Stil living in California, a 1972 solo album was not successful at all. He ended up living in poverty and had a drinking problem. He moved back to New Orleans in 1977. He continued to drink alcohol and use narcotics. After he was arrested for drunk driving, he could no longer earn money driving his black Cadillac as a taxi. For a while he was homeless. There were several benefit concerts given to try to help him, but he did not recover from his failures.