It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of Dr John, from a heart attack, on the tv news this morning. His passing came as a great shock as he was still in his 70s, not exactly a ripe old age these days.
I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live once, at the Band's 'The Last Waltz' concert in San Francisco in the late 1970s. It was a star-studded event and Dr John, or 'Mac' as he was known to friends, added extra sparkle to the show with a truly wonderful performance of his song 'Such A Night.' That performance is enshrined for all time in Martin Scorsese's movie of the event.
And there's another connection in that my friend and one-time co-producer of Be Bop Deluxe, John Leckie, actually produced one of Dr John's albums a few years ago.
As we've often noted here in the forum, an entire generation of great musicians are being taken from us. There have been so many losses, Prince, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, George Harrison, the list goes on...
It's hard when the musicians you grew up listening to pass away. It's a reminder of our own fragile mortality and the briefness of human life.For creative artists such as myself, it's a stark reminder that there's no time to waste and that the work of bringing music and art into this troubled world is of urgent importance.
Rest in peace, Mac.
He was a very important musician, pianist. and composer. To me he was the epitome of the New Orleans piano style and influenced many. There is nothing like his debut album Gris Gris, which captures the voodoo and magic that is New Orleans: he wrote about what he saw, heard, and felt there.
RIP Dr. John, the Night Tripper.