Dr. John Recorded a Final Album Before He Died

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Jun 12, 2019

Dr. John sadly passed away last week, but we're now learning the esteemed New Orleans musician finished one final album before his passing.

Dr. John started working on the new collection as his health began to decline last year, a new Rolling Stone feature reveals. Apparently, the artist born Mac Rebennack set to work in a makeshift home studio alongside producer Shane Theriot, who opened up about the album.

"Towards the beginning, I don't think Mac realized it would probably be his last record, but towards the end, I think he knew," Theriot told Rolling Stone.

The album will reportedly contain a mix of new original songs, covers and reworked Dr. John classics, all of which were recorded with the help of some handpicked New Orleans session players.

"It would break my heart because he would come to my house, and I knew he wasn't feeling great, and Mac's work ethic, he was old school; he grew up doing five sets a night," Theriot said. "And so he told me on several occasions, he would say, 'Whatever we gotta do, we gotta do it. We gotta get it done, Sha-zane. Whatever we gotta do to finish this motherfucker, we gotta finish it.'"

Among the covers included on the album are Dr. John's take on Johnny Cash's "Guess Things Happen That Way," Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man" and Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away."

So far, the as-yet-untilted album does not have a release date, but the record was finished before Dr. John's death.

"We sat and listened to everything twice," Theriot said. "He was singing along and had a big grin on his face. Then he walked me out to my car, stared at me and said, 'I'm glad. I made the right choice.' And then he hugged and kissed me on the cheek."

As previously reported, Dr. John died of a heart attack on June 6 at the age of 77.




 

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