Newsday Logo

260px The February 21, 2012 front page of Newsday
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner	Cablevision
Publisher	Fred Groser
Editor	Debbie Henley
Founded	1940
Headquarters	235 Pinelawn Road Melville, New York 11747  United States
Circulation	397,973 weekdays 383,295 Saturdays 495,416 Sundays in 2012[1]
ISSN	0278-5587
OCLC number	5371847
Official website	Newsday.com

Melville, NY headquarters

Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. As of 2009, its weekday circulation of 377,500 was the 11th-highest in the United States, and the highest among suburban newspapers.^[2]

The newspaper's headquarters are in Melville, New York, in Suffolk County.

History[link]

Founded by Alicia Patterson, with backing from her husband, Harry Guggenheim, the paper was first published on September 3, 1940 from Hempstead. After Patterson's death in 1963, Guggenheim became publisher and editor.

In 1967, Guggenheim turned over the publisher position to Bill Moyers and continued as president and editor-in-chief. But Guggenheim was disappointed by the liberal drift of the newspaper under Moyers, criticizing what he called the "left-wing" coverage of Vietnam War protests.^[3][4] The two split over the 1968 presidential election, with Guggenheim signing an editorial supporting Richard Nixon, when Moyers supported Hubert Humphrey.^[5]

Guggenheim sold his majority share to the then-conservative Times-Mirror Company over the attempt of newspaper employees to block the sale, even though Moyers offered $10 million more than the Times-Mirror purchase price; Moyers resigned a few days later.^[3][6][7] Guggenheim, who died a year later, disinherited Moyers from his will.^[8]

Newsday launched a separate Queens edition in 1977, followed by a New York City edition. In June 2000, Times Mirror merged with the Tribune Company, partnering Newsday with the New York City television station WPIX (Channel 11), also owned by Tribune. Chicago, Illinois, real estate magnate Samuel Zell purchased Tribune in 2007.^[2]

News Corporation, headed by CEO Rupert Murdoch, attempted to purchase Newsday for $580 million in April 2008.^[9] This was soon followed by a matching bid from New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman^[10] and a $680 million bid from Cablevision.^[11] In May 2008, News Corporation withdrew its bid,^[12] and on May 12, 2008, Newsday reported that Cablevision would purchase the paper for $650 million.^[13] The sale was completed July 29, 2008.^[14]

Editorial style[link]

Despite having a tabloid format, Newsday is not known for being sensationalistic, as are other local daily tabloids, such as the New York Daily News and the New York Post.^[15][16]

In 2004, the alternative weekly newspaper Long Island Press wrote that Newsday has used its clout to influence local politics in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.^[17]

Bill Moyers briefly served as publisher.^[18] During the tenure of publisher Robert M. Johnson in the 1980s, Newsday made a major push into New York City. The paper's roster of columnists and critics included Jimmy Breslin, Barbara Garson, Normand Poirier, Murray Kempton, Gail Collins, Pete Hamill, Sydney Schanberg, Jim Dwyer, sportswriter Mike Lupica, music critic Tim Page, and television critic Marvin Kitman. Newsday featured both the advice columnists Ann Landers and Dear Abby for several years. Its features section has included television reporters Verne Gay and Diane Werts, reality TV columnist Frank Lovece, and film critics John Anderson, Rafer Guzman, Gene Seymour, and Jan Stuart. Newsday carries the syndicated columnist Froma Harrop.

Newsday's use of graphics has sometimes attracted national attention, particularly of the c.-1970 work of such longtime in-house illustrators as Gary Viskupic, Tony D'Adamo, and Ned Levine. Pulitzer Prize winner Walt Handelsman's editorial political cartoons animation are a nationally syndicated feature of Newsday. In the 1980s, a new design director, Robert Eisner, guided the transition into digital design and color printing.

Newsday created and sponsored a "Long Island at the Crossroads" advisory board in 1978, to recommend regional goals, supervise local government, and liaison with state and Federal officials.^[19][20][21] It lasted approximately a decade.

On March 21, 2011, Newsday remade its front page, scrapping the masthead and font used since the 1960s.^[22]

Circulation[link]

In 2008, Newsday was ranked 10th in terms of newspaper circulation in the United States.^[2]

A circulation scandal in 2004 revealed that the paper's daily and Sunday circulation had been inflated by 16.9% and 14.5%, respectively, in the auditing period September 30, 2002 to September 30, 2003.^[23] The Audit Bureau of Circulation adjusted average weekday circulation to 481,816 from 579,599; average Saturday circulation to 392,649 from 416,830; and average Sunday circulation to 574,081 from 671,820, and instituted twice-yearly audits.^[23]

On October 28, 2009, Newsday changed its web site to a paid-subscriber only model. Newsday.com would open its front page, classified ads, movie listings, and school closings to all site visitors, but access beyond this content would require a weekly fee — US$5 as of 2010. This fee would be waived for subscribers of the print edition of the paper, as well as for subscribers to parent-company Cablevision's Internet service.^[24] Through its first three months only 35 non-Optimum, non-Newsday subscribers signed up for the paid web site.^[25]

Awards[link]

Pulitzer Prize[link]

As of 2008, Newsday has won 19 Pulitzer Prizes and has been a finalist for 18 additional:^[26] If no individual is listed, award is for Newsday staff.

