Bobby Rush and Dr. John have been nearly lifelong friends, having made each other’s acquaintance in their 20s as active figures on the ’60s R&B scene. Yet despite that, the two have never had a chance to make a recording together… until now. Rush originally cut the tune back in 2012 with Blinddog Smokin’ and decided that for his new album, Decisions releasing April 15th, that he wanted his old buddy on the track.
The song paints a portrait of the extreme violence plaguing New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina with heartrending video featuring live performance, the New Orleans streets and a live action/animated character-driven storyline. In the end, there is hope as people come together. Mutual friend Carl Gustafson of the Southern California band BlindDog Smokin’ wrote the tune with Decisions producer Donald Markowitz and says, “I think it’s important to know that the video and the song have a lot to do with hope. Not just despair.” Proceeds from the song benefit Crimestoppers Greater New Orleans.
Meanwhile, we eagerly await April 15th’s release of Decisions. As Gustafson says, “I’d really like to see people in the United states take a look at these two characters and see what they have before they’re gone, and feel their power, feel their love. Who knows how long Bobby or Mac is going to last? Now we have a chance. We have the two of them together for the first time in their careers, and they’re two of the rarest characters in American music culture.”
