Dr. John - Things Happen That Way (2022) CD-Rip

With Things Happen That Way, Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) enters the hall of artists who completed albums during their final months on earth. Suffering from the severe heart disease that would take him, he cut the record before spending his final days in a nursing home unable to speak. The album was co-produced with guitarist Shane Theriot, who claims -- with credibility -- that it received Rebennack's approval upon completion. Nonetheless, the estate altered the album after his death. Three songs -- "End of the Line," "Holy Water," and "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" -- feature Rounder artist Katie Pruitt's vocals replacing Rickie Lee Jones' stripped-out originals. Rebennack's acoustic remake of the latter was re-recorded again with his vocal backed by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. Lastly, a remake of his classic "Such a Night" was dropped. Those differences won't mar the proceeding for most listeners. This is an uncharacteristically intimate Dr. John offering, full of vulnerability, reverie, humor, and a nostalgic longing for the country music he listened to and loved as a kid in his dad's record store, and includes some originals. The core band on most of this comprises Theriot, bassist Will Lee, keyboardists Jon Cleary and David Torkanowsky, and drummer Carlo Nuccio.
The opener is a bluesy NOLA read of Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away." Rebennack delivers the first verse accompanied by Cleary's piano before the band and backing chorus enter and ratchet it up. A sinister, choogling electric guitar and drum shuffle introduce a dark, prophetic cover of Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man." A few selections later, he delivers a deeply moving cover of Williams' immortal "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," singing in a raggedly expressive vocal as if comparing the song's sentiment with his own history. "Gimme That Old Time Religion" is stomping country gospel with 89-year-old Willie Nelson and Pruitt assisting. There's a hip cover of the Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line" with soulful vocals from Aaron Neville and Pruitt atop sultry horns and funky B-3. The original "Holy Water" is a National Steel-driven NOLA blues shuffle recounting Rebennack's 1960s-era drug conviction and jail sentence. Pruitt's support vocal adds emotional heft to his testifying. Dr. John's "Sleeping Dogs Best Left Alone," with its swinging, grooving horns, could have appeared on one of his Lower 911 albums. Likewise, "Give Myself a Good Talkin' To" is a sweet R&B swinger with killer piano fills, a hard-grooving rhythm section, bluesy guitar licks, and Rebennack's trademark wiseacre vocal in poignant self-assessment. The set closes with "Guess Things Happen That Way." Penned by Cowboy Jack Clement for Johnny Cash, it's a bittersweet, gospel-tinged country love song. As Rebennack's voice cracks vulnerably inside the sad lyrics, the band buoys him with compassion and empathy. Things Happen That Way is solid, fun, and a bit sad, but a fitting, heartfelt sign-off from an American treasure. It's quite beautiful. One hopes, however, that the deleted tracks will surface on a later release. - Thom Jurek