• 2008: Public Service (Finalist) — Jennifer Barrios, Sophia Chang, Michael R. Ebert, Reid J. Epstein, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Eden Laikin, Herbert Lowe, Joseph Mallia, Jennifer Maloney, Luis Perez and Karla Schuster
• 2007: Editorial Cartooning (Winner) — Walt Handelsman
• 2005: International Reporting (Winner) — Dele Olojede
• 2005: Explanatory Reporting (Finalist)
• 2004: Breaking News Reporting (Finalist)
• 2002: Criticism (Winner) — Justin Davidson
• 1999: Criticism (Finalist) — Justin Davidson
• 1999: Editorial Writing (Finalist) — Lawrence C. Levy
• 1998: Beat Reporting (Finalist) — Laurie Garrett
• 1997: Spot News Reporting (Winner)
• 1996: Explanatory Journalism (Winner) — Laurie Garrett
• 1996: Beat Reporting (Winner) — Bob Keeler
• 1996: International Reporting (Finalist) — Laurie Garrett
• 1995: Investigative Reporting (Winner) — Brian Donovan and Stephanie Saul
• 1995: Commentary (Winner) — Jim Dwyer
• 1994: Explanatory Journalism (Finalist)
• 1993: International Reporting (Winner) — Roy Gutman
• 1992: Spot News Reporting (Winner)
• 1992: International Reporting (Winner) — Patrick J. Sloyan
• 1991: Spot News Reporting (Finalist)
• 1991: Spot News Photography (Finalist)
• 1990: Specialized Reporting (Finalist) - Jim Dwyer
• 1989: Investigative Reporting (Finalist) — Penny Loeb
• 1986: Feature Writing (Finalist) — Irene Virag
• 1985: International Reporting (Winner) — Josh Friedman, Dennis Bell, and Ozier Muhammad
• 1985: Commentary (Winner) — Murray Kempton
• 1984: Local General or Spot News Reporting (Winner)
• 1984: International Reporting (Finalist) — Morris Thompson
• 1984: Criticism (Finalist) — Dan Cryer
• 1982: International Reporting (Finalist) — Bob Wyrick
• 1982: Criticism (Finalist) — Marvin Kitman
• 1980: Local Investigative Specialized Reporting (Finalist) — Carole E. Agus, Andrew V. Fetherston Jr. and Frederick J. Tuccillo
• 1974: Public Service (Winner)
• 1974: Criticism (Winner) — Emily Genauer, Newsday Syndicate
• 1970: Public Service (Winner)
• 1970: Editorial Cartooning (Winner) — Thomas F. Darcy
• 1954: Public Service (Winner)

In popular culture[link]

• In the 1985 comedy/thriller Compromising Positions, the lead character, played by Susan Sarandon, is a former Newsday journalist who is trying reestablish her career by selling a freelance story to the publication.
• On the 1996-2005 CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, the fictional character Ray Barone (played by Ray Romano) is employed by Newsday as a sportswriter.
• The lead female character in the "Crocodile" Dundee movies worked at Newsday.
• The episode "The Homer They Fall" in season eight of The Simpsons quotes Newsday in referencing boxing as "The cruelest sport".

References[link]

External links[link]

• Newsday.com
• amNY.com

Gary Carter
Carter on the field prior to Game 1 of the 2008 Golden Baseball League Championship Series.
Catcher
Born: (1954-04-08)April 8, 1954 Culver City, California
Died: February 16, 2012(2012-02-16) (aged 57) Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 16, 1974 for the Montreal Expos
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 1992 for the Montreal Expos
Career statistics
Batting average	.262
Home runs	324
Runs batted in	1,225
Teams
Montreal Expos (1974–1984) New York Mets (1985–1989) San Francisco Giants (1990) Los Angeles Dodgers (1991) Montreal Expos (1992)
Career highlights and awards
11× All-Star (1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988) World Series champion (1986) 3× Gold Glove Award winner (1980, 1981, 1982) 5× Silver Slugger Award winner (1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986) 2× MLB All-Star Game MVP (1981, 1984) 1989 Roberto Clemente Award Montreal Expos #8 retired
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	2003
Vote	78.02%

Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012^[1]) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 21-year career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "Kid" for his youthful exuberance, Carter was named an All-Star 11 times, and was a member of one World Series championship team.

Known throughout his career for his hard hitting as well has his excellent defense behind the plate, Carter made a major contribution to the Mets' World Series championship in 1986, including a 12th-inning single against the Houston Astros that won Game 5 of the NLCS and a 10th-inning single against the Boston Red Sox to start the fabled comeback rally in Game 6 of the World Series. He is one of only three people ever to be named captain of the Mets, and he had his number retired by the Expos.^[2]

After retiring from baseball, Carter coached baseball at the college and minor-league level. He was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Early life[link]

Carter was born in Culver City, California in 1954 to Jim Carter, an aircraft worker, and his wife, Inge. When Gary was 12, Inge died of leukemia. He attended high school at Sunny Hills High School, in Fullerton, CA, where he played football as a quarterback and baseball as an infielder. After receiving more than 100 scholarships for athletics,^[3] Carter signed a letter of intent to play football at University of California, Los Angeles, but instead signed with the Montreal Expos after they drafted him in the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3][4]

Montreal Expos[link]

Carter was drafted by the Montreal Expos as a shortstop in the third round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft. Carter got his nickname "Kid"^[5] during his first spring training camp with the Expos in 1974.

Rookie season[link]

The Expos converted Carter to a catcher in the minor leagues.^[6] In 1974, he hit 23 home runs and drove in 83 runs for the Expos' triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Blues. Following a September call-up, Carter made his major league debut in Jarry Park in Montreal in the second game of a double header against the New York Mets on September 16. Despite going 0–4 in that game, his finished the season batting .407 (11-27). He hit his first major league home run on September 28 against Steve Carlton in a 3–1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.^[7]

Carter split time between right field and catching his rookie season (1975), and was selected for the National League All-Star team as a right fielder. He did not get an at bat, but appeared as a defensive replacement for Pete Rose in the ninth inning, and caught Rod Carew's fly ball for the final out of the NL's 6–3 victory.^[8] He hit .270 with 17 home runs and 68 runs batted in, and finished second to San Francisco Giants pitcher John Montefusco for the National League Rookie of the Year award and receiving The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award.

