66 - The Whigan Daily Weekend Agazine - Thursday, Januarl, 1999
Dr. John prescribes hot New Orleans medicie
The Michigan Sly Weekend Ma
Verhoeven, Anderso
DVD fans with two
Louisiana-based act
brings his bag of tricks
and hits to Detroit.
By Chris Kula
Daily Arts Writer
While he may not be a
practicing physician, Dr.
John is a licensed master of
the tradition-rich sound of
New Orleans. The stage is
his operating room, the
piano his instrument, the
grooving masses on the
dance floor his loyal
patients. And this Saturday,
the good doctor makes a
house call to the Majestic
Theater in Detroit.
For more than 30 years,
Dr. John has been the
Dr.
Theater{
Saturd
,1
Crescent City's musical ambassador
to the world. After releasing 20
albums, touring various nations
throughout the globe and perform-
ing in front of thousands, Dr. John's
trademark combination of smoky
blues, rollicking jazz and Creole
swamp funk continues to evolve,
bringing the sultry feel of his
Louisiana roots to new heights.
Born Mac Rebennack in New
Orleans in 1941, Dr. John found
himself surrounded by music from
an early age. His family members
all played instruments and, living in
the city's Third Ward, he was
exposed to the infectious second-
line rhythms of the parade bands
that marched through the neighbor-
hood. As a teen-ager, Mac would
hang around nearby recording stu-
dios, eventually befriending such
famous purveyors of the New
Orleans piano style as
Professor Longhair, Huey
Smith and James Booker
John At age 16, Mac began
working as a session gui-
Majestic tarist at J&M Studios,
, Detroit recording with the artists
ay, 8 p.m. that he had grown up idol-
izing. He quit school in
the IIth grade to pursue
music as a career. By the
early '60s he held the
duties of songwriter, pro-
ducer and session musi-
cian for a number of New
Orleans record labels.
A few years later, Mac relocated
to Los Angeles, where he played on
the records of many performers,
most notably Sam Cooke and Bobby
Darin. Then, in 1968, he released
"Gris-Gris," his first album under
the adopted persona of Dr. John.
The record was rooted heavily in his
native New Orleans culture yet
mixed elements of the burgeoning
psychedelic rock movement. It was
the first among many instances in
which Dr. John has defied genre.
His 1971 album, "Sun, Moon and
Herbs," featured guest appearances
by Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger.-
certified superstars then, as well as
now - and furthered his appeal
among the rock audience. "Gumbo,"
Dr. John's 1972 release, was a soul-
ful tribute to his Creole upbringing
and contained a number of classic
New Orleans standards.
In what was probably the sagest
move of his career, Dr. John teamed
up with the one of the world's
funkiest bands, The Meters, to
record his 1973 album, "In the
Right Place." Produced by New
Orleans studio wiz Allen Touissant,
"Right Place" emerged as the most
commercially successful of Dr.
John's solo projects. Driven by the
Meters' funkalicious rhythms, the
record spawned a pair of hit singles
and remains a blues-funk gem to
this day.
Following another collaboration
with the Meters, 1974's "Desitively
Bonnaroo," Dr. John cut back on his
solo efforts and worked as incredi-
bly prolific session player, backing
a diverse collection of artists rang-
ing from James Taylor and Carly
Simon to Van Morrison and B.B.
King.
In 1989, after nearly a decade-
long hiatus from releasing an
album, Dr. John signed with Warner
Bros. Records and put out the excel-
lent "In a Sentimental Mood,"
which won the good doctor his first
Grammy award.
Recently, Dr. John has traversed a
variety of musical directions. His
1992 album, "Goin' Back to New
Orleans," is a celebration of the
lively Mardi Gras lifestyle of the
city and features an all-star collec-
tion of musicians from the Big Easy.
His subsequent project with the
late jazz drummer Art Blakey,
"Bluesiana Triangle," follows along
the same slinky vein. "Afterglow,"
his 1995 disc, finds Dr. John lead-
ing a neo-big band/orchestra, tick-
ling the ivories atop a mellow
palette of lush string arrangements
and brassy horn swells.
In his latest recording venture,
1998's "Anutha Zone," Dr. John
teamed up with a number of musi-
cians from the underground Brit-
pop scene to create an album that
combines his signature sound with
the ambient textures of some of
Great Britain's most creative artists.
