Allen Toussaint.html



Paul Shaffer (L) and Allen Toussaint on the September 7, 2005 show of The Late Show with David Letterman

Allen Toussaint, IPA: [ˈtuːseɪnt], (born January 14, 1938) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer.

One of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B, many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through their numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Brickyard Blues", "Get Out My Life Woman", "Southern Nights" and "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky."

Biography

Early life and career

Toussaint grew up in a shotgun house in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town, where his mother welcomed and fed all manner of musicians as they practiced and recorded with Allen. His friends often performed at a night club called "The Dew Drop", located on LaSalle street Uptown. This group of local musicians were known as the "Dew Drop Set".^[1]

In his early years Toussaint worked mainly for Joe Banashak's "Minit" label, but after that label was sold to its distributor, he teamed up with Marshall Sehorn, starting their own record label variously known as Tou-Sea, Sansu, Deesu or Kansu. In 1973 Toussaint and Sehorn created the Sea-Saint recording studio in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans.^[2]

Success in the '60s & '70s

In the early 1960s he wrote and produced a string of hits for New Orleans R&B artists such as Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas, Art and Aaron Neville, The Showmen, and Lee Dorsey. Some of his songs from this period were published under the pseudonym Naomi Neville. "Ruler of My Heart", recorded by Irma Thomas, is one example; the song would go on to be recorded by Otis Redding under the title "Pain in My Heart". "A Certain Girl" was on the first single release in 1964 by The Yardbirds featuring Eric Clapton. The two sided 1962 hit by Benny Spellman, including "Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)," later covered by The O'Jays also had the simple but effective "Fortune Teller," covered by many 1960s rock groups including The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Hollies, ex- Searchers founder member Tony Jackson and recently (2007) by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on Raising Sand.

Starting in the 1970s he switched gears to a funkier sound, writing and producing for The Meters, Dr John, and the Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indians tribe. He also began to work with non-New Orleans artists such as Robert Palmer, Willy DeVille, Elkie Brooks, Solomon Burke, Scottish Soul singer Frankie Miller and southern rocker Mylon LeFevre. He arranged horn music for The Band's 1971 album Cahoots, and arranged horn parts for their concert repertoire. Boz Scaggs recorded a Toussaint masterpiece "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" on his 1976 album Silk Degrees which reached #2 on the U.S. pop albums chart.

Toussaint also launched his own solo career, which peaked in the '70s with the albums From a Whisper to a Scream and Southern Nights. It was during this time that he teamed with Labelle, and produced their highly acclaimed Nightbirds album from 1975, that spawned the Number One Hit, "Lady Marmalade". The same year, Toussaint collaborated with Paul McCartney and Wings for their hit album Venus and Mars. Two years later, Glen Campbell covered Toussaint's "Southern Nights" and carried the song to Number One on the Pop, Country and Adult-Contemporary Charts. Along with many of his contemporaries, Toussaint found that interest in his compositions was rekindled when his work began to be sampled by hip hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

2000s

Despite rumours at the time, Toussaint did not take refuge at the Louisiana Superdome in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Instead, Toussaint weathered out the storm in the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel. After the hurricane Toussaint left New Orleans for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and eventually settled in New York City, where he is currently living while his house is rebuilt. His first television appearance after the hurricane was on the September 7, 2005 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, sitting in with Paul Shaffer and his CBS Orchestra. Toussaint now performs each month at Joe's Pub in New York City.

The River in Reverse, Toussaint's collaborative album with Elvis Costello, was released on 29 May 2006 in the UK on the Verve label, by Universal Classics and Jazz UCJ. It was recorded in Hollywood and, notably, in Toussaint's native New Orleans as the first major studio session to take place after Hurricane Katrina^[3].

In 2008 Toussaints' song "Sweet touch of love" was used in a deodorant commercial for the Axe (Lynx) brand.

During February 2008, Mr. Toussaint appeared on "Le Show", the Harry Shearer show broadcast on NPR via KCRW.

Discography

Albums

• The Wild Sound of New Orleans (1958)
• Toussaint (1971)
• Life, Love And Faith (1972)
• Southern Nights (1975)
• Motion (1978)
• The Allen Toussaint Collection (1991)
• The Wild Sound of New Orleans: The Complete 'Tousan' Sessions (1994)
• From a Whisper to a Scream (1995)
• Connected (1996)
• A New Orleans Christmas (1997)
• A Taste Of New Orleans (1999)
• Finger Poppin' & Stompin' Feet (2002)
• The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (2005)
• I Believe To My Soul (2005)
• The River in Reverse, with Elvis Costello (2006)

Video

• Putting the River in Reverse (DVD) (2006)
• Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together (DVD) Stevenson Productions 001

Covers

• Jerry Garcia Band performed "Get Out of My Life, Woman" during the 1980s and 1990s and a live version of that song is on the Jerry Garcia Band live album of 1991.^[4]

• Jerry Garcia Band also recorded "I’ll Take a Melody" in 1976 for the album Reflections^[5] and performed it regularly during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A live version of that song is on the Pure Jerry, After Midnight live album recorded in 1980.^[6]

• The Paul Butterfield Blues Band recorded "Get Out of My Life, Woman" in 1966 for their album East-West.

• The Band recorded "You See Me" on their Jubilation album in 1999.^[7]

• Little Feat performed "On Your Way Down" during their 1974 tour; it appears as a bonus track on the re-release of their live album, Waiting for Columbus.^[8]

• Little Feat recorded "On Your Way Down" on the album Dixie Chicken.^[9]

• Bonnie Raitt recorded "What is Success" in 1974.^[10]

• Robert Palmer recorded "Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley" and "From A Whisper To A Scream" on the album Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley in 1974.

• Three Dog Night recorded Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues) in 1974.^[11]

• Warren Zevon recorded A Certain Girl in 1980. The Best of Warren Zeavon, Elektra 2002

• Devo recorded "Working In The Coal Mine" in 1980, which was released on the Heavy Metal soundtrack and as a bonus track for their album New Traditionalists, both in 1981.^[12]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Allen Toussaint

• September 2004 Audio Interview by Harry Shearer on Le Show
• September 7, 2005 performance and interview on WNYC's Soundcheck.
• http://www.nynorecords.com/allen.shtml
• Allen Toussaint at NPR Music