Expos catcher[link]

Carter again split time in the outfield and behind the plate in 1976 while a broken finger limited him to 91 games. He batted .219 with six home runs and 38 RBIs. In 1977, young stars Warren Cromartie, Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson became full-time outfielders. By June, starting catcher Barry Foote was traded, opening up a reqular starting position for Carter behind the plate. He responded with 31 home runs and 84 RBIs. In 1980, Carter clubbed 29 home runs, drove in 101 runs, and earned the first of his three consecutive Gold Glove Awards. He finished second to third baseman Mike Schmidt in NL MVP balloting, whose Phillies took the National League East by one game over the Expos.

Carter caught Charlie Lea's no-hitter on May 10, 1981,^[9] during the first half of the strike shortened season. The season resumed on Sunday, August 9, 1981 with the All-Star Game. Carter was elected to start his first All Star Game over perennial NL starting catcher Johnny Bench who had moved to play first base that year, and responded with two home runs and being named the game's MVP. Carter was the fifth and most recent player to hit two home runs in an All-Star Game.

MLB split the 1981 season into two halves, with the first-place teams from each half in each division meeting in a best-of-five divisional playoff series. The four survivors moved on to two best-of-five League Championship Series. The Expos won the NL East's second half with a 30–23 record. In his first post season, Carter batted .421, hit two home runs and drove in six in the Expos' three games to two victory over the Phillies in the division series. Carter's average improved to .438 in the 1981 National League Championship Series, with no home runs or RBIs, and his Expos lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

[edit] 1984 season

Carter hit a home run in the 1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game to give the NL a 2–1 lead that they would not relinquish, earning him his second All-Star game MVP award. Carter's league leading 106 RBIs, 159 games played, .294 batting average, 175 hits and 290 total bases were personal highs. The 1984 Expos finished fifth in the NL East, and the rebuilding Expos traded Carter at the end of the season to the Mets for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans.

New York Mets[link]

In his first game as a Met on April 9, 1985, he hit a tenth inning home run off Neil Allen to give the Mets a 6–5 Opening Day victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets and Cardinals rivaled for the National League East championship, with Carter and first baseman Keith Hernandez leading the Mets. The season came down to the wire as the Mets won 98 games that season, however, they lost the division to a Cardinals team that won 101 games. Carter hit a career high 32 home runs and drove in 100 runs his first season in New York. The Mets had three players finish in the top ten in NL MVP balloting that season (Dwight Gooden 4th, Carter 6th and Hernandez 8th).

A rivalry also developed between the Mets and Carter's former team, the Expos. On July 30 while facing the Expos at Shea, Montreal pitcher Bill Gullickson threw a pitch over Carter's head. Gooden did the same to Gullickson in the bottom of the inning. The Los Angeles Times speculated that Carter caught the ball as if he knew where the pitch was going to end up.^[10]

1986 World Series Champions[link]

In 1986, Carter's Mets won 108 games and took the National League East by 21.5 games over the Phillies. Carter suffered a postseason slump in the NLCS, batting .148. However, he hit a walk-off RBI single to win Game 5. Carter also had two hits in the next game which the Mets won in 16 innnings.^[11]

The Mets won the 1986 World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. Carter batted .276 with nine RBIs in his first World Series, and hit two home runs over Fenway Park's Green Monster in Game Four. He is the only player to hit two home runs in an All-Star Game (1981) and two home runs in a World Series game. Carter started a two-out rally in the tenth inning of Game Six, scoring the first of three Mets runs that inning on a single by Ray Knight. He also hit an eighth-inning sacrifice fly that tied the game.^[12] Carter finished third on the NL MVP ballot in 1986.^[11]

300 career home runs[link]

Carter batted .235 in 1987, and ended the season with 291 career home runs. He had 299 home runs by May 16 1988 after a fast start, then slumped until August 11 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field when he hit his 300th. During his home run drought, Carter was named co-captain of the team with Hernandez, who had been named captain the previous season.

Carter ended 1988 with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs—his lowest totals since 1976. He ended the season with 10,360 career putouts as a catcher, breaking Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Freehan's career mark (9941). The Mets won 100 games that season, taking the NL East by fifteen games, however the heavily favored Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 National League Championship Series. Carter batted .183 in fifty games for the Mets in 1989. In November the Mets released Carter after five seasons, hitting 89 home runs and driving in 349 runs.

Return to Montreal[link]

After leaving the Mets, Carter platooned with catcher Terry Kennedy on the San Francisco Giants in 1990, batting .254 with nine home runs. He found himself again in a pennant race in 1991 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who finished one game behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League West.

At the end of the season, Carter returned to Montreal for his final season off waivers from the Dodgers. Carter was still nicknamed "Kid" by teammates despite his age. In his last at-bat, he hit a double over the head of Chicago Cub right-fielder Andre Dawson, the only other person to go into the Hall of Fame as an Expo.^[13] The Expos went 87-75 and finished second behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League East.

Carter had a .991 fielding percentage as a catcher and 11,785 career putouts. He ranks sixth all-time in career home runs by a catcher with 298.

Post-playing career[link]

After his retirement as a player, Carter served as an analyst for Florida Marlins television broadcasts from 1993 to 1996. He also appeared in the movie The Last Home Run (1998) which was filmed in 1996.^[14]

Hall of Fame[link]

Gary Carter's number 8 was retired by the Montreal Expos in 2003.

