WEBVTT - Dr. John: A Shooting, Federal Prison, and Voodoo Healing 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:15.080 Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:19.120 story about voodoo, not the Hollywood version of vudu, because 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:22.560 this isn't a story about pincushion dolls and needles. Nobody 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:26.520 worships the devil in this story, well almost nobody. This 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.840 is a story about real Louisiana voodoo, the kind with 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:33.240 the power not only to hurt into hecks, but also 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:37.640 to heal. This is a story of Doctor John, a pimp, 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:40.959 a drug addict, an outlaw, and a piano man who 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:44.400 made great music. Unlike that music I played for you 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:46.840 at the top of the show, And that wasn't great music. 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.080 That was a preset loop from my melotron called nine 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:51.840 and a half Fingers MK. 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:52.720 One. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:55.640 I played you that loop because I can't afford the 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:59.640 rights to the Lions Sleeps Tonight by the Tokens. Why 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:02.240 would I play you that particular slice of no nut 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:03.160 high note cheese? 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:05.080 Could I afford it? 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:08.200 Because that was a number one song in America on 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.320 December twenty fourth, nineteen sixty one, And that was the 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.000 day that a musician named mac Rebenak, who would later 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.759 become known as Doctor John, was shot outside a bar 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.840 in Jacksonville, Florida, in an incident that kicked off a 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:24.640 heroin journey through the criminal underworld and ultimately to musical salvation. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:30.319 On this episode, a shooting, a car chase, a drug bust, 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:34.760 time in a federal pen, musical healing and rebirth with 0:01:34.920 --> 0:02:09.640 doctor John. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is disgracing. It 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:13.160 was the night before Christmas in New Orleans, in the 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.880 city's third Ward, in a tiny shotgun apartment, A creature 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.160 was stirring and it definitely was not a mouse. It 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.600 was a woman and she was alone, swaying back and 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.360 forth in a trance, filling the room with sound because 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:31.360 she was chanting a mantra. She repeated it over and 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.240 over until the words came roaring out of her mouth. 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.680 In the corner of the room sat a small wooden altar. 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:42.919 It was covered in black candles. The flickering candles sent 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:47.200 menacing shadows stretching toward the ceiling. While the woman was 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.400 doing her best to conjure up some menacing energy. She 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:52.800 banged on a glass bottle with a stick until the 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:56.720 rhythm built into a frenzy. All the while she kept chanting. 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:00.919 The sound echoed through the narrow shotgun apartment it built 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.239 until it felt like the wooden beams of the house 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:06.960 were resonating with her voice. And just when it seemed 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:10.280 like the sound could get no louder, she reached down 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:12.600 to the paper bag at her feet and pulled out 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.400 the object inside. It was a pair of scuffed, leather 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:21.320 dressed shoes, size eleven. Still chanting, she grabbed a handful 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.240 of dust from a bowl and sprinkled it across the altar. 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.600 Then she placed the shoes on the dust and blew 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.600 out the candles. But this was no ordinary dust. It 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:35.920 was a special blend of three ingredients, dirt from a graveyard, 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:40.040 grease from a church bell, and snake skin. It was 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:44.640 goopher dust, a powerful conjuring agent. The woman used it 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:51.520 to cast a hex on the owner of the shoes. Meanwhile, 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.480 five hundred miles away, a man threw open the door 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:58.480 of the back office of a tiny juke joint in Jacksonville, Florida. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:00.920 His mind was raising as fast as his fingers on 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.160 the dial and the combination lock of the heavy room 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.800 safe tucked into the corner of the office. This man 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.680 was the only one who knew the combination. After all, 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.360 He was the owner of this little club. It was 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.360 a down and dirty job, and sometimes it was dangerous, 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:18.159 so he kept a gun in the safe just in case. 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:22.280 On the good nights, though it was worth it, there 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.960 were piles of cash to be made. Like tonight, the 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.880 holidays were approaching, and the crowd was in a festive mood, 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.960 and the bar was already doing brisk business, and there 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.160 was a hot New Orleans band set up on the stage. