10651 - ALLEN TOUSSAINT - THE COMPLETE WARNER BROS. RECORDINGS, DISC TWO (2003)
ALLEN TOUSSAINT
''THE COMPLETE WARNER RECORDINGS, DISC TWO''
2003
157:19
**********
DISC ONE (78:22)
1 Victims Of The Darkness 03:29
2 Am I Expecting Too Much 02:49
3 My Baby Is The Real Thing 03:04
4 Goin' Down 02:58
5 She Once Belonged To Me 02:50
6 Out Of The City [Into Country Life] 03:36
7 Soul Sister 02:48
8 Fingers And Toes 04:04
9 I've Got To Convince Myself 02:40
10 On Your Way Down 03:59
11 Gone Too Far 03:26
12 Electricity 02:29
13 Last Train 03:00
14 Worldwide 02:42
15 Back In Baby's Arms 04:47
16 Country John 04:45
17 Basic Lady 02:58
18 Southern Nights 03:35
19 You Will Not Lose 03:41
20 What Do You Want The Girl To Do 03:38
21 When The Party's Over 02:37
22 Cruel Way To Go Down 03:49
23 Country John 04:27
All Trcks By Toussaint
*****
DISC TWO (78:57)
1 Night People 04:19
2 Just A Kiss Away 04:08
3 With You In Mind 03:41
4 Lover Of Love 03:16
5 To Be With You 03:24
6 Motion 06:01
7 Viva La Money 03:32
8 Declaration Of Love 04:37
9 Happiness 03:24
10 The Optimism Blues 03:04
11 Intro High Life (Previously Unissued) 01:55
12 Touch Of Love (Previously Unissued) 03:09
13 Brickyard Blues (Previously Unissued) 03:44
14 What Is Success (Previously Unissued) 03:14
15 Freedom For The Stallion (Previously Unissued) 03:25
16 Last Train (Previously Unissued) 02:56
17 Shoo-Ra (Previously Unissued) 03:29
18 Allen and Gary Brown_ Pine Top's Boogie Woogie;Java;Girl of My Dreams(Previously Unissued) 12:15
19 Southern Nights (Previously Unissued) 04:17
20 Allen's Closing Remarks (Previously Unissued) 00:59
Tracks By Toussaint, Except 18 By Billy Butler, Sunny Clapp, Bill Doggett, Freddy Friday, Willie Perkins, Marilyn Schack, Clifford Scott, Shep Shepherd, Allen Toussaint, Alvin "Red" Tyler
**********
Carl Blouin/Sax (Baritone)
Gary Brown/Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
Rosemary Butler/Vocals (Background)
Lester Caliste/Trombone
Larry Carlton/Guitar
Paulinho Da Costa/Percussion
Nick DeCaro/Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements
Victor Feldman/Percussion
Venetta Fields/Vocals (Background)
Joan Harmon/Vocals (Background)
Steve Howard/Trumpet
Etta James/Vocals (Background)
Clyde Kerr/Flugelhorn, French Horn, Trumpet
Joe Lambert/Drums
Joseph Modeliste/Drums
Charles Moore/Guitar
Sharon Neborn/Vocals (Background)
Arthur Neville/Organ
Leo Nocentelli/Guitar
Deborah Paul/Vocals (Background)
Walter Payton/Bass (Electric), String Bass
George Plummer/Guitar
Robert "Pops" Popwell/Bass Guitar
Jeff Porcaro/Drums
George Porter, Jr./Bass Guitar
Richard Powell/Bass Guitar
Lon Price/Alto Vocal, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Tenor Vocal
Chuck Rainey/Bass Guitar
Bonnie Raitt/Vocals (Background)
Alfred "Uganda" Roberts/Conga Drum, Congas
Francis Rousselle/Trumpet
Teddy Royal/Guitar
Jessica Smith/Vocals (Background)
Squirrel/Conga Drum, Congas
Richard Tee/Piano
Alvin Thomas/Sax (Tenor)
Julia Tillman/Vocals (Background)
Allen Toussaint/Arranger, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Harmonica, Horn Arrangements, Piano, Piano (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Vincent Toussaint/Guitar
Red Tyler/Sax (Baritone)
Maxine Willard Waters/Vocals (Background)
Clyde Williams/Drums
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Allen Toussaint is a legend who wrote and produced some of the greatest songs in New Orleans R&B history, but his career as a recording artist is hardly legendary. He didn't record all that much and what he did wax is overshadowed by his compositions and productions -- which, admittedly, is understandable given the work he did with the Meters, Lee Dorsey, Aaron Neville, Ernie K-Doe, the Band, LaBelle, Irma Thomas, and many others. But not being legendary is hardly the same thing as not having merit, and Rhino Handmade's 2003 double-disc set The Complete Warner Recordings makes a convincing case that Toussaint's three albums for Warner and Reprise are among the best hidden treasures in soul music. These three albums -- which are augmented by a very different single version of "Country John" and a full live concert originally released in part on Rhino's 1989 various-artists collection New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 1976 (although it apparently was recorded in Philadelphia in 1975), here presented in its entirety on the second disc -- represent the longest period of recording Toussaint had