{"id":6072,"date":"2015-11-10T13:06:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T18:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=6072"},"modified":"2015-11-12T16:14:03","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T21:14:03","slug":"allen-toussaint-1938-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=6072","title":{"rendered":"Allen Toussaint 1938 – 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Example\"
\n<\/strong>
\nAl Tousan \u2013 Java (RCA)
\nThe Stokes \u2013 Whipped Cream (ALON)
\nErnie K Doe \u2013 Mother In Law (Minit) 1961
\nDiamond Joe \u2013 Fair Play (Minit)
\nBenny Spellman \u2013 Fortune Teller (Minit)
\nLee Dorsey \u2013 Ride Your Pony (Amy)
\nWarren Lee \u2013 Star Revue (Deesu)
\nWillie Harper \u2013 But I Couldn\u2019t (ALON)
\nEldridge Holmes \u2013 Emperor Jones (ALON)
\nIrma Thomas- What Are You Trying To Do (Imperial)
\nDiamond Joe \u2013 Gossip Gossip (Sansu)
\nBetty Harris \u2013 Trouble With My Lover (Sansu)
\nO\u2019Jays \u2013 Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette) (Imperial)
\nRubaiyats \u2013 Omar Khayyam (Sansu)
\nRubaiyats \u2013 Tomorrow (Sansu)
\nWillie and Allen \u2013 I Don\u2019t Need Nobody (Sansu)
\nJoe Williams and the Jazz Orchestra \u2013 Get Out Of My Life Woman (SS)
\nBettye Lavette \u2013 Nearer To You (Silver Fox)
\nJohn Williams and the Tick Tocks \u2013 Blues Tears and Sorrows (Sansu)
\nWillie West \u2013 Fairchild (Josie)
\nEldridge Holmes \u2013 If I Were a Carpenter (Deesu)
\nWillie Harper \u2013 A Certain Girl (Tou Sea)
\nLee Dorsey \u2013 Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On) (Amy)
\nLee Dorsey \u2013 Give It Up (Amy)
\nPointer Sisters \u2013 Yes We Can Can (Blue Thumb)
\nRobert Palmer \u2013 Sneaking Sally Through the Alley (Island)
\nBoz Scaggs \u2013 Hercules (Columbia)
\nEsther Phillips \u2013 From a Whisper to a Scream (Kudu)
\nAllen Toussaint \u2013 Southern Nights (Reprise)<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Toussaintiana – An Allen Toussaint Memorial 152MB Mixed MP3<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

__________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

NOTE: I normally put up a Friday post, but people really seem to be digging the Allen Toussaint Memorial mix, and if anyone deserves some extra time on the front page of Funky16Corners, he is the man. I will be back on Monday with another Toussaint tune (which, oddly enough, I wrote up the day before he passed), so check back then, and make sure to check out this week’s Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, available in iTunes, on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or as a download here at the blog.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep the Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/p>\n

__________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Greetings all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I come to you today with tears in my eyes and a very heavy heart, indeed.<\/p>\n

News came through this morning that the mighty Allen Toussaint<\/strong> passed on to his reward after performing a concert in Spain.<\/p>\n

There is hardly a day that goes by that I don\u2019t have a piece of music that he touched, whether as a writer, performer, arranger or producer (or all of the above<\/em>) bouncing around in my head, playing loudly in my ride or coming out of my mouth with varying degrees of competency.<\/p>\n

Toussaint was by any measure a giant of 20th century music.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His reach as a composer, populating the modern popular music songbook with a wide variety of standards \u2013 instrumental and vocal \u2013 was vast. I\u2019d be willing to be that almost everyone over a certain age knows at least one Allen Toussaint composition (whether they know it\u2019s his or not<\/em>).<\/p>\n

He was a master of combining the sounds of his native New Orleans with the broader palette of popular music.<\/p>\n

He was also an impeccable judge of talent. Aside from the many artists he ushered into the charts, there were many, many others \u2013 equally brilliant \u2013 that are mostly unknown outside of New Orleans and record collector circles.<\/p>\n

He first recorded in 1958 under the nom de record \u2018Al Tousan<\/strong>\u2019, waxing an album for RCA that included the original version of \u2018Java\u2019, made into a huge hit five years later by his New Orleans compatriot Al Hirt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toussaint\u2019s early work as a composer\/producer included records by Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe<\/strong> (the huge 1961 hit \u2018Mother In Law\u2019), Willie Harper<\/strong>, and Irma Thomas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through the 1960s he was a virtual machine, writing, producing and arranging records for a who\u2019s who of New Orleans talent, including a number of singers, like Willie Harper, Eldridge Holmes<\/strong> and Diamond Joe Maryland<\/strong> who \u2013 though they never really broke into the mainstream \u2013 he took under his wing, making record after amazing record.<\/p>\n

As soon as I heard about Toussaint\u2019s passing this morning, I started jotting down notes, trying to cover not only his bigger hits, but some of the incredible records he made that are little known outside of the collectors world.<\/p>\n

I wanted to make a mix that took his hits into consideration, but also examples of his vast catalog of things that ought to be better known.<\/p>\n