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.520 On a night like tonight, this man should have been 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:40.760 seeing dollar signs in his eyes, but instead he was 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:45.240 seeing red. He spun the knob on the combination lock 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.880 to the final number and heaved open the heavy door 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.880 of the safe. Loose bills flew into the air as 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.800 he frantically rifled through the safe contents, but finally his 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:59.880 hands made contact with cold steel. It was the long 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.240 black barrel of his Colt revolver. He pulled out the 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.400 gun and stared at it for a moment, and the 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:10.280 memory came flooding back. He shuddered, and then he loaded 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.560 the cylinder with six bullets. As the man pushed his 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:15.920 way back out of the office, he left the safe 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.240 wide open behind him. He had more important things on 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:23.040 his mind, like finding the musician who fucked his wife 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.159 and pumping a thirty caliber bullet to the bastard's skull. 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:33.240 Mac Rebenac was relaxing in the club's dressing room when 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.000 suddenly he felt the chill. It tingled all the way 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:38.800 down to the soles of his feet, like he was 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.279 walking on pins and needles. He reached down and rubbed 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.120 the leather on his second favorite pair's size eleven wingtips. 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.839 Up until this moment, he had been feeling mellow, and 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.120 why not. He'd stolen his old lady Lydia's last bag 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.599 of brown on his way out of town. He kept 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.000 the small stash of heroin hidden in a few juicy 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.200 fruit wrappers in his coat pocket, all except what he 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.920 had already shot up during the drive to Jacksonville. 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:04.599 That was the rule of every. 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.640 Junkie musician Mack knew in New Orleans. Never carry on 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:09.760 you more than you can eat, because he never knew 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:10.360 when a vice. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:11.800 Squad cop would try to bust you. 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.240 And if he didn't have enough bride money, then you 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.560 might be doing forever in a day in Angola. 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:19.080 But that was a worry for another. 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.520 Time, because the heroin that was coursing through Max veins 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.560 right now was doing its work. Mack was feeling knocked 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:30.000 out loaded, ready to show these Florida fuckers what a 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:33.719 hot New Orleans band could really do. Except for one thing. 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.560 He couldn't find his lead singer. It was that damn kid, 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:43.800 Ronnie Barron. Ronnie had a knack for disappearing just before showtime. 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.200 Usually he was making time with some girl that he'd 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.960 just met. Mack couldn't blame him. It was a kid's 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:51.760 first time on the road, and after all, he was 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:55.200 only seventeen, so Mack tried not to go too hard 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.240 on him, even if he took longer to get ready 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.240 for a show than the two dancing girls who were 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.920 traveling with the band. Max stepped outside and fished into 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.520 his coat pocket for a thin joint. It was one 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:07.239 of a few he snagged from one of the girls 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.359 that he was pimping out of a fleabag motel in 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:14.679 the French Quarter. As the reefer smoke filled his lungs, 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.119 the girl wasn't on his mind, and neither was Max's 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.640 old lady. Instead, it was Ronnie Baron's mother. Just a 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.960 few days ago, Mack had showed up in her kitchen. 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:26.760 He wore his clean as dirty shirt and he was 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:30.520 mostly not stoned. He promised Ronnie's mother that he would 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.920 keep Ronnie out of trouble on the road, but the 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.720 woman didn't buy a speech. Instead, when he finished, she 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:40.280 just stared at him for a long moment. Then she 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.480 grabbed a meat cleaver in front of her and she 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.240 slammed it down on the counter, slicing a roast in two. 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:47.600 She warned Mac that if Ronnie. 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.520 Got in trouble, she would cut off Max Cajoni's the 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:50.800 same way she sliced. 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:52.840 The roast, and it. 