as a solo artist. He cut The Wild Sound of New Orleans by Tousan in 1958, at the peak of rock & roll and R&B's chart success (this material is collected on Bear Family's The Complete "Tousan" Sessions), but throughout the '60s he devoted himself to behind-the-scenes work before getting the chance to record his own albums in the early '70s, starting with Toussaint (later retitled From a Whisper to a Scream for a U.K. reissue), cut for Scepter Records in 1970. He then moved to Warner, where he recorded three albums -- 1972's Life, Love and Faith, 1975's Southern Nights, 1978's Motion -- that largely went unheard outside of New Orleans R&B and soul circles. Apart from a few import and quasi-legal budget-line reissues, these albums remained out of print for years, only surfacing as selections on the excellent 1991 CD The Allen Toussaint Collection, which expertly summarizes these records. Such is the neglect bestowed upon these three records; even in his otherwise fine liner notes for The Complete Warner Recordings, Billy Vera glosses over these albums, spending about a page on them and never going into detail. All this means is that the music needs to speak for itself, which it certainly can do. Toussaint did something very interesting with his Warner recordings. He stayed grounded in the earthy New Orleans R&B and funk that had been his bread and butter for many a year, but he spun it differently, bringing it in line with the smooth soul coming out of places like Philadelphia in the '70s, tempering it with a bit of a gloss borrowed from Los Angeles troubadours, yet retaining that distinctly Southern feel. Each album shares that sound, with each song clearly identifiable as the work of Allen Toussaint, but each has its own feel. Life, Love and Faith is the strongest and funkiest of the bunch, a Southern soul spin on West Coast singer/songwriter albums that is an excellent expansion of his signature sound. Southern Nights is Toussaint's album rock album, complete with a hazy theme and trippy instrumental interludes. Motion is his smooth commercial soul album, recorded with L.A. studio pros at Warner's insistence. The live album finds Toussaint returning to the basics of his music, which is at once earthy and sophisticated. While each of the albums apart from Life, Love and Faith might have a flaw -- Southern Nights is a bit unfocused, Motion a bit too slick, the live material can meander -- these are minor issues since there's such a wealth of wonderful music here. Toussaint has an easy, relaxed touch to his performances that enhances the sly elegance of his writing, whether it's on ballads like "With You in Mind" and the gorgeous "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" or intricate funk like "Victims of the Darkness" and the dynamic, layered "Last Train," or such idiosyncratic spins on classic New Orleans R&B like "Brickyard Blues" and "Shoo-Ra," the latter two taken from the live set. These are just a few of the many sublime moments on The Complete Warner Recordings -- moments so good, it's hard to believe that these albums have gone underappreciated for so long. Since this set is limited to 2,500 copies and only available through www.rhinohandmade.com, this doesn't necessarily rectify the situation -- after all, that's hardly a wide distrubition (then again, as Paul Gayten quoted in Vera's liner notes, "New Orleans music is the greatest in the world, but it just doesn't sell to the mass public") -- but anybody who loves soul music and New Orleans R&B needs to own this priceless set.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Steve Huey
Producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, solo artist -- Allen Toussaint has worn all these hats over the course of his lengthy and prolific career, and his behind-the-scenes work alone would have been enough to make him a legend of New Orleans R&B. Thanks to his work with numerous other artists, Toussaint bore an enormous amount of responsibility for the sound of R&B in the Crescent City from the '60s on into the '70s. His productions kept with the times, moving from rollicking, earthy soul in the '60s to gritty, rambunctious funk in the '70s. As a composer, Toussaint proved himself a consistent hitmaker, penning more than a few gems that have since become R&B standards and been covered by countless artists working in many different styles. In keeping with that across-the-board appeal, Toussaint has worked