For those unaware, Dr. John, also known as The Night Tripper, is a musical high priest of voodoo rock. Born Malcolm Mac John Rebennack Jr. on November 20th, 1941, in New Orleans (USA), he is a six-time Grammy Award winner and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

OK, that’s enough by way of introduction; everything else is music history. It began in 1968 with the release of his first album, Gris-Gris (Atco Records), a sometimes eerie-sounding mixture of voodoo spells, rhythm and blues, and Creole soul music. With his colorful and picturesque stage performances, he stylized himself as Dr. John (Creaux) the Night Tripper, becoming an icon of psychedelic rock.

Dr. John’s true love, however, was the blues influenced by his hometown of New Orleans. He collaborated with numerous blues musicians such as Charles Brown and roots rocker Willy DeVille, as well as jazz musicians such as Maria Muldaur and Bennie Wallace, and rock musicians such as Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.

He also appeared in Martin Scorsese’s film The Last Waltz, a film adaptation of Bob Dylan and The Band’s farewell concert, as well as in the film Blues Brothers 2000.

On July 9th, 1999, Dr. John performed at the Loreley as part of a Rockpalast festival. He was accompanied by three outstanding session musicians: David Barard (bass), Bobby Broom, and Herman Ernest (drums). The set list included Dr. John classics such as Iko, Iko, Right Place, Wrong Time, and I Walk On Guilded Splinters, which became a global hit in 1969 in Marsha Hunt’s version and was later covered by Cher, Humble Pie, and the Neville Brothers, among others.

This DVD+CD Rockpalast recording is a moving legacy of the extraordinary musician and human being Dr. John, who passed away in the summer of 2019 in his beloved hometown of New Orleans.

CD: 1999
1. Iko Iko
2. Qualified
3. I Walk On Guilded Splinters
4. Soulful Warrior
5. I’m Gonna Go Fishin’
6. Sweet Home New Orleans
7. Right Place, Wrong Time
8. Such A Night
9. Goin’ Back To New Orleans
10. Mama Roux
11. Big Chief

The set opens on a bright and cheerful Iko Iko before we are gifted the rhythmically pleasing Qualified, the jangled, percussion-hued, at times melodiously atmospheric I Walk On Guilded Splinters, the R&B and blues-jazz imbibed Soulful Warrior, and then we get brought forth the upbeat and funkily churned I’m Gonna Go Fishin’.

Along next is his emotively cultured Sweet Home New Orleans and a gloriously hipswayed Right Place, Wrong Time and they are backed seamlessly by the lushly sculpted, smooth as silk Such A Night, a highly impassioned Goin’ Back To New Orleans, the set rounding out on the guitar driven funk of Mama Roux, coming to a close on the free flowing musical majesties of Big Chief.

The DVD features all the same tracks and showcase an artist, nay a band not only having a great time live, but a collective musicianship that was at the top of its game back in 1999 at Rockpalast.

Musicians:
Mac Rebennak (Dr. John)
Bobby Broom
David Barard
Herman Ernent

Official DVD+CD Purchase Link