Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., the New Orleans musician who became Dr. John and the real-life inspiration for the Muppets' Dr. Teeth, was born in 1941, though he listed 1940 for decades to sneak into nightclubs as a teenager. His education began in his father's East End appliance shop, a distribution hub for records by King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, and in local studios where he watched Little Richard and Guitar Slim work. At about 13 he met Professor Longhair, whose rumba boogie piano and showman persona became his blueprint. Expelled from Jesuit high school in 1954 for gigging too much, he was producing for Ace Records by 16, until a gunshot to his left ring finger in Jacksonville, Florida, around 1960 ended his guitar career and pushed him to bass and then piano.

This episode follows his descent into heroin addiction, drug dealing, and ru ...