Tag: Dr. John

Dr. John – Such A Night

I remember this well from my childhood on WMAK, an AM station in Nashville that played the hits. Dr. John (Malcolm John Rebennack) had a voice that was hard to forget along with his delivery. This one was written by Dr. John not to be confused with The Drifters song Such A Night. 

This song was from the album In the Right Place released in 1973. It’s is a delight…you have John’s New Orleans-style funk and his unique voice. When I first heard it I would have sworn he was saying “Saturday Night” instead of Such a Night when I heard him on the Last Waltz doing this song. He put a little New Orleans in everything he did.

This was his breakthrough album. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts. Before this album he was a musician’s musician but after he became a pop star as well. This song peaked at #42 on the Billboard 100 but Nashville must have liked it more than that…they played it a lot. 

Dr. John collaborated with legendary producer Allen Toussaint and The Meters, a huge New Orleans funk band and the results were gold. I knew I heard of Allen Toussaint before…he worked with The Band. Robbie Robertson wanted horns on Life Is A Carnival and Toussaint did it. After that, Robbie asked him to write horn parts for an entire live show. He did that over Christmas of 1971 and The Band’s live album Rock Of Ages came out of that collaboration. 

Such A Night

Such a night, it’s such a nightSweet confusion under the moonlightSuch a night, such a nightTo steal away, the time is right

Your eyes caught mine, and at a glanceYou let me know that this was my chanceBut you came here with my best friend JimAnd here I am, tryin’ to steal you away from him

Oh, but if I don’t do it, you know somebody else willIf I don’t do it, you know somebody else willIf I don’t do it, you know somebody else willIf I don’t do it, you know somebody else will

And it’s such a night, it’s such a nightSweet confusion under the moonlightIt’s such a night, such a nightTo steal away, the time is right

Yeah, I couldn’t believe my ear and my heart just skipped a beatWhen you told me to take you walkin’ down the streetOh yeah, you came here with my best friend JimHere I am, I’m stealin’ you away from him

Oh, but if I don’t do it, you know somebody else willIf I don’t do it, you know somebody else willIf I don’t do it, you know somebody else willIf I don’t do it, you know somebody else will‘Cause it’s such a night

…

Band – The Last Waltz

Happy Thanksgiving! Watching The Last Waltz is just as part of Thanksgiving as the meal with the family…that and Alice’s Restaurant which is coming.

The Band on Thanksgiving in 1976 at the Fillmore West. The film starts off with THIS FILM MUST BE PLAYED LOUD! A cut to Rick Danko playing pool and then it then to the Band playing “Don’t Do It”…the last song they performed that night after hours of playing. Through the music and some interviews, their musical journey and influences are retraced.

This film is considered by many the best concert film ever made. It was directed by Martin Scorsese. I love the setting with the chandeliers that were from the movie Gone With The Wind. The quality of the picture is great because it was shot with a 35-millimeter camera which wasn’t normally done with concerts.

Before the Band and guests hit the stage, Bill Graham, the promoter, served a Thanksgiving dinner to 5000 people that made up the audience with long tables with white tablecloths.

The Band’s musical guests included

Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Van Morrison (my favorite performance), Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters

The Staple Singers and Emmylou Harris also appear but their segments were taped later on a sound stage and not at the concert.

Robbie wanted off the road earlier and that is what the Last Waltz was all about…the last concert by The Band with a lot of musical friends. He was tired of touring and also the habits the band was picking up… drugs and drinking. Richard Manuel, in particular, was in bad shape and needed time.

The rest of the Band supposedly agreed but a few years later all of them but Robbie started to tour as The Band again. Richard Manuel ended up hanging himself in 1986. Rick Danko passed away in 1999 at the end of a tour of a heart attack attributed to years of drug and alcohol abuse. Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012.

The Band sounded great that night and it might be the best version you will ever hear of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

The Last Waltz is a grand farewell to a great band and a film that I revisit at least twice a year… once always around Thanksgiving.

The complete concert is at the bottom…without cuts.