Singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and producer Dr. John—one of the most colorful characters to come from New Orleans, Louisiana—is interviewed here by Nick Spitzer, producer and host of the syndicated radio show “American Routes.”
During the 2013 interview, Dr. John, aka Mac Rebennack, shares stories of growing up in New Orleans, learning boogie woogie piano from family members including his aunt, and connecting with records via his father, who sold then-called “race records,” spiritual, hillbilly, and jazz.
The conversation includes a discussion of Professor Longhair, Huey Piano Smith, and other piano players who would influence Dr. John’s style, and of the artist’s musical path, starting as a studio musician when he was thirteen or fourteen, and eventually becoming a talent scout and an arranger and producer working with artists including Charles Brown and Joe Tex.
At the piano, Dr. John demonstrates the piano styles of Professor Longhair and Huey Piano Smith, and performs “Lowdown, Worried, and Blue” from his 1982 album “Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack: The Legendary Sessions, Vol. 2.”
FOR MORE
Find out more about our public programming: https://countrymusichalloffame.org/plan-your-visit/exhibits-activities/public-programs/
FOLLOW THE MUSEUM
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/OfficialCMHOF/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/countrymusichof/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/countrymusichof
In conversation with the Museum’s Peter Cooper, Lee Ann Womack talks about her album “The Lonely, the Lonesome, and the Gone” (recorded at Houston’s legendary SugarHill studios, where Lightnin’ Hopkins, George Jones, Willie Nelson, and many others recorded), and about songwriting, her East Texas ...
For his book “Dylan: Disc by Disc,” music critic and author Jon Bream talked with fifty-five musicians, journalists, and scholars about every album recorded by Bob Dylan. Here, Bream hosts a conversation about the albums Dylan recorded in Nashville, including “Blonde on Blonde,” “John Wesley Hard...
Hosted by the Museum’s Adam Ollendorff, Carlos DeFord Bailey, grandson of DeFord Bailey; Ketch Secor, multi-instrumentalist and front man of the band Old Crow Medicine Show; and Jake Groves, harmonica player for Colter Wall and host of WXOX Louisville’s Faint of Harp Radio Hour, talk about the in...
