Dr. John | Actionsuit Alert!

Dr. John’s newest album, Locked Down, was released today. Incredible stuff from Dr. John, he’s definitely ‘back’ with the help and sound from producer and Black Keys band member, Dan Auerbach. From the NPR blog:

The album is the brainchild of 33-year-old musician and producer Dan Auerbach, the singer and guitarist for the indie-rock group The Black Keys. He says Dr. John was a big influence on the band’s music.

“I’m such a huge fan,” Auerbach tells NPR’s David Greene. “I think he is sort of underappreciated. I knew the timeless quality of what he did. I just felt like, if I went down and met him and his head was anywhere near where it used to be, it just might be fruitful.”

With that vague idea for a record, Auerbach got on a plane for New Orleans to track down Dr. John.

The whole album is great. Here is the title track and the first release,Revolution:

In a city full of great music, the Meters were perhaps New Orleans’ finest r&b and funk bands of the late 60s to mid 70s. Led by Art Neville on keys and vocals and Leo Nocentelli on guitar, the Meters represented both on their own and as a backing band for Allen Toussaint and Dr. John. When Led Zeppelin played New Orleans in 1975, they arranged for a private show with the Meters the night before, and Mick Jagger recruited them to open that year’s Rolling Stones North American tour.

This is the title track from 1975’s Fire on the Bayou, followed by the Tremé clip that sent me down this road

The funk is on the one.