Dr.John (And the Lower Third): Mercenary

Elly Roberts reviews

Dr.John (And the Lower Third): MercenaryDistributed by
Parlophone

• Cat.no: 3545412
• Released: May 2006
• Rating: 8/10

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Johnny Mercer is best known for huge hits likeHooray For Hollywood, Moon River, Days Of Wine And Roses and co-founderof Capitol Records.

New Orleansjazz fusionist Mac Rebennnack, aka Dr. John, respectfully tackles some ofthe songs that are imbedded in the American national psyche and folklore.That ol’Orleans magic comes into play with almost everything Dr. Johntouches, and this is no exception.

From the start it has to be said it’s abold move on his behalf, because you invariably know that the outcome willbe different to the original, particularly with classics like Moon Riverfrom hit film Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Overall, it’s a peculiar blend ofjazziness and popular hits, though it shows that Dr. John has both thecapability, and more importantly, the credibility to conquer the dauntingtask of making them believable all over again.

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Originally an idea bydaughter Tina, who initially suggested a cover of Personality, it blossomedinto a full album’s worth of material. With possibly one thousand’s worth ofMercer material at his disposal, he’s plucked a good range to re-work.Starting with a swampy blues style accompanied by steel guitar, he soonventures into a masterful interpretation of Blues In The Night as the LowerThird swing into a funky jazzy shuffle.

You Must Have Been is virtuallyunrecognisable, not that it matters as the Doctors adds his southern drawlto the chorus – check the ‘beauuuutiful baby’. The shuffling wonder of I’mAn Old Cow Hand, a lightweight instrumental, leads to a cabaret stylekeyboard – lead Dream.

Big hit Moon River is handled with great care andattention, now re-worked into a steady funky jaunt, again cleverlytransformed by his unique voice and stylings. Jazzing it up for the close,Save The Bones For Henry Jones closes a classy collection, effortlesslydoing justice to a great songwriter.

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The full list of tracks included are :

1. Blues In The Night
2. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby
3. Personality
4. Hit The Road To Dreamland
5. I’m An Old Cow Hand
6. Dream
7. Lazy Bones
8. That Old Black Magic
9. Come Rain Or Come Shine
10. Moon River
11. Tangerine
12. I Ain’t No Johnny Mercer
13. Save The Bones For Henry Jones

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