Things Happen That Way is the final studio album by American musician Dr. John. It was released on September 23, 2022, through Rounder Records, making it his only posthumous release after he passed away of a heart attack on June 6, 2019 at the age of 77. Recording sessions took place at Esplanade Studios and at The Music Shed in New Orleans, at Dirty Power Studios and at Chateau Oblivion. Production was handled by Shane Theriot and Dr. John himself, except for the song "I Walk on Guilded Splinters", which was produced with Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. It features guest appearances from Aaron Neville, Lukas Nelson and Willie Nelson.
Things Happen That Way was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on five reviews.[1]
James McNair of Mojo wrote: "with Willie, his son Lukas's band and Neville helping out elsewhere, there is audiable love in the room. Three final, reflective and intimately presented Rebennack originals shine, but best of all, perhaps, is his take on The Traveling Wilburys' End Of The Line".[4]AllMusic's Thom Jurek found the album "solid, fun, and a bit sad, but a fitting, heartfelt sign-off from an American treasure. It's quite beautiful. One hopes, however, that the deleted tracks will surface on a later release".[2] Max Bell of Classic Rock resumed with "Dr. John sounds in tip-top form here".[3] Sharon O'Connell of Uncut called it "an exemplar of his style, nor (clearly) is it a late-career blooming, but it is a richly resonant farewell from a maverick veteran".[10] Veteran critic Robert Christgau praised the album, naming it "the most committed album hard-hustling New Orleans piano maestro Mac Rebennack recorded in his last two decades on earth".[6]Tom Hull wrote: "this is revealed as his final studio album, amid controversy over post-production. A batch of mostly-country covers, unclear how much piano he plays, but on this material his voice is his calling card".[9]
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