Dr. John, Blues icon and New Orleans legend

Malcolm John “Mac” Rebennack, aka Dr John, New Orleans’ music legend whose gritty voodoo-inspired stage persona and whimsical way of speaking were as beloved in New Orleans as his piano-playing, has died of a heart attack on June 6th. He was 77 years old

As a Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductee, six time Grammy winner, songwriter, composer, producer, and performer, he created a unique blend of music which carried his home town, New Orleans, at its’ heart, as it was always in his heart. 

In recent years, Dr. John became absent from public life, absent from stages including Jazz Fest, which he last played in 2017.

The incomparable pianist hailed from the Third Ward of New Orleans, where his six-decade career in music began. Along with Professor Longhair and James Booker, Dr. John is considered to be one of the city’s most influential piano players (and personalities). With 1968’s ATCO LP Gris-Gris, he launched his acclaimed solo career after working for years as a session musician. From the onset, he introduced himself as more than a virtuosic musician; he imbued his performances with voodoo themes, costumes and theatrical touches that made him a full-fledged character and adopted the Dr. John persona.

In 1973, Dr. John scored a Top Ten hit with “Right Place, Wrong Time,” off his sixth album, In the Right Place. Dr. John won his first GRAMMY in 1989, for “Makin’ Whoopee” with Rickie Lee Jones (Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group). Also in 1989, Dr. John spoke with OffBeat‘s Bunny Matthews.

At the time, he said, “I love the music–that’s the one thing I always love. That’s my fix in life. That’s my one healing maneuver that always works…We’ve got seriously spiritual music coming out of New Orleans. That’s one of the things that I think most people do not get out of what we do here. Just even the syncopation of the funk shit that comes out of New Orleans–it ain’t the same as what they get elsewhere. I mean, it connects but it ain’t the same because we all feel stuff from second line. It makes a huge difference and that one thing–people don’t get that. They not only don’t get it–they don’t want to get it. It’s too subtle for them, first off. They’re used to everything being in their face. The kids choose the hip-hop thing because they’re programmed groups.”

Throughout his recording career, he applied his touch to New Orleans classics like “Big Chief,” “Iko Iko” and “Tipitina.”

Back in 1992, Offbeat interviewed Dr. John who, at the time, was celebrating the release of Goin’ Back to New Orleans, an album which would eventually win the GRAMMY for Best Traditional Blues Album.

His first album, 1968’s aptly-titled “Gris-Gris,” was intended “to keep New Orleans gris gris alive,” he told the magazine. The Mardi Gras, West African and psychadelic chanting sounds were a hit with the long-haired hippies Mr. Rebennack knew in California, and the album ranks on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The album launched a long career in which the Nite Tripper and Mr. Rebennack would converge, most obviously in the man’s New Orleans-centric patois that, when transcribed, may confound an English educator but would delight a listener.

His work garnered no shortage of fans around the world, including his fellow musicians, which prompted opportunities like a performance at The Band’s final concert in 1976 and session work or collaborations with The Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, James Taylor and Carly Simon, Lou Reed, Leon Redbone, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, B.B. King, Ringo Starr, The Black Keys and dozens of others. Mr. Rebennack’s work also been widely sampled, like on Beck’s “Loser” and P.M. Dawn’s 1991 “Comatose,” according to Rolling Stone.

The 1980s saw Mr. Rebennack come to a reckoning point with his addiction to heroin. He told Bomb Magazine in 1990 that he had been on methadone maintenance for about five years and that, in 1989, he’d entered rehab.

“I’m doin’ what I do to try to stay clean. But dope fiend, heroin addict, junkie, the idea’s that I’m recovering from it. And I enjoyed it,” he told interviewer Stanley Moss. “There’s a lot of beautiful sides to life I was missing when I was out there ripping and running. I’m real grateful to be clean again.”

In 1999, Dr. John received OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award in Music and he graced the February 2000 cover of the magazine.

His 2008 album, “City That Care Forgot,” offered his gritty meditations on Hurricane Katrina and the official response to the disaster that wreaked havoc on his hometown.

Dr. John sings “Down in New Orleans” from Disney’s 2009 film “The Princess and the Frog''; Princess Tiana was based on beloved New Orleans chef Leah Chase, who died at age 96 last weekend on June 1.

In his most recent years, Mr. Rebennack partnered with trombonist Sarah Morrow, who served as the art director of his backing band, The Nite Trippers, after moving up from a role in his previous band since 2012, for about three years.

In honor of Mr. Rebennack’s deeply influential well of music, which over the years grew to include nearly three dozen of his own albums, the Saenger Theatre hosted the sold-out “The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: A Celebration of Mac and His Music,” a sold out tribute for and featuring the man himself. Guest artists that night included Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Widespread Panic, Mavis Staples, Terence Blanchard and Jimmie Vaughan.

In 2011, Dr. John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I saw Dr John play at Jazz in Marciac on August 11^th 2015 and his personality & music was so impressive on stage.

In 2016, Mr. Rebennack unveiled a new band, The Gris-Gris Krewe, which replaced Morrow as musical director with Roland Guerin and featured drummer Herlin Riley in its ranks.