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:54.600 Scared the shit out of Mac at the time, But 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:58.080 now five hundred miles away, Mac couldn't help a crack 0:07:58.200 --> 0:07:58.760 up about it. 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:01.040 He wasn't scared of the old lady. 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:03.760 Still, it was time to get the show on the road, 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:06.360 so he flicked the butt of his joint towards the 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.920 gravel parking lot and went looking for Ronnie. It was 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:11.840 when he turned the corner that he heard it, the 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.560 unmistakable sound of hard metal colliding with soft flesh. It 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.480 was the sound of the club owner's pistol whipping Ronnie 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.800 Barren in the face. The club owner was screaming that 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.800 he was going to kill Ronnie. Mac launched himself forward. 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:27.000 He jumped into the melee and tried to grab the 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.000 club owner's gun. He clamped down on the cold steel 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.440 and then he heard a bang, and that's when Mac 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:35.760 realized that he was holding onto the barrel of the gun. 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.120 Mac screamed in agony as a thirty caliber bullet tore 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:43.520 through his hand. Blood was streaming everywhere. Mac lifted up 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.680 his left hand, and that's when he realized his finger, 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:49.880 not to mention, his future as a guitarist, were both 0:08:49.920 --> 0:09:21.560 hanging by a thread. The comedian was a little guy. 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.079 He stood barely five five even with the lift from 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.120 his shiny black dress shoes. He wore a white tuxedo 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.200 jacket and an oily smile that matched his slick black hair. 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.240 He looked like he came to Madame Francine's strip club 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.880 in the French Quarter straight from Las Vegas, and for 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:39.120 good reason, because Las Vegas is exactly where this point 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:42.320 size comedian came from. No one knew how he landed 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.280 this month long gig warming up the crowds at Madame Francine's. 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.680 But even though he was from out of town, the 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:51.200 comedian still should have known the rules, like stay away 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.880 from the strippers working the stage and stay away from 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.000 the bee girls working the crowd. They were all spoken 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.760 for by the pimps who operated out of the club 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.320 or the gangsters who owned it. But this comedian either 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.360 didn't know that or didn't care, and he didn't waste 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.160 any time because he was already messing around with one 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:09.880 of the strippers. 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:11.480 This guy moved quickly. 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:16.880 Unfortunately for him, word got out just as fast, so 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:19.080 when he arrived at the club on this night, he 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:22.600 was greeted by two huge bouncers. They grabbed him by 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.040 his lapels and his face turned almost as white as 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:29.520 his tuxedo jacket. His smarmy smile melted away. He stammered 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:32.040 out a few lame excuses, but the bouncers were in 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.719 no mood to listen. Instead, they pulled him out to 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.200 the street corner, and then one of the huge bouncers 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:41.240 smashed his fists directly into the comedian's nose, and the comedian. 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:41.800 Crashed to the ground. 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:44.800 Blood was pouring down his face and onto his white jacket. 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.840 The two bouncers then continued kicking the shit out of 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:49.920 the comedian. On the street corner, in front of anyone 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.559 who cared to look. After they were done. One of 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.280 the bouncers picked up the comedian and screamed in his face, 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:58.720 you want to be funny, Go be funny now, you 0:10:58.760 --> 0:10:59.599 little motherfucker. 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:01.920 He pushed the comedian back into the club. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:08.520 Meanwhile, inside Madam Francises, no one skipped to beat. The 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:10.760 card players didn't even look up from their hands. The 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:14.560 dancers kept dancing, and on the bandstand, the band kept playing. 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:19.680 This was French Quarter justice in nineteen sixty three. Laws 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:21.640 didn't matter and the police. 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:22.160 Didn't run the show. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.640 The gangsters who operated these New Orleans clubs did. 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:27.520 Which wasn't all bad. 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.480 In fact, it made the French Quarter twenty four to 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.920 seven party, as long as you knew which rules to follow. 