Dr John - Mercernary
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CD Details
Artist: Dr JohnBrand: DR. JOHN
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-05-23
Music Label: Blue Note Records
Soundtracks:
- Blues in the Night
- You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
- Personality
- Hit the Road to Dreamland
- IĀ?m an Old Cowhand
- Dream
- Lazy Bones
- That Old Black Magic
- Come Rain or Come Shine
- Moon River
- Tangerine
- I AinĀ?t No Johnny Mercer
- Save the Bones for Henry Jones
Music reviews of Mercernary
Music Review: Funky Butt, but...
Rating: 4 Stars
Yes, it's "funky butt" music (Earl Palmer's term for that New Orleans style that gets your backside moving, as quoted by Dr. John), but...
Compared to the good Doctor's other "fonky" releases of standards, this one falls a little short. It has some high points, but fewer than one would hope for.
Johnny Mercer wrote some of the most down-to-earth, real-life lyrics & tunes, capturing the way people act & think & talk (with a few 'huckleberry' exceptions). The Doc is to be commended for honoring such a gifted, mean-drunk artist.
Clocking in at[...] (short for a CD nowadays), and with a lot of all-too-similar vocal & arrangement treatments, this release doesn't do Mercer quite as proud as Doc did for the Duke (lots more oomph & uptempo tunes too).
Still it has its good moments, and is well worth a listen. The musicianship is laid back, but top-notch. The two instrumentals hearken back to "Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack" and "The Brightest Smile In Town," where we hear the Doc stretch out on the piano, and the two tunes with the added organ are a plus. John Fohl's guitar adds some nice touches; James Rivers plays a great tenor sax solo on "Henry Jones," plus we get some of veteran Herb Hardisty's tenor as well (wish there was more of that!).
It's cute to hear the horn riff from Huey 'Piano' Smith's "Well I'll Be John Brown" on "Save The Bones For Henry Jones;" that riff being a familiar N'Awlins take on the I-IV-V blues chord progression (for a full taste, check out "Teachin' And Preachin'" from 1952 by Dave Bartholomew [Fats Domino's manager/songwriter/trumpeter], performed by "The Royal Kings," for an early variation with some raunchy tenor sax & classic New Orleans sound).
Doc's toying with the lyrics adds a touch of humor, even when dropping names of other songs, like Fess's "No buts, No Maybes," or even Traffic's "Tragic Magic" (although that may have been an unintentional cute rhyme), and all of his poetic license in "Lazy Bones."
The cool "jungle music" trumpet from Charlie Miller (like 1930's Duke music) on "Personality" was another nice touch that would have been nice to hear more of throughout the session.
As a transplanted New Orleanian, I enjoyed this CD, and it does grow on one as time goes by, but it seems more half-hearted or half-assed rather than full funky-butt next to Doc's best efforts.
But do check it out!
Description of Mercernary
12 tracks.Though Dr. John is by no means the first musician from the rock era to take a stab at the classic American songbook, the results have rarely been as satisfying as this. While all of the material was written by, inspired by, or associated with Johnny Mercer, this is very much a Dr. John album, with Mac Rebennack and his ace New Orleans rhythm section giving selections from "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" to "Moon River" a funky, Crescent City spin. With the good doctor applying piano syncopation to an instrumental expansion of "I'm an Old Cow Hand" and giving his sly, playful rasp to a jaunty "Dream" and a bluesy "Come Rain or Come Shine," this tribute not only attests to the range, craftsmanship, and enduring appeal of Mercer's all-American music, it reflects the New Orleans master's interpretive depth. --Don McLeese
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