1/8-12 Allen Toussaint feat. Herman LeBeaux Jr., Chris Severin, Anthony Brown, and Brian "Breeze" Cayolle @ Blue Note
Listen to NPR's interview with Allen Toussaint (including a solo piano performance of Mother In Law!)
As a producer, bandleader, arranger, songwriter, session musician and all-around musical eminence, Allen Toussaint impacted the New Orleans music scene of the Sixties in much the same way that Dave Bartholomew had in the Fifties. Toussaint, in fact, apprenticed under Bartholomew at sessions for such legends as Fats Domino, so it was a seamless transition when the R&B baton passed between generations in New Orleans. Born and raised in the Crescent City, Toussaint left his stamp on the city’s contemporary R&B scene. His greatest contribution was in not allowing the city’s old-school R&B traditions to die out but by keeping pace with developments in the rapidly evolving worlds of soul and funk. In addition, he brought the New Orleans sound to the national stage, and it remains a vital and ongoing part of our musical heritage to this day.
Toussaint came into his own as a studio auteur for the Minit and Instant labels from 1960-63. He produced, arranged and sometimes wrote a string of classic sides for such New Orleans R&B artists as Lee Dorsey, Jessie Hill, Ernie K-Doe and Chris Kenner. Many listeners heard New Orleans-style piano for the first time via Toussaint’s playing on Ernie K-Doe’s #1 hit, “Mother-in-Law.” “Fortune Teller,” written pseudonymously by Toussaint and recorded by Jessie Hill, became a virtual standard among British Invasion bands. The early Rolling Stones and Who, among others, included it in their live repertoire.
As writer Ed Ward put it, “Toussaint was the main exponent of what the locals called the carnival sound-a raucous, polyrhythmic beat that was solid but complex, like a rhythm and blues rumba crossed with the second-line rhythms of Professor Longhair.” Toussaint’s run was interrupted by a stint in the army from 1963-65. Upon returning to New Orleans, Toussaint picked up where he left off, forming Sansu, a production company, with partner Marshall Sehorn. A string of soul/R&B singles from singer Lee Dorsey followed in 1965-66, including “Ride Your Pony,” “Working in the Coal Mine” and “Holy Cow.”
Toussaint also groomed a quartet of top-drawer New Orleans musicians known as the Meters. They served as the Sansu house band while releasing funky instrumentals under their own name. In 1973, Toussaint and Sehorn built their own Sea-Saint studio, which attracted local musicians like Dr. John ("Right Place Wrong Time") and the Neville Brothers, as well as established stars like Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Robert Palmer. Labelle recorded their 1975 chart-topper “Lady Marmalade” at Sea-Saint with Toussaint. In addition to his endless resume of productions, various Toussaint-penned songs-published under his own name and the pseudonym Naomi Neville (his mother’s maiden name)-have been covered by such notables as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Little Feat, Al Hirt, Herb Alpert and Glen Campbell.
It’s worth noting that although he was inducted in the “nonperformer” category, Toussaint is a talented pianist and performer who has recorded under his own name. His solo discography includes an instrumental album, The Wild Sound of New Orleans by Tousan, released in 1958. Two of his early instrumentals later became standards for other artists. “Java,” by Al Hirt, hit #4 in 1964, and “Whipped Cream” served as the title track of the third album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, which topped the album chart for eight weeks in 1965. Toussaint also cut a trio of sleek, contemporary R&B albums for Warner Bros. in the Seventies. His induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came two days after his 60th birthday and two years after he launched a new label, NYNO.
Watch video of Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello in the studio with the Crescent City Horns
TIMELINE
January 14, 1938: Allen Toussaint was born in New Orleans, LA.
1955: 17-year-old Allen Toussaint replaces Huey “Piano” Smith in Earl King’s band for a gig in Alabama.
1958: Allen Toussaint’s first solo album, credited to “A. Tousan,” is released.
1960: Allen Toussaint becomes an A&R man for the New Orleans-based Minit label. As a pianist, songwriter, producer and arranger, he oversees a string of hits by Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas, Jessie Hill, Chris Kenner, Lee Dorsey and others.
May 22, 1961: “Mother-in-Law,” written and produced by Allen Toussaint and recorded by Ernie K-Doe, hits #1 on the national chart.
1963-1965: Allen Toussaint serves a hitch in the U.S. Army.
August 13, 1966: Lee Dorsey’s classic “Working in the Coal Mine,” written and produced by Allen Toussaint, enters the Top Forty, where it reaches #8.
December 31, 1971: The Band hire Allen Toussaint to write horn arrangements for their New Year’s Eve concert at New York’s Academy of Music, which is released as the live double album ‘Rock of Ages’.
1973: Allen Toussaint and partner Marshall Sehorn open Sea-Saint Studios, New Orleans’ first state-of-the-art recording facility.
May 12, 1973: “Right Place Wrong Time,” by Dr. John, enters the singles chart, where it will peak at #9. Allen Toussaint produced, arranged, played and sang on the song, which was Dr. John’s commercial zenith.
March 29, 1975: The Allen Toussaint-produced disco smash “Lady Marmalade” by the vocal trio Labelle tops the singles chart.
1991: ‘The Allen Toussaint Collection’, drawing from three solo albums spanning 1972-1978, is released on Reprise Records.
May 7, 1996: Allen Toussaint releases ‘Connected’, his first full-length national release in nearly two decades. It appears on his new label, NYNO Records, which specializes in New Orleans music.
January 12, 1998: Allen Toussaint is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the thirteenth annual induction dinner. Robbie Robertson is his presenter.
Essential Recordings
Working in the Coal Mine, by Lee Dorsey
Mother-in-Law, by Ernie K-Doe
Fortune Teller, by Benny Spellman
I Like It Like That, by Chris Kenner
Ooh Poo Pah Doo, by Jessie Hill
I Know, by Barbara George
Ruler of My Heart, by Irma Thomas
Right Place, Wrong Time, by Dr. John
What Do You Want the Girl to Do, by Boz Scaggs
Southern Nights, by Allen Toussaint
Source: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
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