in some supporting capacity for a wide variety of rock and blues legends, particularly from the '70s on. On top of all that, Toussaint waxed his own records from time to time, enjoying a creative peak in the '70s with several albums that highlighted his laid-back vocals and elegantly funky piano work. Even if he wasn't always the most visible figure, Toussaint's contributions to New Orleans music -- and to rock & roll in general -- were such that he earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Toussaint was born January 14, 1938, in New Orleans, and began learning piano at age seven, inspired by Professor Longhair; his style later grew to include elements of Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith, and Ray Charles. As a teenager, he played in a band called the Flamingoes with bluesman Snooks Eaglin. Toussaint caught his first professional break at age 17, when Earl King tapped him to fill in for Smith at a live gig. Not long after, famed producer/songwriter Dave Bartholomew -- whose role in New Orleans R&B during the '50s was fairly analogous to Toussaint's later career -- hired him to lay down the piano parts at a Fats Domino recording session for which Domino himself was unavailable. Bartholomew made regular use of Toussaint, most notably on further sessions for Domino and Smiley Lewis, and demand for the young pianist's services grew quickly, especially after he first displayed his talent as an arranger on saxman Lee Allen's biggest hit, "Walkin' with Mr. Lee." In 1958, Toussaint recorded an instrumental album for RCA called The Wild Sound of New Orleans, under the alias Tousan; one of his original compositions for the record, "Java," went on to become a smash hit for Dixieland jazz trumpeter Al Hirt five years later. Toussaint also began writing under the pseudonym Naomi Neville, after his mother's maiden name.
In 1960, Toussaint was hired by Joe Banashak as an A&R man for the brand-new Minit label; in practice, he wound up masterminding most of the label's recording sessions. It was here that Toussaint truly began to build his legend. His first national success as a producer came with Jessie Hill's R&B Top Five smash "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" in 1960, and the classic hits came fast and furious after that: Ernie K-Doe's pop and R&B number one "Mother-in-Law" (a Toussaint composition), Benny Spellman's "Fortune Teller," and "Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)" (both Toussaint tunes written as Naomi Neville, with the former later covered by the Rolling Stones), Chris Kenner's original version of "Land of 1000 Dances," Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya," and numerous sides with New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas. Toussaint's singular touch on all these records redefined the sound of New Orleans R&B for a new decade. When Banashak left Minit to found another label, Instant, Toussaint went with him to fulfill much the same duties; he also freelanced elsewhere, most prominently with Dorsey's recordings for the Fury label, and cut a few low-profile singles of his own, mostly for Seville. In 1963, Toussaint was drafted into the military, during which time he recorded with his backing band the Stokes while on leave; one of their tunes, the Naomi Neville credit "Whipped Cream," was covered by Herb Alpert in 1965 for an instrumental hit, which was in turn later adopted as the theme for TV's The Dating Game.
Upon his discharge in 1965, Toussaint teamed up with fellow producer Marshall Sehorn to form a production company and record label, Sansu Enterprises. Sansu recorded the likes of Betty Harris, Earl King, Chris Kenner, and Lou Johnson, among others, often leasing their singles to larger labels for official release. Their most profitable association was with Lee Dorsey, who returned to the upper reaches of the R&B charts with Toussaint-penned hits like "Ride Your Pony," the oft-covered "Get Out of My Life Woman," the immortal "Working in a Coalmine," and "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)" (covered by jazzman Lou Donaldson). In 1966, Sansu also engaged the services of a house band dubbed the Meters, who supplied backing for nearly all of the company's productions; after the Meters started making their own records in 1969 (produced by Toussaint), they developed into arguably the top instrumental funk ensemble of the '70s outside of the J.B.'s.
