Dan Auerbach renews Dr. John’s sound

Dr. John has been turned into a Muppet… Dr. John

Nonesuch Records

Rocks like: The Black Keys, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Fela Kuti

Grade: A

Dr. John has been turned into a Muppet, inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and has survived over 40 years in the music industry, but it would take the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach to produce an album that brings him into the modern era.

The title track wails with prison chants, hip-hop influenced drums and a soaring organ before Auerbach’s guitar strings enter with a sound that could have belonged to the Rolling Stones around 1970. The whole album successfully interweaves musical eras and styles without stress on the songs — something Auerbach’s production work has long hinted at but seems to fully grasp in this album.

“Big Shot” opens with a clarinet sample from early 20th century dixieland jazz and deconstructs it into a new song that reeks of old New Orleans in the best way possible. The horns are big, the bravado is high, and Dr. John sounds like the voodoo master he was named for.

The afrobeat flavor is highly present in songs like “You Lie,” where Auerbach’s articulately soulful guitar introduces booming horns and steady drums that Fela Kuti would be proud of.

Dr. John’s voice itself is timeless, delivering lines with a swagger many rappers should be jealous of. “No plea bargain / no cheap cop-out / the truth sounds better than the words you ‘bout,” he sings in the song.

The album ends on “God’s Sure Good,” a gospel-influenced number with choir vocals, a hopping Hammond organ and a twangy country guitar. It climaxes with a musical breakdown that could be a journey to the afterlife, or at least to the next album on iTunes.

While fans of Auerbach and Dr. John should find Locked Down more than compelling, the consistent originality of the ten tracks should have all music fans listening with muffalettas or hamburgers in hand.