Allen Toussaint | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Toussaint at the Freret Street Festival, New Orleans, 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Allen Richard Toussaint (1938-01-14)January 14, 1938 Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 10, 2015(2015-11-10) (aged 77) Madrid, Spain |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1958–2015 |
| Labels | |
Allen Richard Toussaint (/ˈtuːsɑːnt/; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure inNew Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, described as "one of popular music's great backroom figures."[1] Many musicians recorded Toussaint's compositions. He was a producer for hundreds of recordings: the best known are "Right Place, Wrong Time", by longtime friendDr. John, and "Lady Marmalade" byLabelle.
The youngest of three children, Toussaint was born in 1938 inNew Orleans and grew up in ashotgun house in theGert Town neighborhood, where his mother,Naomi Neville (whose name he later adopted pseudonymously for some of his works), welcomed and fed all manner of musicians as they practiced and recorded with her son. His father, Clarence, worked on the railway and played trumpet.[1][2] Allen Toussaint learned piano as a child and took informal music lessons from an elderly neighbor, Ernest Pinn.[3] In his teens he played in a band, the Flamingos, with the guitaristSnooks Eaglin,[4] before dropping out of school. A significant early influence on Toussaint was thesyncopated "second-line" piano style ofProfessor Longhair.[2] Toussaint was raisedCatholic.[5]
After a lucky break at age 17, in which he stood in forHuey "Piano" Smith at a performance withEarl King's band inPrichard, Alabama,[6] Toussaint was introduced to a group of local musicians led byDave Bartholomew, who performed regularly at theDew Drop Inn, a nightclub on Lasalle Street inUptown New Orleans.[7] His first recording was in 1957 as a stand-in forFats Domino on Domino's record "I Want You to Know", on which Toussaint played piano and Dominooverdubbed his vocals.[3] His first success as a producer came in 1957 with Lee Allen's "Walking with Mr. Lee".[1] He began performing regularly in Bartholomew's band, and he recorded with Fats Domino,Smiley Lewis,Lee Allen and other leading New Orleans performers.[4]
After being spotted as asideman by theA&R man Danny Kessler, he initially recorded forRCA Records asAl Tousan. In early 1958 he recorded an album of instrumentals,The Wild Sound of New Orleans, with a band includingAlvin "Red" Tyler (baritone sax), either Nat Perrilliat or Lee Allen (tenor sax), either Justin Adams orRoy Montrell (guitar),Frank Fields (bass), and Charles "Hungry" Williams (drums).[8] The recordings included Toussaint and Tyler's composition "Java", which first charted forFloyd Cramer in 1962 and became a number 4 pop hit forAl Hirt (also on RCA) in 1964.[9] Toussaint recorded and co-wrote songs with Allen Orange in the early 1960s.[10]
In 1960, Joe Banashak, ofMinit Records and laterInstant Records, hired Toussaint as anA&R man andrecord producer.[3][11] He did freelance work for other labels, such asFury. Toussaint played piano, wrote, arranged and produced a string of hits in the early and mid-1960s for New Orleans R&B artists such asErnie K-Doe,Chris Kenner,Irma Thomas (including "It's Raining"),Art andAaron Neville,The Showmen, andLee Dorsey, whose first hit "Ya Ya" he produced in 1961.[1][4]
The early to mid-1960s are regarded as Toussaint's most creatively successful period.[3] Notable examples of his work areJessie Hill's "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" (written by Hill and arranged and produced by Toussaint), Ernie K-Doe's "Mother-in-Law", and Chris Kenner's "I Like It Like That".[11][12][13] A two-sided 1962 hit byBenny Spellman comprised "Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)" (covered byThe O'Jays,Ringo Starr, andAlex Chilton) and the simple but effective "Fortune Teller" (covered by various 1960s rock groups, includingThe Rolling Stones,The Nashville Teens,The Who,The Hollies,The Throb, andThe Searchers founderTony Jackson).[11][14][15] "Ruler of My Heart", written under his pseudonym Naomi Neville, first recorded by Irma Thomas for the Minit label in 1963, was adapted byOtis Redding under the title "Pain in My Heart" later that year, prompting Toussaint to file a lawsuit against Redding and his record company,Stax (the claim was settled out of court, with Stax agreeing to credit Naomi Neville as the songwriter).[16] Redding's version of the song was also recorded by The Rolling Stones on theirsecond album and was in theGrateful Dead's early repertoire.[17] In 1964, "A Certain Girl" (originally by Ernie K-Doe) was the B-side of the first single release byThe Yardbirds. The song was released again in 1980 byWarren Zevon, as the single from the albumBad Luck Streak in Dancing School; it reached 57 on Billboard'sHot 100.Mary Weiss, former lead singer ofThe Shangri-Las, released it as "A Certain Guy" in 2007.[18]Linda Ronstadt released a jazzy version of "Ruler of my Heart" in 1998 onWe Ran.
