Bar of the “Emperor of the Universe”
Ernie K-Doe (1936–2001) was a one-hit wonder, but a lifetime of wonderment. Even in New Orleans, where eccentrics are relished as much as accepted, K-Doe was in a class by himself. He began recording when he was 15 years old. Ten years later, his song “Mother-in-Law” became a No. 1 Billboard hit. The tune was a tribute to his real-life mother-in-law, about whom he once said, “Her name was Lucy. Should have been Lucifer.” With the British invasion, K-Doe’s style took a backseat to groups like the Rolling Stones and he stopped making records. For a while he drank heavily and was homeless.
K-Doe made a comeback of sorts in the 1980s when WWOZ radio gave him his own show. He assaulted the airwaves with rants about whatever popped into his head. When the station had to sell, new management was less enamored of K-Doe’s on-air stream of semi-consciousness. He was back on the streets.
Info
Address 1500 N Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70116. (Like the juke joint it is, four phone numbers are posted online. Three didn’t ring through. The fourth was a recorded voice saying, “What’s the case Ace? No one can take your call.”) | Hours It’s open when it’s open, and not open when it’s closed.| Tip Kermit Ruffins, who’s close to local royalty, can be heard most Saturday nights at the Little Gem (445 Rampart St), Friday nights at the Blue Nile (532 Frenchmen St), Tuesdays at Bullet’s Sports Bar (2441 A. P. Tureaud Ave), and some Sundays at his own Mother-in-Law Lounge.
Sometime during this period K-Doe met Antoinette Dorsey Fox, who would become his wife. Antoinette pulled him back from the brink. She made him flashy outfits: shiny suits, feathered hats, and floor-length capes. In 1996, she opened the Mother-in-Law Lounge and stuffed it with photographs and paintings of K-Doe and a jukebox filled with his songs. It became a hot spot.
When K-Doe died, Antoinette commissioned a mannequin of her husband. The statue most often stood onstage in the club, but she’d sometimes take it out on the town, having it join her at a table in Galatoire’s or on a parade float. When she died, in 2009, K-Doe’s mannequin followed along behind her hearse in a mule-drawn carriage.
The juke joint was bought by star trumpet player Kermit Ruffins and reopened as Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge in 2014. With its extravagantly painted murals, the building is impossible to miss.
Back
To the online map