In 1971, Toussaint recorded his first solo album in over a decade for Scepter, calling it simply Toussaint (it was later reissued in the U.K. as From a Whisper to a Scream, after its best-known track). The following year, he moved up to Reprise for Life, Love and Faith, and he and Sehorn opened a state-of-the-art recording studio in New Orleans called Sea-Saint, which became the site for most of his subsequent projects. In addition to his solo records, Toussaint was getting more high-profile offers for outside work during the first half of the '70s. He did horn arrangements for the Band, Paul Simon, Little Feat, and Sandy Denny, and his continued work with the Meters was moving him into contemporary funk with a harder edge than his own albums. In fact, he wound up producing two of New Orleans' greatest funk records: Dr. John's Top Ten hit "Right Place, Wrong Time" and LaBelle's number one disco-funk smash "Lady Marmalade." In 1975, Toussaint released what many regarded as his finest solo album, Southern Nights; the title track went on to become a huge hit for country-pop superstar Glen Campbell, and "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" was covered by Boz Scaggs, Lowell George, and Bonnie Raitt.
In 1976, Toussaint produced the Meters-related group the Wild Tchoupitoulas, whose self-titled debut was hailed as a classic of New Orleans funk. The record's experimentalism signaled a growing desire to branch out in the Meters camp, though, which would soon cause the band's split with Toussaint and, eventually, each other. The absence of their unerring sense of groove was noticeable on Toussaint's final solo LP for quite some time, 1978's Motion. Toussaint's activities tailed off in the years that followed; he still produced, arranged, and played piano on selected projects, which included albums by blues artists Etta James and Albert King, and rockers Elvis Costello and Joe Cocker, among others. In the meantime, his extensive song catalog was still mined regularly for cover material; the Lee Dorsey period was the most fertile, not just for "Working in a Coalmine" (Devo, the Judds), but lesser-known items like "Yes We Can" (the Pointer Sisters), "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" (Robert Palmer), and "Freedom for the Stallion" (the Oak Ridge Boys, among others). In addition, "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" was a hit for Three Dog Night, and Bonnie Raitt cut a well-received version of "What Is Success." The Allen Toussaint Collection, a fine overview of his major-label recordings in the '70s, was released in 1991. In 1996, Toussaint formed a new label, NYNO, and recorded a full album of new material at his Sea-Saint studio titled Connected. Toussaint also began recording newer Crescent City artists in hopes of preserving the classic New Orleans sound. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 in the non-performer category. Going Places, attributed to Allen Toussaint's Jazzity Project, appeared in 2005, followed by the Joe Henry-produced The Bright Mississippi from Nonesuch Records in 2009. Four years later, the solo live album Songbook -- its performances dating from 2006 -- appeared on Rounder.
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WEBSITE
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TO THE TOP
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''THE COMPLETE WARNER RECORDINGS, DISC TWO''
2003
157:19
**********
DISC ONE (78:22)
1 Victims Of The Darkness 03:29
2 Am I Expecting Too Much 02:49
3 My Baby Is The Real Thing 03:04
4 Goin' Down 02:58
5 She Once Belonged To Me 02:50
6 Out Of The City [Into Country Life] 03:36
7 Soul Sister 02:48
8 Fingers And Toes 04:04
9 I've Got To Convince Myself 02:40
10 On Your Way Down 03:59
11 Gone Too Far 03:26
12 Electricity 02:29
13 Last Train 03:00
14 Worldwide 02:42
15 Back In Baby's Arms 04:47
16 Country John 04:45
17 Basic Lady 02:58
18 Southern Nights 03:35
19 You Will Not Lose 03:41
20 What Do You Want The Girl To Do 03:38
21 When The Party's Over 02:37
22 Cruel Way To Go Down 03:49
23 Country John 04:27
All Trcks By Toussaint
*****
DISC TWO (78:57)
1 Night People 04:19
2 Just A Kiss Away 04:08
3 With You In Mind 03:41
4 Lover Of Love 03:16
5 To Be With You 03:24
6 Motion 06:01
7 Viva La Money 03:32
8 Declaration Of Love 04:37
9 Happiness 03:24
10 The Optimism Blues 03:04
11 Intro High Life (Previously Unissued) 01:55
12 Touch Of Love (Previously Unissued) 03:09
13 Brickyard Blues (Previously Unissued) 03:44
14 What Is Success (Previously Unissued) 03:14
15 Freedom For The Stallion (Previously Unissued) 03:25
16 Last Train (Previously Unissued) 02:56
17 Shoo-Ra (Previously Unissued) 03:29
