Under a Hoodoo Moon – The Life of the Night Tripper – Dr. John (Mac Rebennack)

This autobiography of Dr. John, the Night Tripper (Mac Rebennack) draws you in right from the start with his tales of growing up in New Orleans and its food, street life, street characters, Mardi Gras traditions and, of course, the music. Mac writes in a cool, hipster, jivey way, keeping in the style of the times and the music scene. I love New Orleans in general and this sounds like it was a wonderful time to live and grow up in this fascinating city.

Apparently, nearly everyone in the town played boogie-woogie piano and his family was no exception - he grew up with cool music being played around him in the homes of his relatives and, of course, the local clubs, almost constantly. In a funny twist, seeing as I grew up a few years later with the emergence of the Beatles and the British Invasion, Mac, while drawn to the piano, thought that there were so many good piano players that he should learn to play the guitar - a less common instrument at the time! How things would change!

He infiltrated the music scene as a teenager and was soon gigging around town as well as on the famous Chittlin’ Circuit. Along with this came the vices and he was hitting heroin while still a teen. He still managed to become a producer as well as musician for innumerable New Orleans recordings while also gigging on a regular basis. This went on until an anti-vice politician shut down most of the clubs (and consequently, the NO music scene) and, at about the same time, Mac went to the slammer.

Upon his re-entry to society, Rebennack moved to LA (where many NO musicians moved to after the scene died in their home town), got another producer/songwriter gig, played on many pop tracks (including bands like Sonny & Cher and the Monkees, which he hated) and eventually scored some studio time and created his alter ego, Dr. John, with a number of other NO musicians who wanted to get back to their roots and have some fun after playing studio pap all the time. He hit big time with this for a while, but with the all-too-common management issues (along with his drug problem), he really didn't get to savor his accomplishments.

But, Mac continues to play to this day and has done many things, from winning Grammies to kicking dope. This is a terrific tale told in a compelling and entertaining way. Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in New Orleans in particular and cool 50's/60's R&B in general.