Guests such as the very talented
band Spiritualized, Paul Weller,
Clive Deamer of Portishead and
members of Supergrass lend their
atmospheric stylings to the Creole
mix. Once again, Dr. John has
infused the inherently buoyant
nature of his New Orleans sound
with other musical realms.
Dr. John is, in the truest sense of
the word, an innovator. He has con-
tinually reworked his sound through
the years to include the influences
of the times. A man who has seen
the world, he incorporates these
experiences into his unique take on
popular music. Having never forgot-
ten his roots yet always progressing
forward, Dr. John is not only an
ambassor of quality music but an
example of the human creative spir-
it at its most inventive.
Photo courtesy of BMI Records
Office hours are open for the good doctor. Playing his unique style of New Orleans-
based funky blues, Dr. John has wooed audiences for decades and shows no signs
of stopping.
SARA SCHENCK/Daily
The bigger the better - especially when it comes to driving a monster truck.
LECTURE NOTE BLOWOUT!!
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TRUCKS
Continued from Page 28
"Street Warriors" programs. The former
involved small, four-wheel motorbikes
and the latter a wide variety of common
pickup trucks. Both failed to grab hold of
the audience with the energy and adrena-
line of the big dogs.
The problem lay mostly in the sudden
change of emotion. After seeing the big-
timers, fans were unwillingly transported
back to Earth for the lesser events. The
"Quad Wars" took a Civil War approach
engaging two teams, one from the
"North" and one from the "South" No
blood was shed but the zealous drivers
exchanged punches a number of times -
seemingly for nothing more than a mere
rise from the crowd. By the third round of
"Quad Wars" audience members seemed
tired with such brawling and possibly
staged antics.
The "Street Warriors" added little to
the show and left the crowd begging for
the return of the big boys.
And the boys returned with a
vengeance.
The remaining three rounds were high-
lighted by Grave Digger's steady march to
the championship. Those not involved in
the winners' bracket were allowed to take
out some frustration on what remained of
a few pancaked cars in the "Monster
Freestyle."
The leisurely attitude of the freestyle
event was quickly discarded when two
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University b M i an Hillel
For more icnbtio and an
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trucks, BlackWidow and Avenger, collid-
ed head to head. The crash seemed a little
unusual, as the driver of Black Widow
appeared to make little effort to avoid the
collision. After the accident both drivers
left the field without serious injury -
sans a little pride, perhaps.
The championship bout found crowd-
backed Grave Digger fighting heavy
underdog and wildcard Liquidator for the
title of night's best. Like many heroes
before him, Grave Digger kept his reputa-
tion intact and roared to awe-inspiring
victory. Pleasing his legions of fans, the
champion took a victory lap to finish the
Jam.
Gary Bauer summed up the evening
the best saying, "It's action-packed -
you never know what's going to happen
next." But odds are that legendary
Grave Digger will rise to the top once
again.
Write for Weekend, Etc. Magazine.
Fun times. Good people.
For information call 763-0379.
By Erin Podolsky
Daily Arts Writer
Superficiality was one big theme in
1998, as seen in the nation's preoccupa-
tion with presidents and cigars and the
rash of sometimes entertaining, always
horrendous movies such as
"Armageddon" and "The Avengers." The
year's crop of DVD releases proved to be
no exception to this fact, although
beneath the smarmy surface there lay a
deeper meaning that went beyond the
shiny Hollywood veneer.
There are in fact two DVDs so out-
standing, so completely opposite each
other yet both richly entertaining in their
own way, that they both deserve the man-
tle of "best of show.""Starship Troopers"
and "Boogie Nights," come on down!
"Starship Troopers" is a delectable
piece of eye candy that was praised by
astute critics and panned by those less in
tune with the satirical nature of Paul
Verhoeven and Robert Heinlein's vision.
It plays a bit like "90210 in Space" with a
limitless effects budget: Wealthy high
school classmates Johnny Rico (Casper
Van Dien), Carmen (Denise Richards),
Karl (Neil Patrick Harris) and Dizzy
(Dina Meyer) join the futuristic
Federation army, each carving their own
path in the infantry, air force and intelli-
gence. They fight vicious killer bugs, fall
in and out of love, and survive - well,
most of them survive. It's a fun story, a
bug story, as Verhoeven alter ego Michael
Ironside might say, and nary a hair is out
of place throughout.
More than being a teeny-bopper soap
opera episode shot on location, though,
"Starship Troopers" also functions as a
wicked commentary on totalitarianism
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The video transfer of the film
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cream of the 1998 crop.
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