18 Allen and Gary Brown_ Pine Top's Boogie Woogie;Java;Girl of My Dreams(Previously Unissued) 12:15
19 Southern Nights (Previously Unissued) 04:17
20 Allen's Closing Remarks (Previously Unissued) 00:59
Tracks By Toussaint, Except 18 By Billy Butler, Sunny Clapp, Bill Doggett, Freddy Friday, Willie Perkins, Marilyn Schack, Clifford Scott, Shep Shepherd, Allen Toussaint, Alvin "Red" Tyler
**********
Carl Blouin/Sax (Baritone)
Gary Brown/Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
Rosemary Butler/Vocals (Background)
Lester Caliste/Trombone
Larry Carlton/Guitar
Paulinho Da Costa/Percussion
Nick DeCaro/Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements
Victor Feldman/Percussion
Venetta Fields/Vocals (Background)
Joan Harmon/Vocals (Background)
Steve Howard/Trumpet
Etta James/Vocals (Background)
Clyde Kerr/Flugelhorn, French Horn, Trumpet
Joe Lambert/Drums
Joseph Modeliste/Drums
Charles Moore/Guitar
Sharon Neborn/Vocals (Background)
Arthur Neville/Organ
Leo Nocentelli/Guitar
Deborah Paul/Vocals (Background)
Walter Payton/Bass (Electric), String Bass
George Plummer/Guitar
Robert "Pops" Popwell/Bass Guitar
Jeff Porcaro/Drums
George Porter, Jr./Bass Guitar
Richard Powell/Bass Guitar
Lon Price/Alto Vocal, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Tenor Vocal
Chuck Rainey/Bass Guitar
Bonnie Raitt/Vocals (Background)
Alfred "Uganda" Roberts/Conga Drum, Congas
Francis Rousselle/Trumpet
Teddy Royal/Guitar
Jessica Smith/Vocals (Background)
Squirrel/Conga Drum, Congas
Richard Tee/Piano
Alvin Thomas/Sax (Tenor)
Julia Tillman/Vocals (Background)
Allen Toussaint/Arranger, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Harmonica, Horn Arrangements, Piano, Piano (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Vincent Toussaint/Guitar
Red Tyler/Sax (Baritone)
Maxine Willard Waters/Vocals (Background)
Clyde Williams/Drums
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Allen Toussaint is a legend who wrote and produced some of the greatest songs in New Orleans R&B history, but his career as a recording artist is hardly legendary. He didn't record all that much and what he did wax is overshadowed by his compositions and productions -- which, admittedly, is understandable given the work he did with the Meters, Lee Dorsey, Aaron Neville, Ernie K-Doe, the Band, LaBelle, Irma Thomas, and many others. But not being legendary is hardly the same thing as not having merit, and Rhino Handmade's 2003 double-disc set The Complete Warner Recordings makes a convincing case that Toussaint's three albums for Warner and Reprise are among the best hidden treasures in soul music. These three albums -- which are augmented by a very different single version of "Country John" and a full live concert originally released in part on Rhino's 1989 various-artists collection New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 1976 (although it apparently was recorded in Philadelphia in 1975), here presented in its entirety on the second disc -- represent the longest period of recording Toussaint had as a solo artist. He cut The Wild Sound of New Orleans by Tousan in 1958, at the peak of rock & roll and R&B's chart success (this material is collected on Bear Family's The Complete "Tousan" Sessions), but throughout the '60s he devoted himself to behind-the-scenes work before getting the chance to record his own albums in the early '70s, starting with Toussaint (later retitled From a Whisper to a Scream for a U.K. reissue), cut for Scepter Records in 1970. He then moved to Warner, where he recorded three albums -- 1972's Life, Love and Faith, 1975's Southern Nights, 1978's Motion -- that largely went unheard outside of New Orleans R&B and soul circles. Apart from a few import and quasi-legal budget-line reissues, these albums remained out of print for years, only surfacing as selections on the excellent 1991 CD The Allen Toussaint Collection, which expertly summarizes these records. Such is the neglect bestowed upon these three records; even in his otherwise fine liner notes for The Complete Warner Recordings, Billy Vera glosses over these albums, spending about a page on them and never going into detail. All this means is that the music needs to speak for itself, which it certainly can do. Toussaint did something very interesting with his Warner recordings. He stayed grounded in the earthy New Orleans R&B and funk that had been his bread and butter for many a year, but he spun it differently, bringing it in line with the smooth soul coming out of places like Philadelphia in the '70s, tempering it with a bit of a gloss borrowed from Los Angeles troubadours, yet retaining that distinctly Southern feel. Each