Toussaint credited about twenty songs to his parents, Clarence and Naomi, sometimes using the pseudonym "Naomi Neville".[19][20] These include "Fortune Teller", first recorded by Benny Spellman in 1961, "Pain In My Heart," first a hit forOtis Redding in 1963, and "Work, Work, Work", recorded byThe Artwoods in 1966.Alison Krauss andRobert Plant covered "Fortune Teller" on their 2007 albumRaising Sand.[21]
Toussaint was drafted into theUnited States Army in 1963 but continued to record when on leave.[1] After his discharge in 1965, he joined forces withMarshall Sehorn[22] to form Sansu Enterprises, which included a record label, Sansu, variously known as Tou-Sea, Deesu, or Kansu, and recorded Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner,Betty Harris, and others. Dorsey had hits with several of Toussaint's songs, including "Ride Your Pony" (1965), "Working in the Coal Mine" (1966), and "Holy Cow" (1966).[4][22] The core players of the rhythm section used on many of the Sansu recordings from the mid- to late 1960s, Art Neville and the Sounds, consisted ofArt Neville on keyboards,Leo Nocentelli on guitar,George Porter Jr on bass, andZigaboo Modeliste on drums. They later became known asThe Meters.[23] Their backing can be heard in songs such as Dorsey's "Ride Your Pony" and "Working in the Coal Mine", sometimes augmented by horns, which were usually arranged by Toussaint.[24] The Toussaint-produced records of these years backed by the members of the Meters, with their increasing use of syncopation and electric instrumentation, built on the influences of Professor Longhair and others before them, but updated these strands, effectively paving the way for the development of a modern New Orleans funk sound.[23][25]
Toussaint continued to produce The Meters when they began releasing records under their own name in 1969. As part of a process begun at Sansu and reaching fruition in the 1970s, he developed a funkier sound, writing and producing for a host of artists, such asDr. John (backed by the Meters, on the 1973 albumIn the Right Place, which contained the hit "Right Place, Wrong Time") and an album byThe Wild Tchoupitoulas, a New OrleansMardi Gras Indians tribe led by "Big Chief Jolly" (George Landry) (backed by the Meters and several of his nephews, including Art andCyril Neville of the Meters and their brothersCharles andAaron, who later performed and recorded asThe Neville Brothers).[26][27][28]
In the 1970s, Toussaint began to work with artists from beyond New Orleans artists, such asB. J. Thomas,Robert Palmer,Willy DeVille,Sandy Denny,Elkie Brooks,Solomon Burke, Scottish soul singerFrankie Miller (High Life), and southern rockerMylon LeFevre.[29][30] He arranged horn music forThe Band's albumsCahoots (1971) andRock of Ages (1972), as well as for the documentary filmThe Last Waltz (1978).[31][32][33]Boz Scaggs recorded Toussaint's "Freedom for the Stallion" on his 1972 albumMy Time, as well as "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" on his 1976 albumSilk Degrees, which reached number 2 on theU.S. pop albums chart. The song was also recorded byBonnie Raitt for her 1975 albumHome Plate and byGeoff Muldaur (1976),Lowell George (1979),Vince Gill (1993), andElvis Costello (2005).[34] In 1976 he collaborated withJohn Mayall on the albumNotice to Appear.[35]
In 1973 Toussaint and Sehorn created theSea-Saint recording studio in theGentilly section of eastern New Orleans.[36][37] Toussaint began recording under his own name, contributing vocals as well as piano. His solo career peaked in the mid-1970s with the albumsFrom a Whisper to a Scream andSouthern Nights.[38][39] During this time he teamed withLabelle and produced their acclaimed 1974 albumNightbirds, which contained the number one hit "Lady Marmalade". The next year, Toussaint collaborated withPaul McCartney andWings for their hit albumVenus and Mars and played on the song "Rock Show". In 1973, his "Yes We Can Can" was covered byThe Pointer Sisters for their self-titled debut album; released as a single, it became both a pop and R&B hit and served as the group's introduction to popular culture. 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.[40] Toussaint's song "I'll Take A Melody" figured permanently in the repertoire of theJerry Garcia Band.
