“Doctor John” (Mac Rebennack) (1941-2019)
“Such a Night” From the movie “The Last Waltz” (1978)
Hero of the battle of New Orleans
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My two Dr. John stories:
I happened to be over at this place in New Orleans (post hurricane, but pre-boom) when “Down in New Orleans,” a song he recorded for the movie “Princess and the Frog,” was nominated for an Oscar. He didn’t win.
His comment: “We got the meyer and the wiener, but not da other thing.”
My arm was in a sling and he ask me what happened.
Mac: “Ken, what happened to your arm, man?”
I told him: “I put my hand somewhere it didn’t belong.”
His answer: Eye brows raised. “Oh.”
The Los Angeles Times said it best: “A chief architect of the New Orleans sound”
I would add: A tireless champion of his city and his fellow musicians.
And of course, hipper than hip.
Full concert – Newport Jazz Fest – August 13, 2006