Carter was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001.^[15] In 2003, Carter was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame along with Kirk McCaskill, and his number eight was retired by the Expos and is tacitly recognized on the facade of Nationals Park in Washington, D.C..

In his sixth year on the ballot, Gary Carter was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Eddie Murray on January 7, 2003. Carter had originally requested to have the plaque as half an Expo and half a Met, and though the media took it as one of his jokes, there was legitimate debate as to with which team he would be associated.^[16] Carter himself had expressed a preference to be inducted as an Expo during his final season; however, given the uncertainty of the Expo franchise, and Carter's having worked for the Mets organization since retiring as a player, winning his only World Series title with the Mets, and becoming a media celebrity during his stint in New York, Carter was unsure.The final decision rested with the Hall of Fame, and Hall president Dale Petroskey declared that Carter's achievements with the Expos over twelve season had earned his induction, whereas his play during his five seasons with the Mets by itself would not have.^[17] Mets fans pointed to the induction of Reggie Jackson with a New York Yankees cap, despite playing the majority of his career with the Oakland A's as precedent, but Carter ultimately was inducted with the Expos cap. At the induction ceremony, Carter spoke a few words of French, thanking fans in Montreal for the great honor and pleasure of playing in that city, though he also took great care to note the Mets' 1986 championship as the highlight of his career.

After the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. following the 2004 season, a banner displaying Carter's number along with those of Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Rusty Staub was hung from the rafters at the Bell Centre, home of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. While the Mets have not retired number eight, it has remained unused since Carter's election to the Hall of Fame.

Coaching[link]

Carter was named Gulf Coast League Manager of the Year his first season managing the Gulf Coast Mets in 2005. A year later, he was promoted to the A-level St. Lucie Mets, and guided his team to the 2006 Florida State League championship, again earning Manager of the Year honors. In recent years, Carter has been criticized, most notably by former co-captain Keith Hernandez, for twice openly campaigning for the Mets' managerial position while it was still occupied by incumbents Art Howe in 2004, and in 2008 Willie Randolph.

In 2008, he managed the Orange County Flyers of the Golden Baseball League, and again guided his team to the GBL Championship and was named Manager of the Year. For the following season Carter was named manager of the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.^[18] The Ducks won the 2009 second half Liberty Division title, however, they were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Liberty Division playoffs.^[19] The next season Carter was named head baseball coach for the NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish.

Personal life[link]

Carter attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California. He was married to his wife, Sandy, from 1975 until his death in 2012. They had three children.

His daughter Kimmy is the head softball coach at Palm Beach Atlantic^[20], and was a softball catcher for Florida State from 1999-2002.^[21]

Carter was an active philanthropist. Through The Gary Carter Foundation, of which Carter was the president, Carter and his staff support 8 Title I schools in Palm Beach County whose students live in poverty. Typically, these schools have 90% or more students eligible for free or reduced lunches. The Foundation seeks to "better the physical, mental and spiritual well being of children." To accomplish this, they advocate "school literacy by encouraging use of the Reading Counts Program, a program that exists in the Palm Beach County School District". Since its inception, The Gary Carter Foundation has placed over $622,000 toward charitable purposes, including $366,000 to local elementary schools for their reading programs.^{[citation needed]}

Illness and death[link]

In May 2011, Carter was diagnosed with four malignant tumors in his brain after complaining of headaches and forgetfulness. Doctors confirmed that he had a grade IV primary brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme, an extremely aggressive cancer. Doctors said that it was inoperable and Carter would undergo other treatment methods to shrink his tumor.^[22][23] On January 20, 2012, daughter Kimmy posted on her blog that an MRI had revealed additional tumors on her father's brain. Even as he battled an aggressive form of brain cancer, Carter did not miss Opening Day for the college baseball team he coached.^[24]

Carter died on February 16, 2012, having lost his battle with brain cancer. He was 57 years old.^[25]

On February 25, 2012, the Mets announced that they were adding a memorial patch to their uniforms for the entire 2012 season in honor of Carter. The patch features a black home plate with the number 8 and "KID" inscribed on it. ^[26] For the Mets' opening day on April 5, 2012, the Carter family unveiled a similar patch design on the center field wall of Citi Field (the wall design differs in that it has a thin white border around the black plate).

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
• List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• DHL Hometown Heroes

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gary Carter at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• The Official Website of the Gary Carter Foundation
• Ultimate Mets Database: Gary Carter

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2009)

Dr. John
Dr. John at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Background information
Birth name	Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr.
Also known as	Dr. John Creaux Mac Rebennack
Born	(1940-11-21) November 21, 1940 (age 71)
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Genres	Blues, rock, New Orleans rhythm and blues
Occupations	Vocalist, musician
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active	1950s–present
Labels	Atco, Blue Note, Nonesuch, GRP, Trip, United Artists
Associated acts	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Van Morrison, Dan Auerbach, Curious George (TV series), Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, Joe Walsh
Website	http://www.nitetripper.com/

Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. (born November 21, 1940), better known by the stage name Dr. John (also Dr. John Creaux, or Dr. John the Night Tripper), is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.^[1]

Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider prominence in the early 1970s with a wildly theatrical stage show inspired by medicine shows, Mardi Gras costumes and voodoo ceremonies. Rebennack has recorded over 20 albums and in 1973 scored a top-20 hit with the jaunty funk-flavored "Right Place Wrong Time", still perhaps his best-known song.

