# RIP Dr. John **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [June 6, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145 "2019-06-06T22:47:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/21 "2019-06-07T20:59:21Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Right. I always confuse Laura Nyro with Mariah Carey. I mean, they’re both women who play the piano, right? I agree, but I’m not gonna get my panties in a bunch over it. I figure the only way you could confuse these ppl is if you did not know one or both of them well at all. A Leon Redbone/Dr John concert would kick SO much ass. Hope they’ll play me a set when I get there one day. Hmm. . . heaven as a non-stop series of concerts in various halls, dive bars, night clubs, outdoor venues, etc. I could get behind that. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/22 "2019-06-07T22:40:54Z")
One thing Dr. John taught me - never drop acid and listen to [Gris Gris Gumbo Yaya](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4J8VrprrGE), especially at night, ‘cause _he_’s the night tripper’. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/23 "2019-06-07T23:03:25Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > One thing Dr. John taught me - never drop acid and listen to [Gris Gris Gumbo Yaya](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4J8VrprrGE), especially at night, ‘cause _he_’s the night tripper’. Shit, I don’t think I want that album/CD in my house if I drop acid. As for my aforementioned desire for a Leon Redbone/Dr. John concert, well, [I don’t think this song represents what I was hoping for.](https://youtu.be/DAtZBE5XXFo) It’s a Christmas song though, so, not really a proper sample. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/24 "2019-06-08T02:06:40Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Right. I always confuse Laura Nyro with Mariah Carey. I mean, they’re both women who play the piano, right? Laura Nyro is dead. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/25 "2019-06-08T02:15:39Z")
Gotta go eat some Popeye’s Chicken now. But I gotta make sure it’s not the wrong time or the wrong place. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/26 "2019-06-08T03:44:17Z")
Dang, man, one of the best. I saw the Neville Bros with Aaron during the week in Tokyo circa fall 1991. Great show. A couple of days later it was a Sat show and Aaron was a no-show. Consolation was Dr John joined the bill. I doubt if any of the Japanese audience knew who he was. It as a great show with a completely different set from a couple days before. I still remember they led off with Wang Dang Doodle, and my girlfriend at the time was impressed I could sing along for the first verse when the mic/speakers weren’t working. RIP ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/27 "2019-06-08T17:26:40Z")
[He shouldn’t have eaten the Molokai sauce.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3kPI_sn5b8) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/28 "2019-06-08T18:25:34Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Laura Nyro is dead. Ah, **jaycat** just said that because he knows I’d dig Laura out of the grave and do a Frankenstein on her if it would get her to make more songs and concerts and maybe let me screw her. And that I’m not a Carey fan, and had no idea she knew how to play the piano. Anyway, I’d like to cap all that off and stanch the bloodflow by apologizing to you, **jaycat.** Dr. John was multifold musical genius over Redbone, and I shouldn’t have denigrated him with the comparison. You are right. I was wrong. It may have been the memory of the “Frosty the Snowman” vid that started me down that path…Redbone clearly out-acted Mac in it. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/29 "2019-06-08T18:37:53Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > [He shouldn’t have eaten the Molokai sauce.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3kPI_sn5b8) LOL, I’ve been wondering if someone was going to post a “Polynesiantown” reference. (I would have, but I’m not clever enough.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/30 "2019-06-08T22:41:43Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I once saw dentist “Dr. John”. He’d heard all the jokes. The kicker was that his first name was Robert and there was a singer by _that_ name too. We had a Dr. John on staff at the hospital and whenever I saw his name I mentally appended “The Night Tripper”. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/31 "2019-06-08T23:07:44Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Ah, **jaycat** just said that because he knows I’d dig Laura out of the grave and do a Frankenstein on her if it would get her to make more songs and concerts and maybe let me screw her. And that I’m not a Carey fan, and had no idea she knew how to play the piano. > > Anyway, I’d like to cap all that off and stanch the bloodflow by apologizing to you, **jaycat.** Dr. John was multifold musical genius over Redbone, and I shouldn’t have denigrated him with the comparison. You are right. I was wrong. It may have been the memory of the “Frosty the Snowman” vid that started me down that path…Redbone clearly out-acted Mac in it. Well, my apologies too for playing the Laura Card. It was a dirty trick (but I knew it would work!) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/32 "2019-06-08T23:13:35Z")
(Friend fist-bump) You are an evil man, and I respect that. Also your posts on musical matters. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/33 "2019-06-08T23:27:13Z")
Taste of Laura Nyro for everyone who’s forgotten her and was confused by the above: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G8gsLOZ9xFg/hqdefault.jpg "LAURA NYRO captain st lucifer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8gsLOZ9xFg) Everyone else ho wants to do sex with her, get in line behind me. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/34 "2019-06-08T23:45:16Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Taste of Laura Nyro for everyone who’s forgotten her and was confused by the above: > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G8gsLOZ9xFg](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G8gsLOZ9xFg) > > Everyone else ho wants to do sex with her, get in line behind me. If she was alive, I don’t think she’d be that interested. She was gay. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/35 "2019-06-09T00:01:10Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > If she was alive, I don’t think she’d be that interested. She was gay. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, she was famous for sleeping her way through many of the top male rock stars. Then was married to a man for several years. Then produced a son. It was only late in her life that she realized she was gay. I would Frankenstein her back to 1968. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/36 "2019-06-11T13:16:39Z")
Saw Dr. John twice, at a small music club then at some outdoor event I was at and was pleasantly surprised to catch him performing. The first time at the club was a great show. He played guitar on one song and I seem to remember him telling the story about how he used to play the guitar but switched to piano after getting shot in the hand, as Merneith mentioned. I’ll listen to “Dr John plays Mac Rebennack” at work today in his memory, a nice low-key solo album of him playing piano and sometimes singing. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/37 "2019-06-11T14:12:48Z")
> [@solost](#): > > He played guitar on one song and I seem to remember him telling the story about how he used to play the guitar but switched to piano after getting shot in the hand, as Merneith mentioned. Blues artists always seem to have lived interesting lives. I met blues piano legend Pinetop Perkins when he was 90 and still performing. He told me that when he was a young man he played guitar and had “many girlfriends”. One night he was playing guitar at a bar and one girlfriend showed up and caught him with another girlfriend. She grabbed a knife from behind the bar and sliced up his one arm so badly he never played guitar again, forcing him to learn piano quickly. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145/38 "2019-06-11T20:41:30Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > …She grabbed a knife from behind the bar and sliced up his one arm so badly he never played guitar again, forcing him to learn piano quickly. I’m surprised that in more than one case playing piano was seen as an “easier” choice for someone with a damaged hand/arm than playing guitar. I guess for someone with reduced finger strength it might be easier to hit piano keys than fretting notes and chords. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-dr-john/835145.md?page=1)