Dr. John Death

Nobody knows the name Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., but if you know music (and have good taste in music), you surely know the name Dr. John. He was more than just the hit “Right Place, Wrong Time.”

The first time I ever saw him was in the early ‘90s as part of Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band. He was relegated to just a few of his songs, but it was great. Since that time, I had seen him live three times. He always put on an amazing show, but always looked so sick. Two times I met him before the shows and had him sign an album. One of those times, I had two records. He was with a gorgeous woman, and walking with a cane and wearing a flashy purple suit. He said, “I hope you don’t mind, but...I’m not going to sign that one album, because it’s a bootleg.’

A buddy of mine has seen Dr. John about 25 times, and has even flown multiple times to New Orleans to see him in his hometown.

The “Night Tripper” got some fame in the late ‘60s, but mostly backing people up. The piano player from New Orleans that will always be more famous is Fats Domino, but this fat dude with the gravelly growl won many of us over.

Apparently, the last few years he’s laid low, and was in failing health. He was 77 when the fatal heart attack hit.

He had talked about his heroin addiction. And, in a terrific documentary on songwriter Doc Pomus (Save the Last Dance For Me, Surrender), you see clips of him producing a record for Dr. John, and he talks about him going to the bathroom to shoot up.

This guy was so talented, he ended up on Disney soundtracks (his contributions to “The Princess and the Frog” were the only thing good about that movie), and a Muppet was created in his likeness (Dr. Teeth).

Most people don’t know that he started out as a guitarist, but during a barroom brawl, he was shot in the hand, damaging a finger. He then switched to piano. It turned out to be the best loss of a finger in music history (no offense to Jerry Garcia or Django Reinhardt).

He started as a back-up musician, claiming he wasn’t a singer. Someone told him Bob Dylan was making it, and...if Sonny and Cher can make hits and can’t sing (who he backed up). So he decided to give it a go.

Rolling Stone named his debut album “Gris-Gris” one of the 500 best albums of all time (the song “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” was always a treat to hear live).

He had a hit with Rickie Lee Jones (Chuck E.’s in Love) with “Makin’ Whoopee!”

Dr. John finally made it into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 (with one of the least talented to make it in -- Neil Diamond). But it’s cool that he went in with Leon Russell.

The Black Keys singer and producing whiz Dan Auerbach produced his “Locked Down” record after that, which scored him his 6th Grammy.

He’s performed at a Super Bowl, and at the White House. It’s a shame he didn’t perform at the White House with Donald Trump in office, because Dr. John is the only person with weirder stuff on his head than Trump (oh come on, I kid). But his headdresses and outfits were something.

He’ll be missed, but his music lives on (in our record collections) forever.

Tags: Dan Auerbach, Doc Pomus, Dr. John, Fats Domino, Rickie Lee Jones, Rolling Stone 500 albums, The Black Keys

3 members like this

Comment by Paul on June 6, 2019 at 6:55pm: Dan Auerbach produced one of his albums in 2012 called locked down.

Comment by BallroomDays67 on June 6, 2019 at 7:04pm: According to Ray Manzarek, he and Jim Morrison attended a Dr. John show at the Whisky.

Comment by Paul on June 6, 2019 at 7:09pm: Wow.

Comment by Josh Board on June 6, 2019 at 9:56pm: That's interesting, Ballroom. I knew Jim went to a CCR show once, and a Stones show. My favorite story was an old dude I met at a party, who said he was at an Eric Burdon/Animals show, I think at the Whiskey. There was a guy in the crowd he was sure was Morrison, but his friend said, "Nah, it can't be. That dude is old and has a beard." Well, near the end, Burdon called out his friend "Jim Morrison" and he came to the stage, and they did a blues song together.

Regarding Dan Auerbach, I was lucky enough to meet the Black Keys before one of their shows. The drummer was chainsmoking, and neither of them wanted to talk to me much. I kept talking, and they just looked at me. But hey...they signed my album and CD

Comment by Paul on June 6, 2019 at 9:59pm: The Dan auerbach production is too hip for the old dr John fans.

Comment by BallroomDays67 on June 6, 2019 at 10:56pm: Josh, there’s a great pic from that performance, which also included Blues Image.

Comment by Paul on June 6, 2019 at 11:54pm: Bd post the pic, thanx.

Comment by BallroomDays67 on June 7, 2019 at 9:52am: You can see it here, Paul: http://mildequator.com/performancehistory/concertinfo/unscheduled/6...

Comment by Josh Board on June 7, 2019 at 7:57pm: Thank you SO MUCH for posting that photo. I so wish I knew the person that said that. They would LOVE to have a copy of it. Imagine...you were at this concert, sitting next to jimbo, before he's called out on stage!