Dr. John - Such A Night - Classic Blues Videos
solo performance in 1981
Dr. John performs "Such A Night" solo in 1981.
Artist BIO:
Malcolm John Rebbenack, Jr. was born November 21, 1940 in New Orleans,
Louisiana and fell in love with music from an early age. By the time he
was in his teens Rebbenack was performing locally but his concentration
at the time was the guitar. Malcolm performed locally with his own
band, Mac Rebbenack and the Skyliners, as well as Frankie Ford and the
Thunderbirds and Jerry Byrne and the Thunderbirds. During this period
Mac was involved in a fight in which he defended his band mate Ronnie
Barron and suffered a gun shot wound to his left ring finger and this
ended his career as a guitar player. Things have a way of working out
for the best and Rebbenack began playing bass and piano but soon it was
clear that piano would be his thing and he cites Professor Longhair as a
major influence.
It didn't take long for Mac to establish himself on piano which shows
just how incredibly talented the man is. In the 1960s he moved to Los
Angeles and did a lot of studio work on piano for the stars including
Sonny and Cher and Canned Heat including their album "Living the Blues"
in 1968. Rebbenack began perfoming solo in the 1960s as well and his
strong New Orleans influence started coming out in more than just his
music and Malcolm John Rebbenack, Jr evolved into Doctor John, the Night
Tripper which was influenced in part by a very powerful and legendary
Louisiana voodoo priest of the early 1800s named Dr. John. Dr. John
released his first album in 1968 entitled "Gris-Gris" which remains a
classic to this day and followed that up with "Babylon" in 1969,
"Remedies" in 1970 and "The Sun, Moon and Herbs" in 1971 where he was
joined by Mic Jagger and Eric Clapton. Also in the 1970s the Dr.
recorded his first hit single, "Iko Iko" on the album "Dr. John's Gumbo"
and it made Billboards Top 40 in 1972. John followed this up with
another hit album that established him as the ambassador for New Orleans
music in 1973 with "In The Right Place" which was produced by Allen
Toussaint and backed by The Meters and this one rose to #24 on the
Billboard Album Charts.
In 1979 Dr. John recorded with his idol, Professor Longhair shortly
before he passed, on the album "Crawfish Fiesta" which won the W.C.
Handy Blues Album of the Year in 1980. In the midst of his own the Dr.
worked in the studio for such artists as The Rolling Stones, Neil
Diamond, Carly Simon and James Taylor, Van Morrison, Rickie Lee Jones,
Lou Reed, Harry Connick Jr. and Willy DeVille. Dr. John has also done
quite of bit of work with film in his career including composing the
score for "Cannery Row" in 1982 and appears in such films as "Blues
Brothers 2000", "The Last Waltz" and his music appears in many, many
more. Some of John's more recent albums of note include "Sippiana
Hericane" in 2005 to benefit the victims of Katrina, "Mercernary" in
2006, "The City That Care Forgot" in 2008 and "Tribal" in 2010. There
is so much of his music to check out but it is so worth it.
Dr. John leaves an incredible legacy that it still being formed as we
speak as an ambassador of New Orleans and it's music and one greatest
Blues piano players ever to live. Just a few of the honors received by
him include being elected into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008
and five Grammy Awards. Every time I listen to Dr. John play that piano
it stirs my soul, makes my body move and shake and my heart race.
Thank you Dr. John for sharing your gifts with us and may you continue
to for a long time coming.
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