Mac Rebennack, who would gain fame under the pseudonym Dr. John, had become a valued composer, as well as a skilled keyboardist and guitarist by his late teens. He played with bands in his home city of New Orleans, cooking up a gumbo of rhythm & blues, boogie, and rock & roll peppered with unleashed horns and a Creole flavor. His work was influenced greatly by pianist/songwriter Professor Longhair, who is regarded as a trailblazing pioneer of New Orleans-style R&B. This special release contains 30 studio tracks, including a wide selection of those overlooked 45s and seminal works Mac Rebennack made as a composer, producer, arranger and performer for different local labels, between 1958 and 1962. While some of the tracks were cut under his own name, on others he used pseudonyms such as Little Mac, and 'Drits & Dravy'. Some of the songs were taped at sessions led by the likes of Big Boy Myles, The Ends, Sugar Boy Crawford, Chuck Carbo, and Ronnie Barron, among others. A number of these tracks feature fabulous session players from the Crescent City scene, such as saxophonists Lee Allen & Alvin “Red” Tyler, and drummer Earl Palmer. These early works form the building blocks of Mac Rebennack’s incomparable musical legacy.
TRACK LISTING:
01. Good Times – Mac Rebennack
02. New Orleans – Big Boy Myles With Mac Rebennack’s Orchestra
03. (Put On Your Old) Gray Bonnet – Big Boy Myles With Mac Rebennack’s Orchestra
04. Hey Mama – Carl Greenstreet
05. Foolish Little Girl – Mac Rebennack
06. Mercy – Gene & Al’s Spacemen
07. Aw! Who? – Bat Carroll
08. Have A Little Mercy – Sugar Boy Crawford
09. Out On A Limb – Chuck Carbo
10. Row, Row My Boat – The Ends
11. Curiosity – Joe And Ann
12. Gee Baby – Joe And Ann
13. Bad Neighborhood – Ronnie & The Delinquents
14. Keeps Dragging Me On – Ronnie & The Delinquents
15. Morgus The Magnificent – Morgus & The Ghouls
16. Lonely Boy – Frankie & Mac
17. Lights Out – Jerry Byrne
18. Something Special – Ronald Stone
19. Desert Winds – Ronald Stone
20. Down The Road – Ronald Stone
21. Show Me The Way – Ike Clanton
22. I Cried – Sugar Boy Crawford
23. Sahara – Mac Rebennack
24. Lucy Brown – Chuck Carbo
25. Picture Of You – Chuck Carbo
26. It’s You – Chuck Carbo
27. I’m The One – Gerri Hall
28. Talk That Talk (Part 1) – Drits & Dravy
29. It Ain’t No Use – The Ends
30. Storm Warning – Mac Rebennack