The winner of five Grammy Awards, Rebennack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by singer John Legend on Monday, March 14, 2011.^[2]

Early life and career[link]

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Dr. John's Acadian ancestry traces back to the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. He claims that his lineage took root in New Orleans sometime in the early 1800s. Growing up in the Third Ward, Dr. John found early musical inspiration in the minstrel tunes sung by his grandfather and a number of aunts, uncles, and cousins who played piano. He did not take music lessons before his teens, he only endured a short stint in choir before getting kicked out.^[3] His father, the owner of an appliance store and record shop, exposed him as a young boy to prominent jazz musicians like King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. Throughout his adolescence his father's connections enabled him access to the recording rooms of burgeoning rock artists such as Little Richard and Guitar Slim. From these exposures he advanced into clubs and onto the stage with varying local artists, most notably, Professor Longhair. ^[4]

Dr. John met Professor Longhair when he was about 13 or 14 years old, the start to a period in his life that would mark rapid growth as a musician and the beginnings of his entry into professional music. He describes his initial impression of Professor Longhair with note, not only of his musical prowess, but of his style: "I was also fascinated that he was sitting out there in a turtleneck shirt with a beautiful gold chain with a watch hangin’ on it, and an Army fatigue cap on his head. And I thought, Wow, I never seen nobody dressed like this guy. Just everything about the man was totally hip. And he had gloves on him, too, beautiful silk gloves. I’ll never forget this^[5]."

At age 16 he was hired by Johnny Vincent as a producer at Ace Records. There, he worked with artists like James Booker and Earl King, his musical experience expanding notably. He struggled through intermittent years of high school, eventually focusing entirely on music. Thereafter an entry into heavy narcotics use would fuel his desire to get out of New Orleans and move to California where his character, Dr. John, was born.^[6]

In late 1950s New Orleans, Dr. John originally concentrated on guitar and he gigged with local bands including Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners, (Paul Staele/Dennis "Bootsie" Cuquet, drums; Earl Stanley, bass; Charlie Miller, trumpet; Charlie Maduell, sax; Roland "Stone" LeBlanc, vocals), Frankie Ford and the Thunderbirds, and Jerry Byrne and the Loafers. He had a regional hit with a Bo Diddley-influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959. During these days he was an A&R man producing, with Charlie Miller, monophonic singles on 45s for Johnny Vincent and Joe Corona for such local labels as ACE, RON, RIC and others. For these sessions he oversaw A&R and the rhythm section while Miller wrote the horn arrangements and headed up the horns. It was a productive team until Miller decided to move to New York and to study music formally.

Rebennack's career as a guitarist came to an end when his left ring finger was injured by a gunshot while he was defending singer/keyboardist Ronnie Barron, his bandmate, Jesuit High School classmate, and longtime friend. After the injury, Rebennack concentrated on bass guitar before making piano his main instrument; pianist Professor Longhair was an important influence on Rebennack's piano-playing style.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1963 where he became a "first call" session musician on the booming Los Angeles studio scene in the 1960s and 1970s, providing backing for Sonny & Cher (and some of the incidental music for Cher's first film, Chastity), and for Canned Heat on their albums Living the Blues (1968) Future Blues (1970), and Freak Out! for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1966); along with many other acts.

HANDCUFFED[link]

Dr. John grew up with full exposure to the realities of New Orleans. Prostitutes, pimps, thieves and addicts all marked the same nightlife scene that contributed to his development as a musician.^[7] He was introduced to marijuana at a young age, among other drugs, ultimately gaining an addiction to heroin in his teen years. He recalls being "loaded" the first time while at high school, identifying the high he would chase for all of his life. Not so fondly, Dr. John looks back on the shortsighted moneymaking schemes he would devise through his teens and twenties, all to pay only for the next dose of heroin. He sold narcotics, ran a whorehouse, and even opened a business offering abortions (illegal at the time) during the 1950s. Drug-induced nightclub furies throughout Louisiana and into Florida would result in frequent shootouts and bouts with the police, and he picked up a list of arrests that finally led to prison time in Texas. His sentence ended in 1965 and he left for Los Angeles.

His characteristic, nameless genre of jazzy funk, emphasized with a flair of psychedelic rock, was a direct image of his drug habit throughout his hoodoo albums of the 1960s and up through the 1970s. He failed to heed the warnings of friends and paid no attention to his mother's concern; through the 1980s he continued his habit, failing to beat addiction after numerous stays at rehabilitation. Finally, after experiencing cardiac problems in New York, Dr. John exited his final rehabilitation stint, sober, in December, 1989. He went on to struggle with psychiatric problems through the 1990s, but, today, is sober and mentally stable with the help of medication.^[8]

TRYING TO ESCAPE THE HANDCUFFS (NO WAY)[link]

Dr. John was always fascinated with New Orleans voodoo, and in Los Angeles he developed the idea of the Dr. John persona for his old friend Ronnie Barron. He imagined it as an interesting stage show and an emblem to their New Orleans heritage. "Well, there was a guy the name of Dr. John, a hoodoo guy in New Orleans. He was competition to Marie Laveau. He was like her opposite. I actually got a clipping from the Times Picayune newspaper about how my great-great-great-grandpa Wayne was busted with this guy for runnin’ a voodoo operation in a whorehouse in 1860. I decided I would produce the record with this as a concept." Of course, he would assume the role of Dr. John himself, which he claims, came apprehensively.^[9]

He recalls reading about the original Doctor John in his youth, a purported Senegalese prince who came to New Orleans from Haiti, a medicinal and spiritual healer. The Doctor was a free man of color who lived on Bayou Road and claimed to have fifteen wives and over fifty children. He maintained a fascination with reptiles and kept an assortment of snakes and lizards, along with embalmed scorpions and animal and human skulls. His specialization was healing, and as such, in selling Gris-Gris, voodoo amulets that protected the wearer from harm. Gris Gris, would, of course, become of the name of Dr. John, the musician's famed debut album, his own form of "voodoo medicine."^[10]

