| Allen Toussaint | |
|---|---|
Toussaint performing in Hollywood, Florida in 2007 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born | 14 January 1938 Gert Town, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Rhythm and blues |
| Occupations | Musician, composer, arranger, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano, |
| Years active | 1955–present |
| Labels | RCA Victor, Minit, Instant, Reprise/Warner Bros., Nonesuch/Elektra |
| Associated acts | The Band Elvis Costello Labelle |
Allen Toussaint (IPA: /ˈtuːseɪnt/; born January 14, 1938) is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.
Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)", "Southern Nights," "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "I'll Take a Melody" and "Mother-in-Law".[1]
Contents |
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 her son. After a lucky break at age 17 in which he stood in for Huey Smith at a performance with Earl King's band in Prichard, Alabama,[2] Toussaint was introduced to a group of local musicians who performed regularly at a night club on LaSalle street Uptown; they were known as the Dew Drop Set.[3] Initially, he recorded for RCA Victor as Al Tousan and recorded an album of instrumentals, including the song "Java", which years later became a big hit for Al Hirt (also on RCA).
In his early years Toussaint worked mainly for Joe Banashak's Minit Records and Instant Records, but after Minit 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.[4]
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", such as "Ruler of My Heart", recorded by Irma Thomas. The song would go on to be recorded by Otis Redding under the title "Pain in My Heart". In 1964, "A Certain Girl" (originally by Ernie K-Doe) was the B-side of the first single release by The Yardbirds; the song was released again in 1980 by Warren Zevon. A two-sided 1962 hit by Benny Spellman comprised "Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)," later covered by The O'Jays and Ringo Starr, and the simple but effective "Fortune Teller," which was covered by many 1960s rock groups including The Rolling Stones, The Nashville Teens, The Who, The Hollies, ex-Searchers founder member Tony Jackson and more recently (2007) by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on Raising Sand. A significant early influence was the second-line piano style of Professor Longhair.
Toussaint's piano and arrangements show up on hundreds of records during the early 1960s on records by Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, and scores of other artists.
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 B.J. Thomas,[5] Robert Palmer, Willy DeVille, Sandy Denny, Elkie Brooks, Solomon Burke, Scottish soul singer Frankie Miller[6] and southern rocker Mylon LeFevre. He arranged horn music for The Band's 1971 album Cahoots, plus Rock of Ages and The Last Waltz film, in conjunction with arranging horn parts for their concert repertoire. Boz Scaggs recorded Toussaint's "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" on his 1976 album Silk Degrees, which reached #2 on the U.S. pop albums chart. In 1976 he also collaborated with John Mayall on the album Notice to Appear.
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 1975 album Nightbirds, which 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 and, in 2009, The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Contrary to rumors at the time, Toussaint did not take refuge at the Louisiana Superdome in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Instead, Toussaint weathered 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 being 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 performed regularly at Joe's Pub in New York City through 2009.
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.[7]
In 2007, Toussaint performed a duet with Paul McCartney of a song by fellow New Orleans musician and resident Fats Domino, "I Want to Walk You Home", as their contribution to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard).[8]
In 2008, Toussaint's song "Sweet Touch of Love" was used in a deodorant commercial for the Axe (Lynx) brand. The commercial won a Gold Lion at the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. In February 2008, Toussaint appeared on Le Show, the Harry Shearer show broadcast on NPR via KCRW.
Toussaint appeared in London in August 2008, where he performed a gig at The Roundhouse. In October 2008 he performed at Festival New Orleans at The O2 alongside acts such as Dr. John and Buckwheat Zydeco.[9] Sponsored by Quint Davis of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Philip Anschutz, the event was intended to promote New Orleans music and culture and to revive the once-lucrative tourist trade that had been almost completely lost following the flooding of Hurricane Katrina.[9] After his second performance at the festival, Toussaint appeared alongside then-Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu. The following day, he performed again in London at the NFL Tailgate Party.
Toussaint performed a taping for the popular PBS series Austin City Limits on June 30, 2009 as part of the show's 35th anniversary season. He played instrumentals from his most recent CD, "The Bright Mississippi", as well as many songs from his back catalog. He performed with Levon Helm and his band on Imus in the Morning on October 9, 2009. In December 2009 he was featured on Elvis Costello's "Spectacle" program on the Sundance Channel, singing "A Certain Girl". Toussaint appeared in Eric Clapton's 2010 album, Clapton, in two Fats Waller covers, "My Very Good Friend the Milkman" and "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful".
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| First None recognized before
|
AMA Lifetime Achievement Award for Producer/Engineer 2006 |
Succeeded by Jim Dickinson |