Dr John - City That Care Forgot
Monday, June 23, 2008 10:27
“There’s been no shortage of thoughtful musical responses to Hurricane Katrina, but this album-length elegy by one of the city’s foremost voices stands at something like the Mitchell Report of the bunch. “City That Care Forgot” is a righteous service indeed, all rage and soul and careful optimism, a place where the ballads drip and burn as much as the rockers, the barbs come quick and sharp (”Say it’s a job well done, then you giggled like a bitch, and hopped back on the Air Force One”), and the best prognosis that the doctor can muster is, “We’re getting there.” Dr. John has enlisted much help here, including that of Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson and Terence Blanchard, and his own Lower 911 band can churn up bayou funk at the snap of a finger. But though “City” is a vicious rebuke, its greater power comes from its being shot through with a deep love and a deeper sadness. —Jeff Vrabel”
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