Remembering Dr. John: "My Irish grandfather, he was a very hip old guy. One of the things Irish people are known for is being able to read between the lines..."

Originally published in Hot Press in 2008:

Forget gold discs and lifetime achievement awards, when Jim Henson decides to immortalise you as a muppet you know you’ve really made it.

“The whole Dr. Teeth band [The Electric Mayhem – Muppets obsessed sub-ed] was modelled on my band at the time,” laughs Dr. John, aka Mac Rebennack, as he relaxes in his New York management office. “I knew Jim. At the time I didn’t have many teeth so it was kind of a joke, I had about five teeth in my mouth. I thought, hey, that kicks!”

The words ‘living’ and ‘legend’ are frequently misapplied. But when an artist has been around for over 40 years, worked with Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, been covered by Paul Weller and sampled by Beck, the title is justified.

The Dr. has just released The City That Care Forgot as a tribute to his hometown of New Orleans, an ardent confection lauded as a return to form for the celebrated pianist. In the three years since Hurricane Katrina, he’s been to the forefront of many of the fundraising campaigns, and his passion for the cause is evident.

“People from New Orleans, we’re good hearted,” he says. “We feel like we’ve been terrorised by the Federal Government at the instigation of the oil companies, the chemical companies and the pharmaceutical companies. All of this to make some more money for their pockets, it’s an insult. People don’t seem to care about the planet, all they care about is money.”

Although Dr. John despairs at the incompetence of the current administration, he’s hopeful that Barack Obama can turn things around.

“I gave him my song ‘Time For A Change’ to use at speaking engagements,” he reveals. “I believe in people, I’m always going to have hope. If I didn’t have hope I might as well go and croak.

“A lady called Miss Lopez has built 100 houses - that’s more than big organisations like Habitat For Humanity,” he adds. “Those are the people that I take my hat off to, but big organisations I spit on.”

The Doc uses every opportunity to speak out against the injustices, despite the response.

“I made some comments the last time I was on tour in Europe and you should have read the emails that were sent to me,” he states. “I said I didn’t think much of Tony Blair because of what he was up to with George Bush, and I don’t think much of George Bush either. There is no rhyme and reason to their lies.

“One of the things Irish people are known for is being able to read between the lines,” he continues. “My Irish grandfather, he was a very hip old guy. He was from County Cork, his name was Cronin. That quality is very valuable, to be able to read through the jive. I inherited that from him, and my father who was Basque, and Basque people have that too.”

Dr. John has worked with many Irish musicians over the course of his career, most recently appearing at the closing ceremony of the Grammys with The Edge.

“I met those guys (U2) a few times way back when they were first starting out,” he recalls. “I was doing a gig at Anton’s Club in Austin, Texas, and one of the waitresses said the UT band was coming. I was thinking, ‘If the University of Texas 200-piece band can fit in this little bitty club I’d like to see that!’ So I thought I better stick around. U2 came and they were playing blues and their heart was in the right place, it was really cool. I like people like that.”

He also co-produced Van Morrison’s 1977 album, A Period Of Transition, on which he played keyboards and guitar.

“It’s funny you should mention Van,” he says. “I’m writing my list for Rolling Stone of the 100 greatest singers of all time and he’s up there with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. He’s a very special guy.”

Another collaboration of note was with Paul Weller, who featured on his 1998 album Anutha Zone. Weller had previously covered his track ‘I Walk On Gilded Splinters.’

“In the ‘70s when I was producing some stuff with Chris Barber, The Jam used to rehearse nearby,” he concludes. “I was like, who are those guys? They play some wild stuff! That was Paul Weller starting out. Years later some people in Canada gave me a bootleg tape of Paul doing ‘Gilded Splinters’ live and I thought it was slammin’!”