album shares that sound, with each song clearly identifiable as the work of Allen Toussaint, but each has its own feel. Life, Love and Faith is the strongest and funkiest of the bunch, a Southern soul spin on West Coast singer/songwriter albums that is an excellent expansion of his signature sound. Southern Nights is Toussaint's album rock album, complete with a hazy theme and trippy instrumental interludes. Motion is his smooth commercial soul album, recorded with L.A. studio pros at Warner's insistence. The live album finds Toussaint returning to the basics of his music, which is at once earthy and sophisticated. While each of the albums apart from Life, Love and Faith might have a flaw -- Southern Nights is a bit unfocused, Motion a bit too slick, the live material can meander -- these are minor issues since there's such a wealth of wonderful music here. Toussaint has an easy, relaxed touch to his performances that enhances the sly elegance of his writing, whether it's on ballads like "With You in Mind" and the gorgeous "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" or intricate funk like "Victims of the Darkness" and the dynamic, layered "Last Train," or such idiosyncratic spins on classic New Orleans R&B like "Brickyard Blues" and "Shoo-Ra," the latter two taken from the live set. These are just a few of the many sublime moments on The Complete Warner Recordings -- moments so good, it's hard to believe that these albums have gone underappreciated for so long. Since this set is limited to 2,500 copies and only available through www.rhinohandmade.com, this doesn't necessarily rectify the situation -- after all, that's hardly a wide distrubition (then again, as Paul Gayten quoted in Vera's liner notes, "New Orleans music is the greatest in the world, but it just doesn't sell to the mass public") -- but anybody who loves soul music and New Orleans R&B needs to own this priceless set.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Steve Huey
Producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, solo artist -- Allen Toussaint has worn all these hats over the course of his lengthy and prolific career, and his behind-the-scenes work alone would have been enough to make him a legend of New Orleans R&B. Thanks to his work with numerous other artists, Toussaint bore an enormous amount of responsibility for the sound of R&B in the Crescent City from the '60s on into the '70s. His productions kept with the times, moving from rollicking, earthy soul in the '60s to gritty, rambunctious funk in the '70s. As a composer, Toussaint proved himself a consistent hitmaker, penning more than a few gems that have since become R&B standards and been covered by countless artists working in many different styles. In keeping with that across-the-board appeal, Toussaint has worked in some supporting capacity for a wide variety of rock and blues legends, particularly from the '70s on. On top of all that, Toussaint waxed his own records from time to time, enjoying a creative peak in the '70s with several albums that highlighted his laid-back vocals and elegantly funky piano work. Even if he wasn't always the most visible figure, Toussaint's contributions to New Orleans music -- and to rock & roll in general -- were such that he earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Toussaint was born January 14, 1938, in New Orleans, and began learning piano at age seven, inspired by Professor Longhair; his style later grew to include elements of Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith, and Ray Charles. As a teenager, he played in a band called the Flamingoes with bluesman Snooks Eaglin. Toussaint caught his first professional break at age 17, when Earl King tapped him to fill in for Smith at a live gig. Not long after, famed producer/songwriter Dave Bartholomew -- whose role in New Orleans R&B during the '50s was fairly analogous to Toussaint's later career -- hired him to lay down the piano parts at a Fats Domino recording session for which Domino himself was unavailable. Bartholomew made regular use of Toussaint, most notably on further sessions for Domino and Smiley Lewis, and demand for the young pianist's services grew quickly, especially after he first displayed his talent as an arranger on saxman Lee Allen's biggest hit, "Walkin' with Mr. Lee." In 1958, Toussaint recorded an instrumental album for RCA called The Wild Sound of New Orleans, under the alias Tousan; one of his original compositions for the record, "Java," went on to become a smash hit for Dixieland jazz trumpeter Al Hirt five years later. Toussaint also began writing under the pseudonym Naomi Neville, after his mother's maiden name.