Things get started with his original, 1958 version of \u2018Java\u2019, as well as the 1965 record by his group the Stokes<\/strong>, a minor hit in 1965 that went on to jam itself into the public consciousness when used (in a cover by Herb Alpert and the Tjuana Brass<\/strong>) as incidental music on \u2018the Dating Game\u2019, \u2018Whipped Cream\u2019.<\/p>\n

Ernie K-Doe\u2019s<\/strong> 1961 \u2018Mother In Law\u2019 is not only one of the biggest New Orleans hits of the 60s, but one of the best-known songs to come out of the city in the pop era. Featuring backing vocals by Benny Spellman<\/strong> and piano by Toussaint, the record is perfect encapsulation of the New Orleans sound.<\/p>\n

Diamond Joe\u2019s<\/strong> 1962 \u2018Fair Play\u2019 isn\u2019t a Toussaint composition (it was written by Earl King<\/strong> and Allen Orange<\/strong>), but the stunning arrangement is his doing. It has long been one of my favorite records in any genre, and its use of autoharp is positively inspired.<\/p>\n

Benny Spellman\u2019s<\/strong> 1962 \u2018Fortune Teller\u2019 (backed with the original recording of \u2018Lipstick Traces\u2019) was not only a great record on its own, but went on to inspire many covers, mainly by rock bands in the UK where it became a standard of sorts.<\/p>\n

Lee Dorsey\u2019s<\/strong> 1965 \u2018Ride Your Pony\u2019 is another Toussaint song that went on to be covered many times. Dorsey, who had been recording steadily since the late 50s, hadn\u2019t had a significant hit since 1961\u2019s \u2018Ya Ya\u2019, and \u2018Ride Your Pony\u2019 put him back into the Top 40.<\/p>\n

Warren Lee<\/strong> did a lot of recording with Toussaint, but his only chart success (a minor hit in 1966) was the rollicking \u2018Star Revue\u2019 (another personal fave). Co-written by Lee and Toussaint (with backing vocals by AT) it had some popularity in regional markets like Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, Toussaint had a habit of sticking with singers he liked, and Willie Harper<\/strong> was near the top of that list. Toussaint wrote and produced Harper\u2019s 1962 two-sider \u2018But I Couldn\u2019t\u2019 b\/w \u2018A New Kind of Love\u2019, which was a minor regional hit in Chicago. A few years later, he would record Harper for Sansu, as a solo, and together as the duos Willie and Allen<\/strong> and the Rubaiyats.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Edridge Holmes<\/strong> has long been one of my favorite singers, and his discography is made up almost exclusively of records he made with Allen Toussaint. \u2018Emperor Jones\u2019, recorded in 1965 is a great example of Toussaint\u2019s ability to keep his ears open to sounds outside of the Crescent City. Written and recorded in New Orleans by two natives of the city, \u2018Emperor Jones\u2019 sounds every bit of a Curtis Mayfield<\/strong> production from Chicago.<\/p>\n

Toussaint turned his ear even further north for Irma Thomas\u2019s<\/strong> 1965 \u2018What Are You Trying to Do\u2019, which is as close he got to the Motown sound.<\/p>\n

Diamond Joe\u2019s<\/strong> 1967 \u2018Gossip Gossip\u2019 is the record that made me into a New Orleans fanatic back in the day. I first heard it on a Charly Records comp and it blew my mind. It was the first original Sansu 45 that I bought and remains today a bona fide lost classic. It is largely unknown outside of New Orleans, yet it is \u2013 at least in my opinion \u2013 among the first rank of 1960s soul 45s, with an amazing performance by Diamond Joe and a stunning arrangement by Toussaint (that\u2019s him talking at the beginning of the record<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Betty Harris<\/strong> was not originally from New Orleans, but aside from a few early 45s, she worked almost exclusively in that city, under the auspices of Allen Toussaint. Though their 1967 collaboration \u2018Nearer To You\u2019 was their only chart hit, they made many of the finest records to come out of New Orleans in the 60s. \u2018Trouble With My Lover\u2019 is a great bit of proto-funk, featuring thumping bass and drums, and a remarkable vocal by Harris.<\/p>\n

The O\u2019Jays<\/strong> had their first big hit with their 1965 cover of \u2018Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)\u2019 which despite the greatness of Benny Spellman\u2019s original, remains my favorite version of the song.<\/p>\n

The next two tracks are both sides of the only 45 ever recorded by the Rubaiyats,<\/strong> aka Allen Toussaint and Willie Harper. I had to include both sides of the record since they include one of the best upbeat soul sides that Toussaint ever made, \u2018Omar Khayyam\u2019 as well as the beautiful ballad \u2018Tomorrow\u2019. These are followed by the same duo under their own names, aka \u2018Willie and Allen\u2019,<\/strong> with the slow, almost dreamlike \u2018I Don\u2019t Need Nobody\u2019.<\/p>\n

Next up are a couple of inspired covers of tunes from the Toussaint catalog, with Joe Williams<\/strong> 1966 cover of Lee Dorsey\u2019s \u2018Get Out Of My Life Woman\u2019 (another song that was covered dozens of times) and Bettye Lavette\u2019s<\/strong> 1969 R&B hit cover of Betty Harris\u2019s \u2018Nearer To You\u2019.<\/p>\n