1968-1971: HANDCUFFED AGAIN[link]

Beginning in the late 1960s, Rebennack gained fame as a solo artist after adopting the persona of "Dr. John, The Night Tripper". Dr. John's act combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues with psychedelic rock and elaborate stage shows that bordered on voodoo religious ceremonies, including elaborate costumes and headdress (reflecting and presumably inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins's stage act). The name "Dr. John" came from a legendary Louisiana voodoo practitioner of the early 19th century.^[11] On the earliest Dr. John records, the artist billing was "Dr. John, The Night Tripper", while the songwriting credits billed him as "Dr. John Creaux". Within a few years the "Night Tripper" subtitle was dropped, and Rebennack resumed using his real name for writing and producing/arranging credits.

Gris-Gris, his 1968 debut album combining voodoo rhythms and chants with the New Orleans music tradition, was ranked 143rd on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. Three more albums, 1969's Babylon, 1970's Remedies, and 1971's The Sun, Moon, And Herbs were released in the same vein of Gris-Gris, but none of them have enjoyed the popularity of his first album.

During early-to-mid-1969, Dr. John toured extensively, backed by supporting musicians Richard "Didymus" Washington (congas), Richard Crooks (drums), David Leonard Johnson (bass), Gary Carino (guitar), and singers Eleanor Barooshian, Jeanette Jacobs from The Cake, and Sherry Graddie. A second lineup formed later in the year for an extensive tour of the East Coast with Crooks and Johnson joined by Doug Hastings (guitar) and Don MacAllister (mandolin). Also in 1969, Dr. John contributed to the Music from Free Creek "supersession" project, playing on three tracks with Eric Clapton. Washington and Crooks also contributed to the project.

By the time The Sun, Moon, and Herbs was released, he had gained a notable cult following, including artists such as Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, who both took part in the sessions for that album. This album would serve as a transition from his Night Tripper voodoo, psychedelic persona to one more closely associated with traditional New Orleans R&B and funk. His next album, Dr. John's Gumbo, proved to be a landmark recording which is one of his most popular to this day; with drummer Fred Staehle serving as the band's backbone.

[edit] 1972-1974: Gumbo, In the Right Place, and Desitively Bonnaroo

Along with Gris-Gris, Dr. John is perhaps best known for his recordings during 1972-1974. 1972's Dr. John's Gumbo, an album covering several New Orleans R&B standards with only one original, is considered a cornerstone in New Orleans music. In his 1994 autobiography, Under a Hoodoo Moon, Dr. John writes, "In 1972, I recorded Gumbo, an album that was both a tribute to and my interpretation of the music I had grown up with in New Orleans in the 1940s and 1950s. I tried to keep a lot of the little changes that were characteristic of New Orleans, while working my own funknology on piano and guitar." The lead single from the album, "Iko Iko", broke into the Billboard top 40 singles chart. In 2003, Dr. John's Gumbo was ranked number 402 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It also earned a place on Offbeat magazine's 1999 listing of the Top 100 Louisiana CDs.

With Gumbo, Dr. John expanded his career beyond the psychedelic voodoo music and theatrics that had driven his career since he took on the Dr. John persona, although it has always remained an integral part of his music and identity. It wasn't until 1998's Anutha Zone that he would again concentrate on this aspect of his music wholly for a full album. "After we cut the new record", he wrote, "I decided I'd had enough of the mighty-coo-de-fiyo hoodoo show, so I dumped the Gris-Gris routine we had been touring with since 1967 and worked up a new act—a Mardi Gras revue featuring the New Orleans standards we had covered in Gumbo."

In early 1973 Thomas Jefferson Kaye produced an album featuring a collaboration with Dr. John, Mike Bloomfield and John Paul Hammond. This album, Triumvirate, was recorded in Columbia Studios, San Francisco, and Village Recorders, Los Angeles.

In 1973, with Allen Toussaint producing and The Meters backing, Dr. John released the seminal New Orleans funk album, In the Right Place. In the same way that Gris-Gris introduced the world to the voodoo-influenced side of his music, and in the manner that Dr. John's Gumbo began his career-long reputation as an esteemed interpreter of New Orleans standards, In the Right Place established Dr. John as one of the main ambassadors of New Orleans funk. In describing the album, Dr. John states, "The album had more of a straight-ahead dance feel than ones I had done in the past, although it was still anchored solid in R&B." It rose to #24 on the Billboard album charts, while the single "Right Place Wrong Time" landed at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. A second single, "Such a Night", peaked at #42. Still in heavy rotation on most classic rock stations, "Right Place Wrong Time" remains his single most recognized song. Artists such as Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, and Doug Sahm contributed single lines to the lyrics, which lists several instances of ironic bad luck and failure.

Dr. John attempted to capitalize on In the Right Place's successful formula, again collaborating with Allen Toussaint and The Meters for his next album, Desitively Bonnaroo, released in 1974. Although similar in feel to In the Right Place, it failed to catch hold in the mainstream like its predecessor. It would be his last pure funk album until 1994 with Television, although like his voodoo and traditional New Orleans R&B influences, funk has continued to heavily influence most of his work to the present day, especially in his concerts. While Dr. John stated in an interview during 1990s that he'd like to work with Toussaint again for a full album, this has yet to come to fruition.

