Dr. John

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Dr. John
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Storied musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dr. John—Mac Rebennack—will release Locked Down, a startling album that marks a significant departure from his recent efforts, on April 3, 2012. The new album, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, will be Dr. John's first for Nonesuch Records.

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Storied musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dr. John—Mac Rebennack—will release Locked Down, a startling album that marks a significant departure from his recent efforts, on April 3, 2012. The new album, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, will be Dr. John's first for Nonesuch Records.

It’s an entirely new approach for the iconic Dr. John, featuring as it does his collaboration with Auerbach and a band of young musicians Auerbach hand-picked to make Locked Down at his studio Easy Eye Sound in Nashville. "It was way cool cutting this record with Dan and the crew he put together for it," says Rebennack. "It's reel HIP."

For his part, Auerbach says about the collaboration: "Mac inspired me every single day we were in the studio together: musically, spiritually, cosmically ... something special seemed to be happening and everyone involved could sense it. For my money, Mac's one of the greatest who ever was and who ever will be ... I'm so honored to have had this opportunity to work with him."

Auerbach, a long-time fan of the influential musician, dubbed “the Night Tripper” in the late 60s, visited Dr. John late in 2010 in his hometown New Orleans, announcing his ambition to produce "the best record you've made in a long time." Rebennack replied that he had done his research—his children had told him good things about The Black Keys—and the conversation led to an agreement to collaborate on the 2011 Bonnaroo Jam being curated by Auerbach.

That performance—called by New York Times critic Ben Ratliff in his best-of-the-year list “deep and oozy, close-to-the-vest, low-frequency funk”—confirmed that something unusual was taking place and led to September recording sessions in Nashville. Dr. John returned to Nashville at Thanksgiving to complete the vocals and Locked Down was mixed by Auerbach and completed in early 2012.

Dr. John died on June 6, 2019, at the age of 77.

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Latest Release

  • April 3, 2012

    Storied musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dr. John—Mac Rebennack—releases Locked Down, a startling album that marks a significant departure from his recent efforts. The new album, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, is an entirely new approach for the iconic Dr. John, featuring as it does his collaboration with Auerbach and a band of young musicians Auerbach hand-picked to make Locked Down at his Nashville studio. "Full of muscled, vintage R&B grooves, fevered soloing, psychedelic arrangements and oracular mumbo jumbo," says Rolling Stone, "it's the wildest record he's made in many years." Dr. John, says NPR, "proves that now, as always, he's the ruler of American roots music." Grammy Award winner for Best Blues Album.

Releases

News

  • July 12, 2021

    Dan Auerbach will make his directorial debut in a documentary feature about Dr. John, aka Mac Rebennack. RadicalMedia has announced its partnership with Auerbach for the project, which will tell a story about the storied musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who died in 2019, and his impact in music and on the culture. Auerbach, who produced Dr. John's 2012 Grammy-winning Nonesuch album, Locked Down, says: "I’m still learning bits about him that I never knew, and I hope the movie provides a lens into the story of the life of Dr. John."

  • January 29, 2021

    A remastered, expanded edition of the 2005 benefit album Our New Orleans is available for the first time on vinyl and digitally now. The new version includes five previously unreleased tracks by Davell Crawford, Buckwheat Zydeco and Ry Cooder, Dr. Michael White, Dr. John, and The Wardell Quezergue Orchestra featuring Donald Harrison. To date, $1.5 million has been raised from the 2005 release to benefit the New Orleans Habitat Musicians’ Village.

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About Dr. John

  • Storied musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dr. John—Mac Rebennack—will release Locked Down, a startling album that marks a significant departure from his recent efforts, on April 3, 2012. The new album, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, will be Dr. John's first for Nonesuch Records.

    It’s an entirely new approach for the iconic Dr. John, featuring as it does his collaboration with Auerbach and a band of young musicians Auerbach hand-picked to make Locked Down at his studio Easy Eye Sound in Nashville. "It was way cool cutting this record with Dan and the crew he put together for it," says Rebennack. "It's reel HIP."

    For his part, Auerbach says about the collaboration: "Mac inspired me every single day we were in the studio together: musically, spiritually, cosmically ... something special seemed to be happening and everyone involved could sense it. For my money, Mac's one of the greatest who ever was and who ever will be ... I'm so honored to have had this opportunity to work with him."

    Auerbach, a long-time fan of the influential musician, dubbed “the Night Tripper” in the late 60s, visited Dr. John late in 2010 in his hometown New Orleans, announcing his ambition to produce "the best record you've made in a long time." Rebennack replied that he had done his research—his children had told him good things about The Black Keys—and the conversation led to an agreement to collaborate on the 2011 Bonnaroo Jam being curated by Auerbach.

    That performance—called by New York Times critic Ben Ratliff in his best-of-the-year list “deep and oozy, close-to-the-vest, low-frequency funk”—confirmed that something unusual was taking place and led to September recording sessions in Nashville. Dr. John returned to Nashville at Thanksgiving to complete the vocals and Locked Down was mixed by Auerbach and completed in early 2012.

    Dr. John died on June 6, 2019, at the age of 77.