In 1960, Toussaint was hired by Joe Banashak as an A&R man for the brand-new Minit label; in practice, he wound up masterminding most of the label's recording sessions. It was here that Toussaint truly began to build his legend. His first national success as a producer came with Jessie Hill's R&B Top Five smash "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" in 1960, and the classic hits came fast and furious after that: Ernie K-Doe's pop and R&B number one "Mother-in-Law" (a Toussaint composition), Benny Spellman's "Fortune Teller," and "Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)" (both Toussaint tunes written as Naomi Neville, with the former later covered by the Rolling Stones), Chris Kenner's original version of "Land of 1000 Dances," Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya," and numerous sides with New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas. Toussaint's singular touch on all these records redefined the sound of New Orleans R&B for a new decade. When Banashak left Minit to found another label, Instant, Toussaint went with him to fulfill much the same duties; he also freelanced elsewhere, most prominently with Dorsey's recordings for the Fury label, and cut a few low-profile singles of his own, mostly for Seville. In 1963, Toussaint was drafted into the military, during which time he recorded with his backing band the Stokes while on leave; one of their tunes, the Naomi Neville credit "Whipped Cream," was covered by Herb Alpert in 1965 for an instrumental hit, which was in turn later adopted as the theme for TV's The Dating Game.
Upon his discharge in 1965, Toussaint teamed up with fellow producer Marshall Sehorn to form a production company and record label, Sansu Enterprises. Sansu recorded the likes of Betty Harris, Earl King, Chris Kenner, and Lou Johnson, among others, often leasing their singles to larger labels for official release. Their most profitable association was with Lee Dorsey, who returned to the upper reaches of the R&B charts with Toussaint-penned hits like "Ride Your Pony," the oft-covered "Get Out of My Life Woman," the immortal "Working in a Coalmine," and "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)" (covered by jazzman Lou Donaldson). In 1966, Sansu also engaged the services of a house band dubbed the Meters, who supplied backing for nearly all of the company's productions; after the Meters started making their own records in 1969 (produced by Toussaint), they developed into arguably the top instrumental funk ensemble of the '70s outside of the J.B.'s.
In 1971, Toussaint recorded his first solo album in over a decade for Scepter, calling it simply Toussaint (it was later reissued in the U.K. as From a Whisper to a Scream, after its best-known track). The following year, he moved up to Reprise for Life, Love and Faith, and he and Sehorn opened a state-of-the-art recording studio in New Orleans called Sea-Saint, which became the site for most of his subsequent projects. In addition to his solo records, Toussaint was getting more high-profile offers for outside work during the first half of the '70s. He did horn arrangements for the Band, Paul Simon, Little Feat, and Sandy Denny, and his continued work with the Meters was moving him into contemporary funk with a harder edge than his own albums. In fact, he wound up producing two of New Orleans' greatest funk records: Dr. John's Top Ten hit "Right Place, Wrong Time" and LaBelle's number one disco-funk smash "Lady Marmalade." In 1975, Toussaint released what many regarded as his finest solo album, Southern Nights; the title track went on to become a huge hit for country-pop superstar Glen Campbell, and "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" was covered by Boz Scaggs, Lowell George, and Bonnie Raitt.
In 1976, Toussaint produced the Meters-related group the Wild Tchoupitoulas, whose self-titled debut was hailed as a classic of New Orleans funk. The record's experimentalism signaled a growing desire to branch out in the Meters camp, though, which would soon cause the band's split with Toussaint and, eventually, each other. The absence of their unerring sense of groove was noticeable on Toussaint's final solo LP for quite some time, 1978's Motion. Toussaint's activities tailed off in the years that followed; he still produced, arranged, and played piano on selected projects, which included albums by blues artists Etta James and Albert King, and rockers Elvis Costello and Joe Cocker, among others. In the meantime, his extensive song catalog was still mined regularly for cover material; the Lee Dorsey period was the most fertile, not just for "Working in a Coalmine" (Devo, the Judds), but lesser-known items like "Yes We Can" (the Pointer Sisters), "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" (Robert Palmer), and "Freedom for the Stallion" (the Oak Ridge Boys, among others). In addition, "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" was a hit for Three Dog Night, and Bonnie Raitt cut a well-received version of "What Is Success." The Allen Toussaint Collection, a fine overview of his major-label recordings in the '70s, was released in 1991. In 1996, Toussaint formed a new label, NYNO, and recorded a full album of new material at his Sea-Saint studio titled Connected. Toussaint also began recording newer Crescent City artists in hopes of preserving the classic New Orleans sound. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 in the non-performer category. Going Places, attributed to Allen Toussaint's Jazzity Project, appeared in 2005, followed by the Joe Henry-produced The Bright Mississippi from Nonesuch Records in 2009. Four years later, the solo live album Songbook -- its performances dating from 2006 -- appeared on Rounder.
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