whom he had three children: Tara, Jessica, and Jennifer. His third wife was Cat Yellen. His children Craig and Jessica predeceased him. He also had a granddaughter, Stephanie, and a grandson named Allen O'Quin who predeceased him.[52]
He had aheroin addiction; however, in December 1989, he completed his final rehabilitation stint with the help ofNarcotics Anonymous, and remained clean for the rest of his life.[53]
On June 6, 2019, Dr. John died of aheart attack.[14] His family announced through his longtime publicist Karen Dalton Beninato that he died at the break of day, and "he created a unique blend of music which carried his hometown, New Orleans, at its heart, as it was always in his heart."[16][54][55]
The winner of sixGrammy Awards, Rebennack was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame by singerJohn Legend in March 2011.[56]
In May 2013, Rebennack received an honorary doctorate of fine arts fromTulane University.[57] His posthumous albumThings Happen That Way was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album in November 2022.[43]
Sources:[62]
Source: from the 2,012 credits listed byAllMusic[71]
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Source:[78]
On Tuesday after John Wirt's article Dr. John's publicist responded -- she said that back in the 50s the musician added a year to his age so he could play in clubs and that 'Mac has rolled with it since his teenage years.'
'He created a unique blend of music which carried his hometown, New Orleans, at its heart, as it was always in his heart' family says of Grammy-winning musician born Malcolm John Rebennack
