RIP Dr. John

I never even followed the dude all that much, but what I knew about him I liked. The NPR story about him the other day had an amazing quote that I will try to take to heart: "There is the spirit world and the meat world, and you got to stay in constant understanding of the two."

Mac's Boogie

When i first became aware of Dr John, i thought he had kind if a corny schtick. And maybe it was at the time, but as I got more into New Orleans music, it became apparent that the guy really was the soul of the city. A walking encyclopedia of N'Awlins music and culture. A huge legacy, but apart from that he made a ton of fun records that will help you, as they say down there, "pass a good time."

Happy I managed to see him 4 years ago when he played in my city. I had been in a period where I had some Dr. John needs that were not being met and boy, was his timing great! A fun show but you could tell he was in fragile health [needed help getting onstage, etc.] even then. Considering his prodigious drug usage, he seemed to have lasted a fair span of time. "Under a Hoodoo Moon: The Life of the Night Tripper" his 1995 autobio is pretty wild!



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Dr. John was my first Austin City Limits taping, years before I worked for the show. He was supporting the Goin' Back to New Orleans album, which I was a freak for at the time. A mind-blowing show.

At the end, this roly-poly, (what seemed to me at the time) old man got up from his piano bench and boogied his way back and forth across the stage, acknowledging the band and the audience and generally being the coolest guy in the room. He then boogied his way off stage left. (You can see a clip of that at the bottom of the ACL post about his death here.) As I watched that clip, I felt like I was watching him boogie off this mortal coil. It made me weepy.

I have many Dr. John records. He carved a unique path for himself as avatar and extension of New Orleans music. There will never be anyone else like him.