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:39.000 Unlike this comedian, mac Rebenak knew the rules, so he 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.240 knew better than to stop the music. He stared at 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:44.800 the blood dripping down the comedian's face, but he kept 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.080 stabbing at the electric organ until the band brought their 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:51.520 set to a waring climax. Now, as soon as the 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.040 band finished, the bouncers pushed the comedian on stage, still 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:58.679 wearing his blood splattered white jacket. While the comedian was 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.600 attempting to do his set with the broken nose, Mac 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.079 hopped off the bandstand and headed out into the French 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:08.679 Quarter at night. He needed to score. His left hand 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:12.480 was absolutely killing him. Even two years after a surgeon 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:16.040 successfully reattached his ring finger after that shooting, he could 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:16.800 barely move it. 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:18.080 When he did, it. 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.120 Still caused him plenty of pain, so much pain that 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.640 he gave up on playing guitar and he shifted to 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.520 playing keys. That was thanks to his friend and bandmate, 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:33.880 James Booker. James Booker was a local legend who was 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.800 nicknamed the Black Liberacei for his flamboyant fashion as well 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.760 as his devastating chops on the piano. He showed Mac 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.319 a few tricks on the keys, and in return, Mac 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.960 taught him a few tricks of his own, like where 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.320 to find the best heroine in the French Quarter and 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.839 how to score without getting caught. Max showed James Booker 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.199 where to buy the Gregory bags and give them protection. 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:57.760 He showed him how to lay a jack of club's 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.719 face down under a black candle and then lighted when 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:04.240 were citing Psalm thirty five, the ritual was. 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.400 Supposed to make them invisible to the police. That was 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:08.599 the idea, at least. 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.559 One could never be too careful, especially in those days, 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.680 because by nineteen sixty three, the French Quarter was changing rapidly. 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:20.760 As mac walked down a wide avenue, he passed door 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:24.640 after door that was chained up and padlocked shut. Just 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.640 a year ago, nearly every one of these buildings would have. 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:28.800 Been packed full of people. 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:33.120 Tourists looking for a little Saturday night action, locals looking 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:37.439 for a fix, brothels, speakeasies, strip clubs, none of them 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:41.360 strictly legal. But in the French Quarter, a little bride 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.440 money could go a long way and keeping the party 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.280 running all night long, no matter what the law said. 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.600 That's how it was, at least until the city elected 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:53.400 a new Attorney general named Jim Garrison. Max spat on 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:57.040 the ground and cursed Garrison's name. For years, Garrison had 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.360 been a low level assistant district attorney. Mack seen his 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.840 face darkened the doors of French Quarter bars and brothels 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:06.240 more than once, But now Garrison seemed intent on getting 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.880 his face plastered on the nightly news. He organized raids 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:13.400 of strip clubs and illegal speakeasies in front of news cameras. 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.920 He dramatically chained the doors and padlocked and shut. And 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.760 with every club he shut down, that was one less 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:24.000 stage for a gigging musician like Mac, because weiss live 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:30.640 music went hand in hand. In New Orleans, Mac had 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.400 one specific vice on his mind as he slipped through 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:37.000 an alleyway and arrived at a familiar door. He rapped 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.840 three times in quick succession, and the door opened a crack, 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:43.560 pulling tightly against the chain lock. Mac nodded to the 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:46.040 man inside and held up two fingers without saying a word. 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:50.120 The door slam shut. A moment later it reopened and 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.600 the man had two small bundles in his hand. Max 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:55.400 slipped a handful of bills to the crack in the 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.480 door and palmed the bundles. The door slam shut again. 