429 Records
2008
City That Care Forgot
About This Album
The City That Care Forgot follows Dr. John's (aka Mac Rebennack's) brilliant 2006 Mercernary set based on Johnny Mercer tunes. Given that this recording, like 2005's emergency benefit EP Sippiana Hericane, is rather political in nature, one can assume it's an entirely different animal than Mercernary...but is it? Since the good Doc has his fantastic Lower 911 band in tow (they played on both of the previous outings), we can count on some deeply funky, New Orleans second-line R&B, blues, and jazz grooves, despite the socially conscious nature of the lyrics. The set was recorded in Maurice, LA, and produced by Mac and Herman Roscoe Ernest. There is a load of "name" guests here, which is a mixed blessing in at least one case. Eric Clapton makes his second sideman appearance this year -- the first was on Steve Winwood's brilliant Nine Lives -- playing excellent spooky blues guitar on three tracks here: the title (with Ani DiFranco on backing vocals and guitar), the strutting R&B whomp of "Time for a Change," (an exhortation to vote), and the deep, driven funk of "Stripped Away." (Perhaps he should quit making his own records and take up the sideman gig permanently, because these appearances are stellar.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.