Monday, November 21, 2011

Music Monday ~ Dr John


We're contemplating the last few sips of Sun in Scorpio now. Sun will move into Sagittarius after tomorrow. There's a Music Monday subject among these final dregs, known best to the public as Dr. John - proper name: Malcolm John Rebennack. Dr John's a talented boogie/blues pianist and gravelly-voiced singer of R&B with a touch of Cajun thrown in courtesy of his native New Orleans. His signature style has been termed "voodoo music" by some, but he's also known for great renditions of more traditional blues forms, pop, jazz and Zydeco.He has appeared in several movies: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Last Waltz, Candy Mountain, The Blues Brothers. He also wrote and performed the score for the film version of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row and his hit song Right Place Wrong Time was used extensively in the movie Dazed and Confused.

Dr John has been on the music scene since 1950 - not always high profile. In the late 1950s he was playing sessions with Joe Tex, Frankie Ford and Professor Longhair. In the 1960s he began a long and productive solo career, peaking with a 1973 hit single Right Place Wrong Time. Nowadays he devotes a lot of attention to aiding victims of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill both of which devastated his native area. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

Born 21 November 1940 in New Orleans. His time of birth is not known, so a 12 noon chart shown below - rising sign will not be accurate, nor will degree of Moon in Leo.

He has planets at both ends of Scorpio: Sun at the far edge at 29* and Mars (Scorpio's traditional ruler) at the gateway 00*. Mercury is found around mid-sign. Thats a potent dose of the old Scorpio tincture! It manifests, in Dr John's case in his draw to the voodoo elements of his New Orleans background. Voodoo, with its dark mysteries links to Pluto, Scorpio's modern ruler. Venus, planet of the arts is in Libra, a sign known for its musical traits, and ruled by Venus, planet of the arts. Creative Neptune, in discerning Virgo and in helpful sextile to his Scorpio Sun plays into his songwriting talent (also on the darker side to the pitfalls of addiction, which at various times he has encountered).

There are three planets in Earthy Taurus (also ruled by musical Venus) opposing his Scorpio trio and helping to "ground" his more outlandish aspirations - and his feet, helping his career towards a longevity which might otherwise have been swallowed up by Neptune's addictions. Ah - but Uranus, the eccentric one is there in Taurus. Taurus can ground even the eccentricities of Uranus - I'm here to prove it!

Below, two videos of Dr John performing: first with a fellow-Scorpio-Sun-type, Ricky Lee Jones, on Makin' Whoopee, second playing Swanee River Boogie (if you don't tap your feet to this one you're asleep!)




4 comments:

Wisewebwoman said...

Awesome talent right there, T.
XO
WWW
And BTW did you read the bits on fracking having something to do with your recent earthquake?

Twilight said...

WWW ~~ I did see a few articles putting that proposition forward, yes. It wouldn't surprise me - but it won't stop what they're doing (under-breath bad language follows).
:-(

There are so many things wrong at present in this country and this world !

JD said...

"Dazed and Confused"

...sounds like the story of my life :)

Twilight said...

JD ~~ Yep, me too - in a space somewhere out there where the buses don't run. :-D