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.920 Mac carefully wrapped each bundle in a foil juicy fruit 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.240 wrapper and tucked them in his coat pocket. He headed 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:08.640 down the alley and back towards Madam Francines. Once he 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:10.760 got back to the club, he could get his fix, 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.000 and then he could find a better place to hide 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:17.240 the rest of his stash. As he turned back onto 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.920 the avenue. He could see the moonlight glinting off of 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.320 the Mississippi River ahead of him, or at least he 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:25.440 thought it was the moonlight, but as he kept walking closer, 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.400 he realized that it was actually a pair of headlights 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:30.960 and they were coming from a black Cadillac parked on 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.320 the side of the road. Mac felt a cold shiver 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:37.120 run through his body. He reached inside his coat and 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.480 touched his fingers to the Gregory bag around his neck, 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:41.800 and as he kept walking toward the car, he could 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.840 see two men sitting in the front seat. A bad 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.400 feeling was brewing in his gun, so Mac carefully slipped 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.280 his hand into his coat pocket. He grabbed a pair 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.240 of foil wrapped bundles and tossed. 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.560 Them into a drainage ditch, but it was too late. 0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:58.960 The men jumped out of the black Cadillac and ran 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.840 toward him, guns and badgers in hand, screaming at him 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.160 to put his hands up. They grabbed Mac by the 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.120 collar and began searching his pockets, and they came up empty. 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:08.720 But one of the cops. 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.000 Smirked at him, and then he asked a question, Hey, buddy, 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.120 what's your favorite kind of gum? The cop gave a 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.800 big shitty and grin is a juicy fruit, and the 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:20.760 other cop pulled the two bundles out of the ditch 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.440 and held them up. The headlights of the car reflected 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.960 off of the foyle gum wrapper. Mack Rebenac knew that 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:34.680 his mojo had just run out. After his bust, Mack 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.680 was sentenced to two years in lock up, first in 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.520 New Orleans Parish prison, next in a federal penitentiary in 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.480 Fort Worth, Texas. When he got out of the slammer 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:47.480 in Texas, the judge had just one piece of advice 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.440 for him, don't go back to New Orleans. Of course, 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:55.280 mac didn't need the advice. Jim Garrison's war on vice 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.800 was killing the music scene in the French Quarter anyway, 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:00.760 so mac Rebenac I already knew he wouldn't be heading 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:05.159 east to New Orleans. Instead, he was going west to California. 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:08.280 He hoped he could find a new scene, a new start, 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.040 and he figured he might just need a new name 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:18.399 to go with it. We'll be right back after this word, 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:30.080 word word. The red and blue lights in the rear 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:34.239 view mirror were large and getting larger. Max screened at 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.359 the driver to step on it. But the rustbuck in 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.120 sedan was no match for the police cruiser, and there 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.399 was no doubt about it. The cops were closing in 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.040 on them fast. The driver of the car was a 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.159 skinny Mexican chick known on the street as. 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:47.320 Gloria Hot to Molly. 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.159 She had a talent for scamming drug dealers, and she 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.800 could drive the hell out of a getaway car. She 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.640 also had a soft spot for musicians, which was good 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.720 news for Mac because after a year in Los Angeles, 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.800 he was already an in demand session player for stars 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:06.760 ranging from Aretha Franklin to Sonny and Cher. Still, he 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:09.240 barely had enough cash for the fleabag motel room he 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:13.359 shared with Gloria on the corner of Melrose and van Ness. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:15.800 Mac watched the police car creep closer in the rear 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:18.840 view mirror. He thought about the trunk full of stolen clothes. 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.520 He thought about the stash in his pocket, and he 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:23.479 thought about the bag of cash and grass. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.840 If Gloria had just boosted from a Venice Beach. 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.639 Drug dealer, If the cops caught them, they were looking 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:32.159 at serious time. Max started pulling the stash out of 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:34.200 his pocket. He was just about to eat it, and 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:35.359 the car swore. 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:36.439 Viciously to the left. 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:39.719 The bundle in his hand went flying, and Gloria screamed 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.520 as she ran the car into a concrete highway barrier. Instantly, 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:46.680 the front bumper peeled off and the car sent sparks 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:48.480 into the air as it slid to a stop on 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:52.560 the asphalt, the tires skinning across the concrete, the car buckling. 