Dr. John: Locked Down

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Dr. John’s new Dan Auerbach-produced album Locked Down has been hyped and hailed as a throwback record: one of those back-to-basics efforts that have been staples of nearly every music year since Rick Rubin first met Johnny Cash. But what are “the basics” when it comes to Dr. John? The New Orleans legend’s one big commercial breakthrough was with the aptly named R&B-flavored 1973 LP In The Right Place. But the rest of Dr. John’s career has been remarkably diverse, ranging from spooky swamp-rock to growly Tom Waits-esque cabaret to stripped-down piano-jazz. And over the course of the past couple of decades, Dr. John has cycled back through nearly all of those styles, never losing touch with his earthy New Orleans roots.