In 1987, he was themusical director of anoff-Broadway show,Staggerlee, with a score composed of songs from his catalog, which ran for 150 performances.[3][41] Like many of his contemporaries, Toussaint found that interest in his compositions was rekindled when his work began to besampled byhip hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s.[42][43]
.jpg)
Most of Toussaint's possessions, including his home and recording studio,Sea-Saint Studios, were lost duringHurricane Katrina in 2005.[44][45] He initially sought shelter at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel onCanal Street.[44] Following the hurricane, whose aftermath left most of the city flooded, he left New Orleans forBaton Rouge, Louisiana, and for several years settled inNew York City.[44][45] His first television appearance after the hurricane was on the September 7, 2005, episode of theLate Show with David Letterman, sitting in withPaul Shaffer and hisCBS Orchestra. Toussaint performed regularly atJoe's Pub in New York City through 2009.[46] He eventually returned to New Orleans and lived there for the rest of his life.[47]
Toussaint is interviewed on screen, served as a musical director, led his band and appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary filmMake It Funky!, which presents a history ofNew Orleans music and its influence onrhythm and blues,rock and roll,funk andjazz.[48] In the film, he performed a medley of his compositions "Fortune Teller", "Working in the Coal Mine" and "A Certain Girl". He also performed "Tipitina" in a piano duo withJon Cleary, and accompaniedIrma Thomas on "Old Records",Lloyd Price on "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", andBonnie Raitt on "What is Success".[49]
The River in Reverse, Toussaint's collaborative album withElvis Costello, was released on May 29, 2006, in the UK onVerve Records by Universal Classics and JazzUCJ.[50] It was recorded inHollywood and at thePiety Street Studio in theBywater, as the first major studio session to take place after Hurricane Katrina.[51] In 2007, Toussaint performed a duet withPaul McCartney of a song by New Orleans musician and residentFats Domino, "I Want to Walk You Home", as their contribution toGoin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino onVanguard.[52]
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 2008Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. In February 2008, Toussaint appeared onLe Show, theHarry Shearer show broadcast onKCRW. He appeared in London in August 2008, where he performed at theRoundhouse.[53] In October 2008 he performed at Festival New Orleans atThe O2 alongside acts such as Dr. John andBuckwheat Zydeco.[54] Sponsored byQuint Davis of theNew Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival andPhilip 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 that came with Hurricane Katrina.[54] After his second performance at the festival, Toussaint appeared alongside Louisiana Lieutenant GovernorMitch Landrieu.[55]
Toussaint performed instrumentals from his albumThe Bright Mississippi and many of his older songs for a taping of the PBS seriesAustin City Limits, which aired on January 9, 2015.[56][57] In December 2009, he was featured onElvis Costello'sSpectacle program on theSundance Channel,[58] singing "A Certain Girl".[59] Toussaint appeared onEric Clapton's 2010 album,Clapton, in twoFats Waller covers, "My Very Good Friend the Milkman" and "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful".[60]
His late-blooming career as a performer began when he accepted an offer to play a regular Sunday brunch session at anEast Village pub. Interviewed in 2014 byThe Guardian′sRichard Williams, Toussaint said, "I never thought of myself as a performer.... My comfort zone is behind the scenes." In 2013 he collaborated on a ballet with the choreographerTwyla Tharp.[1] and in 2014 he collaborated with another ballet withDavid Parsons, and The Parson Dance Company along with The New Orleans Ballet. Toussaint was a musical mentor to Swedish-born New Orleans songwriter and performerTheresa Andersson.[61] Toussaint's two marriages ended in divorce.[2]
Toussaint died in the early hours of November 10, 2015, inMadrid, Spain, while on tour. Following a concert at the Teatro Lara on Calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo, he had a heart attack at his hotel and was pronounced dead on his arrival at the hospital.[62] He was 77. He had been due to perform a sold-out concert at theEFG London Jazz Festival atThe Barbican on November 15 with his band andTheo Croker. He was also scheduled to play withPaul Simon at a benefit concert in New Orleans on December 8.[2] His final recording,American Tunes, titled after the Paul Simon song, which he sings on the album, was released byNonesuch Records on June 10, 2016.[63]
He was survived by his three children with his former wife Betty Dell Weber (1935-2024), Clarence "Reginald" Toussaint, Naomi Rios, Alison Toussaint-LeBeaux,[64] along with several grandchildren. His children had managed his career in his last years.[65][47]
Writing inThe New York Times,Ben Sisario quotedQuint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival: "In the pantheon of New Orleans music people, fromJelly Roll Morton toMahalia Jackson toFats—that's the place where Allen Toussaint is..." Paul Simon said, "We were friends and colleagues for almost 40 years.... We played together at the New Orleans jazz festival. We played the benefits for Katrina relief. We were about to perform together on December 8. I was just beginning to think about it; now I'll have to think about his memorial. I am so sad."[47]
TheDaily Telegraph described Toussaint as "a master of New Orleans soul and R&B, and one of America's most successful songwriters and producers," adding that "self-effacing Toussaint played a crucial role in countless classic songs popularised by other artists." He had written so many songs, over more than five decades, that he admitted to forgetting quite a few.[2]
Toussaint was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, theLouisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2009, theSongwriter's Hall of Fame, and theBlues Hall of Fame in 2011.
In 2013, he was awarded theNational Medal of Arts by PresidentBarack Obama.[66]
In 2016, he posthumously won thePinetop Perkins Piano Player title at theBlues Music Awards.[67]
In January 2022, theNew Orleans City Council voted unanimously to rename one of the city's thoroughfares, Robert E. Lee Boulevard, to Allen Toussaint Boulevard in his honor.[68]
In January 2025, theUnited States Postal Service released a forever stamp honoring Toussaint as part of its Black Heritage series.[69]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| First None recognized before | AMA Lifetime Achievement Award for Producer/Engineer 2006 | Succeeded by |