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.639 They nearly spun out. Gloria managed to straighten up the wheel. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:57.240 To the last second. 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.760 She cut across the highway, heading in the opposite direction, 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.080 flew down the first exit. Rent to could see as 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:05.679 the Saddam was heading around the curve, Max on the 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:06.320 cop car. 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:09.840 Racing ahead into the distance. It was a narrow escape. 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.280 Max should have been happy about it, but instead he 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:18.960 was furious, not at Gloria, she was doing what they 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:20.840 needed to do to survive, and not. 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.280 At the cops. He didn't like the cops, but. 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.639 At least he knew where he stood with him. No. 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.000 After the adrenaline of the high speed chase had worn off, 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:33.520 Mac's thoughts turned to his primary frustration. He was pissed 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:39.240 off at record company executives, the rich dudes, in suits 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:41.879 who were forcing him to live like an outlaw just 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:45.280 to scrape together enough cash for a shitty seventeen dollars 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:49.399 and fifty cent motel room in the worst part of town. Meanwhile, 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:52.760 these record executives were raking in cash on the songs 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.480 that guys like Mac were working themselves to death creating. 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:59.560 And that wasn't an exaggeration. Mac himself had witnessed an 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.840 overworked studio engineer literally dropped dead of a heart attack 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.359 in the middle of a session. It was too much 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.560 that something had to be done. So Mac thought of 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.800 the worst defender, a manager at Mercury Records, a guy 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:15.040 who'd stiffed him on payment more than once in the 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.760 last month, and he decided to strike back the best 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:24.240 way he knew how. That night, at midnight, an unlikely 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.920 trio gathered on the rooftop of an LA Recording studio. 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:30.720 A pale Englishman with dark black hair stood in the 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.400 center of a pentagram drawn and chalk on the rooftop. 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:35.480 There was an evil look in his eye as he 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:39.680 muttered a series of dark incantations. Next to him, Mac 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:43.240 lit black candles and incense. He scattered figurines of the 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:47.520 graveyard spirit baron Somney. As the smoke from the incense 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:52.000 rose into the night air, Mack kept chanting and singing. Meanwhile, 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:55.639 a lanky Texan chain smoked cigarette after cigarette while he 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:58.160 watched the other two with a confused look on his face. 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:01.640 The tree were supposed to be working on a new 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:05.280 album together. The Englishman was the blues rock musician named 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:08.320 Graham Bond, who claimed to be the bastard son of 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:12.480 the famed occultist Aleister Crowley. Mack was hired to produce 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.520 the record, along with a Texas musician named Wayne Talbot, 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:18.719 but the record executive at Mercury kept jerking them around. 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.760 He changed recording dates, he refused to pay the musicians, 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:26.720 and when they complained, he threatened them with bodily harm. 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:29.520 So now they were on the rooftop of this recording 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:32.720 studio trying to conjure up a death curse. Well, at 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:36.000 least Mac and Graham Bond were. The Texan watched the 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.160 other two worked themselves into a frenzy for a while 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:41.000 before he casually reached into his pocket and pulled out 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:44.000 a gun. If the curses didn't work, he assured them 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.600 they could always just shoot the guy. In retrospect, Mack 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:50.560 realized they should have used Wayne's plan first. Because the 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:53.600 Greegrey failed. The record executive didn't have a heart attack 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:55.600 in his sleep, and he didn't crash his car on 0:21:55.640 --> 0:22:00.439 the way to work either. The next day, Wayne managed 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:02.399 to get himself caught up in a drug bust with 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.679 the guns still in his pocket. With no Gregory and 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:07.880 no gun, Mac knew he had to put his plan 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:11.240 for revenge on ice. The cops were hot on his trail, 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:13.600 and it was time to get out of town, out 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:20.639 of Los Angeles, and back down to New Orleans. A 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:24.160