In the mid-1970s Dr. John began an almost twenty-year-long collaboration with the R&R Hall of Fame/Songwriters Hall of Fame writer Doc Pomus to create songs for Dr. John's releases City Lights and Tango Palace and for B.B. King's Stuart Levine-produced There Must Be a Better World Somewhere, which won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording in 1982. Dr. John also recorded "I'm On a Roll", the last song written with Pomus prior to Pomus' death in 1991, for the now out-of-print Rhino/Forward Records 1995 tribute to Pomus titled Til the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus that also included covers of Pomus-penned songs by Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Brian Wilson, the Band, Los Lobos, Dion, Rosanne Cash, Solomon Burke and Lou Reed. According to Doc Pomus' daughter, Dr. John and her father were very close friends as well as writing partners; Dr. John delivered one of a number of eulogies and performed with singer Jimmy Scott at Pomus' funeral on March 17, 1991, in New York City.

On Thanksgiving Day 1976 he performed at the farewell concert for the Band, which was filmed and released as The Last Waltz. In 1979, he collaborated with the legendary Professor Longhair on Fess's (another nickname for Henry Byrd) last recording Crawfish Fiesta as a guitarist and co-producer. The album was awarded the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year in 1980, and was released shortly after Longhair's death in January, 1980.

Later work[link]

Dr. John at the 2006 Jazz à Vienne festival, in Vienne, France.

By the mid-1970s, Rebennack began focusing on a blend of music that touched on blues, New Orleans R&B, Tin Pan Alley standards and more.

In 1975 Dr. John's manager, Richard Flanzer, hired legendary producer Bob Ezrin. Hollywood Be Thy Name was recorded live at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California. The studio was transformed into a New Orleans nightclub for the sessions.

In 1981 and 1983 Dr. John recorded two solo piano albums for the Baltimore-based Clean Cuts label. In these two recordings Dr. John plays many of his own compositions in boogie-woogie.

He has also been a prominent session musician throughout his career, playing piano on the Rolling Stones' 1972 song "Let It Loose", as well as backing Carly Simon and James Taylor in their duet of "Mockingbird" in 1974 and Neil Diamond on 1976's Beautiful Noise. He also contributed the song "More and More" to Simon's Playing Possum album. He played on three songs on Maria Muldaur's 1973 solo debut album, including his composition "Three Dollar Bill". He sang on four songs and played piano on two songs on Muldaur's 1992 Louisiana Love Call. He was co-producer on Van Morrison's 1977 album A Period of Transition and also played keyboards and guitar. He contributed three songs as writer or co-writer ("Washer Woman", "The Ties That Bind", and "That's My Home") and also played guitar and keyboards on Levon Helm's 1977 release, Levon Helm and the RCO Allstars. He performed on the March 19, 1977 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. He played keyboards on the highly successful 1979 solo debut album by Rickie Lee Jones and has toured with Willy DeVille and contributed to his Return to Magenta (1978), Victory Mixture (1990), Backstreets of Desire (1992), and Big Easy Fantasy (1995) albums. His music has been featured in many films including "Such a Night" in Colors in 1988. In 1992 Dr. John released the album Goin' Back to New Orleans which included many classic songs from New Orleans and many great New Orleans based musicians like Aaron Neville, the Neville brothers, Al Hirt and Pete Fountain backed up Dr. John on this album. He performed as the first American artist at the Franco Follies festival in 1992.

Dr. John has also done vocals for Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits' "Luv dat chicken..." jingle, as well as the theme song ("My Opinionation") for the early-1990s television sitcom Blossom. A version of "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" with Harry Connick, Jr. was released on Connick's album 20 and VHS Singin' & Swingin' in 1990. Dr. John's longtime confidant and personal manager, Paul Howrilla was responsible for moving Dr. John from Los Angeles, California to New York, New York and securing the "crossover" work, as well as modifying Dr. John's image from the 1970's to the 1990's. Paul Howrilla was the brains behind the scenes, as Dr. John would attest. They remain very close friends to the present day.

His movie credits include Martin Scorsese's documentary The Last Waltz (in which he joins the Band for a performance of his song "Such a Night"), the 1978 Beatles-inspired musical "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and Blues Brothers 2000 (in which he joins the fictional band the Louisiana Gator Boys to perform the songs "How Blue Can You Get" and "New Orleans"). His version of the Donovan song "Season of the Witch" was also featured in this movie and on the soundtrack.

He also wrote and performed the score for the film version of John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" released in 1982. In 1993, his hit song "Right Place Wrong Time" was used extensively in the movie Dazed and Confused.

Dr. John has also been featured in several video and audio blues and New Orleans piano lessons published by Homespun Tapes. In addition to the instructional value, there is historical context about many other blues artists. Other documentary film scores include the New Orleans dialect film Yeah You Rite! (1985) and American Tongues in 1987.

Between July and September 1989 Dr. John toured in the first Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, alongside Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Nils Lofgren, Jim Keltner, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston and Clarence Clemons. The tour produced the 1990 live album Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band.

Dr.John at the Liri Blues Festival, Italy.

In 1997, he appeared on the charity single version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day". In the same year, he played piano on the Spiritualized song "Cop Shoot Cop...", from their critically acclaimed album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. Frontman Jason Pierce, a fan of John's music, reciprocated by guesting on John's 1998 album Anutha Zone along with drummer Damon Reece and guitarist Thighpaulsandra.

He recorded the live album Trippin' Live with drummer Herman Ernest, David Barard, bass, Tommy Moran, guitar, trumpeter Charlie Miller, tenor Red Tyler, and baritone sax Ronnie Cuber.

In September 2005 he performed Fats Domino's "Walkin' to New Orleans", to close the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon. This was for the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims; following the devastation of his hometown of New Orleans.