John Williams and the Tick Tocks<\/strong> made two excellent 45s with Toussaint for the Sansu label. \u2018Blues Tears and Sorrows\u2019 from 1967 is one of the finest soul ballads that Toussaint ever wrote, with a great vocal by Williams, yet another great singer who never hit outside of New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Willie West\u2019s<\/strong> 1970 \u2018Fairchild\u2019 is not only one of the coolest things Toussaint ever wrote or recorded, but it had fair amount of mystery attached to it, in which it was suspected that the promo and the stock copies had different mixes. No less an authority than Matt ‘Mr Finewine’ Weingarden <\/b>informs me that this is NOT the case. The rumor started when CD reissues of ‘Fairchild’ came out with the wrong master (stripped of the horns). As far as I know nobody has a definitive answer as to the provenance of the secondary master, but it never saw (nor was it intended to see) the light of day on vinyl.<\/p>\n

Aside from a very solid vocal by West, the record also includes a sound that Toussaint would make a lot of use of around that time, acoustic guitar. It was used prominently here, on his masterful and imaginative arrangement of Tim Hardin\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018If I Were a Carpenter\u2019 for Eldridge Holmes<\/strong> (another personal favorite) and again on Lee Dorsey\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On)\u2019.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough, despite the fact that Willie Harper<\/strong> was a Toussaint favorite, and \u2018A Certain Girl\u2019 a Toussaint song, his 1968 recording of it was produced and arranged by Wardell Quezerque.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lee Dorsey\u2019s<\/strong> late 60s\/early 70s funky 45s are some of the most interesting things that Toussaint worked on. Often featuring the Meters<\/strong>, and employing unusual arrangements – like the borderline psychedelic funk of \u2018Give It Up\u2019, these records mark the collaboration of Toussaint and Dorsey as a particularly fruitful one.<\/p>\n

That said, the next two songs were originally part of that collaboration. The Pointer Sisters<\/strong> 1973 version of \u2018Yes We Can Can\u2019 was their first big hit and had become a funk 45 standard.<\/p>\n

Robert Palmer\u2019s<\/strong> version of \u2018Sneaking Sally Through the Alley\u2019 comes from his 1974 debut, which featured contributions from the Meters and Little Feat<\/strong>. His funky version of \u2018Sneaking Sally Through the Alley\u2019 was originally part of a long medley with Little Feat\u2019s \u2018Sailing Shoes\u2019 and Palmer\u2019s own \u2018Hey Julia\u2019 that you ought to check out when you get a chance.<\/p>\n

\u2018Hercules\u2019 is known to most folks via the original recording by Aaron Neville,<\/strong> but I really dig Boz Scaggs<\/strong>\u00a0little-heard 1974 take on the song, one of Toussaint\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

Esther Phillips’<\/strong> version of Toussaint\u2019s \u2018From a Whisper To a Scream\u2019 from her 1972 album of the same name is a reworking of Toussaint\u2019s original version from his 1970 LP (also of the same name). It\u2019s really interesting to hear Phillips, a truly great singer work her way through the emotional ups and downs of the song.<\/p>\n

The mix closes out with Allen Toussaint\u2019s original version of the song that Glen Campbell<\/strong> had a megahit with in 1977, \u2018Southern Nights\u2019. Toussaint\u2019s original, from 1975 is a long way from the upbeat singalong of Campbell\u2019s version, sounding more like a lullaby, with his vocals sounding like they were channeled through a Leslie speaker, giving it a dreamlike feel.<\/p>\n

While this selection is by no means comprehensive, hopefully it will provide a doorway into Toussaint\u2019s long and amazing discography.<\/p>\n

I hope you dig it, and that you take the time tonight to raise a glass in honor of a brilliant man.<\/p>\n

See you on Friday.<\/p>\n

Keep the faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

____________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!<\/strong> The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.<\/strong> They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).<\/strong> Click here to go to the ordering page.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a> \"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Al Tousan \u2013 Java (RCA) The Stokes \u2013 Whipped Cream (ALON) Ernie K Doe \u2013 Mother In Law (Minit) 1961 Diamond Joe \u2013 Fair Play (Minit) Benny Spellman \u2013 Fortune Teller (Minit) Lee Dorsey \u2013 Ride Your Pony (Amy) Warren Lee \u2013 Star Revue (Deesu) Willie Harper \u2013 But I Couldn\u2019t (ALON) Eldridge Holmes \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159,58,145,11,14,66,30,126,40,92,24,67,64,12,18],"tags":[163,166,41,173,164],"class_list":["post-6072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allen-toussaint","category-cover-songs","category-deep-soul","category-funk","category-funky16corners","category-instrumental","category-lp-tracks","category-mardi-gras","category-new-orleans-funk","category-new-orleans-soul","category-northern-soul","category-obituary","category-rb","category-soul","category-soul-45","tag-funk","tag-funky16corners","tag-new-orleans","tag-rb","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-1zW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6072"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6078,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6072\/revisions\/6078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}