In November 2005, he released a four-song EP, Sippiana Hericane, to benefit New Orleans Musicians Clinic, Salvation Army, and the Jazz Foundation of America. On February 5, 2006, he joined fellow New Orleans native Aaron Neville, Detroit resident Aretha Franklin and a 150-member choir for the national anthem at Super Bowl XL as part of a pre-game tribute to New Orleans. On February 8, 2006, he joined Allen Toussaint, Bonnie Raitt, The Edge, and Irma Thomas to perform "We Can Can" as the closing performance at the Grammy Awards of 2006.

On May 12, 2006, Dr. John recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road. His performance was aired alongside those of LeAnn Rimes and Massive Attack on the Sundance Channel in the USA and Channel 4 in the UK.

Dr. John performing at Le Poisson Rouge, New York City, 2011.

On July 30, 2006, Dr. John performed a solo piano benefit for New Orleans composer and arranger Wardell Quezergue (King Floyd's "Groove Me") at a New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund benefit at the Black Orchid Theatre in Chicago.^[12] Special guest Mike Mills of R.E.M. was in attendance, along with an all-star funk band.

Dr. John performed the theme music to the Fox drama K-Ville. He also performed and co-produced the theme song for the PBS children's show Curious George.

In 2007, Dr. John accepted an invitation to contribute to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. He contributed his version of Domino's "Don't Leave Me This Way".

In January 2008, Mac Rebennack, Dr. John, was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Later, in February, he performed at All-Star Saturday Night, part of the NBA All-Star Weekend hosted by New Orleans.

In the 2009 Disney film The Princess and the Frog, Dr. John sings the opening tune, "Down in New Orleans".

He reigned as King of the Krewe du Vieux for the 2010 New Orleans Mardi Gras season.

Dr. John played keyboards and had a major role in shaping Gregg Allman's 2011 album Low Country Blues which was produced by T-Bone Burnett.^[13]

In 2011 he collaborated with Hugh Laurie on the song "After You've Gone" on his album Let Them Talk.

In 2011 Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and The Meters performed Desitively Bonnaroo at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee as part of the festival's tenth year celebration. The name of the festival was inspired by the album.

In 2012, he released Locked Down, a collaboration with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who produces and plays guitar.^[11] The album received very positive reviews for its raw, Afrobeat-influenced sound. The Los Angeles Times said it showed Dr. John "exiting a period of relative creative stagnation by creating something magical, the embodiment of everything he’s done but pushed in a clear new direction."^[14]

Cover versions[link]

Dr. John's song "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" was covered in 1969 by Marsha Hunt and produced by Tony Visconti; also in June 1969 by Cher on her 3614 Jackson Highway album, and was released as a single; and in July 1970 by Johnny Jenkins, whose supporting musicians included slide guitarist Duane Allman and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson; Allman also performed on Ton Ton Macoute, the album that contained it. Allman Brothers bass guitarist Berry Oakley also appeared on other tracks on the album). "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" was also covered in the 1970s by Humble Pie on their album Performance Rockin' the Fillmore, and is track 3 on Paul Weller's 1995 album Stanley Road. Widespread Panic and The Allman Brothers Band also perform this song regularly.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• Gris-Gris (1968) (Atco, SD 33-234)
• Babylon (1969)
• Remedies (1970) (Atco, SD 33-316)
• The Sun, Moon & Herbs (1971) (Atco, SD 33-362)
• Dr. John's Gumbo (1972)
• In the Right Place (1973) (Atco, SD 7018)
• Desitively Bonnaroo (1974) (Atco, SD 7043)
• Hollywood Be Thy Name (1975) (UA-LA552G)
• City Lights (1978)
• Tango Palace (1979) (Horizon, SP-740)
• Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack Vol. 1 (1981)
• Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack Vol. 2 (The Brightest Smile in Town) (1983)
• In a Sentimental Mood (1989)
• ZuZu Man (1989) (Trip Records TLP-9518)
• Bluesianna Triangle , w/ Art Blakey and David 'Fathead' Newman (1990) (Windham Hill)
• Goin' Back to New Orleans (1992)
• Television (1994)
• Afterglow (1995)
• Trippin' Live
• Anutha Zone (1998)
• Duke Elegant (1999) (Parlophone, 7243 5 23220 2 2)
• Creole Moon (2001)
• All By Hisself, Live At The Lonestar (2003) (Skinji Brim) recorded live Dec. 22 & 23, 1986
• N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or d'Udda (2004)
• Sippiana Hericane (2005)
• Mercernary (2006) (Blue Note 54541)
• The City That Care Forgot (2008)
• Tribal (2010)
• Locked Down (2012)

With Bluesiana Triangle[link]

• Bluesiana Triangle (Windham Hill, 1990)
• Bluesiana Triangle II (Windham Hill, 1991)

Other contributions[link]

• Levon Helm and the RCO Allstars, Levon Helm (Edsel, 1977).
• Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, Ringo Starr (EMI, 1990), Rykodisc RALP-10190 (CD: Rykodisc RCD-10190)
• Boogie to Heaven Gayle Wynters, featuring Dr. John and Roger Kellaway (VWC Records, 1995)^[15]
• Perfect Day BBC corporate film and charity release in 1997 - featuring, amongst others, Dr John ("Perfect Day")
• Jools Holland's Big Band Rhythm & Blues - "The Hand That Changed Its Mind" (Rhino, 2002)^[16]
• Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard, 2007)^[17]
• Let Them Talk (Warner Bros. Records, 2011)^[18]
• My Kind of Christmas, Christina Aguilera (RCA, 2000)^[19]
• Use Me, David Bromberg (Appleseed, 2011)^[20]