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Thread started 11/10/15 7:20am

JKOOLMUSIC

RIP Allen Toussaint

All hail - a genius has left this realm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/arts/music/allen-toussaint-dies.html?_r=0

Photo
Allen Toussaint at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2010. CreditSkip Bolen/European Pressphoto Agency

Allen Toussaint, the versatile producer and songwriter who was a fixture of New Orleans R&B, died Monday after appearing in concert in Madrid. He was 77.


His daughter, Alison Toussaint-LeBeaux, confirmed his death in an email, and said the cause appeared to be a heart attack. El Mundo reported in Spain that Mr. Toussaint had collapsed at a hotel after the performance and was taken to a hospital.


He had been keeping a busy schedule, appearing in the United States and in Europe in recent weeks, with plans to perform in Belgium and Britain after his appearance in Spain. On Monday evening, fans who attended the performance at the Teatro Lara in Madrid posted video of Mr. Toussaint as he sat at a piano and sang.


“The @teatrolara is a Southern party thanks to the great Allen Toussaint,” a local music club wrote on Twitter.


Mr. Toussaint was born in 1938 in Gert Town, a humble, working-class neighborhood of New Orleans, where he taught himself piano. He began his career as a teenager in the 1950s, releasing his first album in 1958 under the name Tousan. In 1960, he became the house producer, arranger and songwriter for the Minit label, working on songs like Ernie K-Doe’s “Mother in Law,” Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya” and Jessie Hill’s “Ooh Poo Pah Doo.”


Throughout his career, Mr. Toussaint embodied the traditions of the New Orleans R&B scene, working as one of the city’s most prolific and influential songwriters and producers during the 1960s and 70s. Even in that fertile period of New Orleans music, Mr. Toussaint’s work stood out for its humor, jaunty style and arrangements with piano flourishes that showed the influence of Professor Longhair.


After a brief stint in the United States Army, Mr. Toussaint returned to music in 1965 and continued to work with a range of New Orleans musicians, including the early funk group the Meters. He co-founded Sea-Saint Studios in 1972, which attracted Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and others.


His songs would eventually be covered widely by other musicians, including “Java,” a hit for Al Hirt in 1964, and “Fortune Teller,” which became a standard among British Invasion rock bands in the mid-60s, recorded by the Who and the Rolling Stones, among others.


“I was so glad when the Stones recorded my song,” Mr. Toussaint once told an interviewer. “ I knew they would know how to roll it all the way to the bank.”


On Tuesday, the Rolling Stones posted the song on Twitter, with the message “RIP Allen Toussaint.” Other musicians, like Harry Shearer and Harry Connick Jr., also posted messages.


“We have lost a giant,” Mr. Shearer wrote.


In recent years, Mr. Toussaint continued to be a frequent and versatile collaborator, whether it was exploring his roots with New Orleans musicians or pairing with pop stars like Elvis Costello, with whom he recorded the album “The River in Reverse,” a response to Hurricane Katrina.


According to his website, Mr. Toussaint said his career was rebooted a decade ago when the storm forced him to move to New York, where he often performed alone at Joe’s Pub on Lafayette Street.


Mr. Toussaint would eventually return home, where he was a beloved local figure with an understated demeanor.


“I’m not accustomed to talking about myself,” he said, according to his website. “I talk in the studio with musicians. Or through my songs.”

[Edited 11/10/15 7:23am]

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Reply #1 posted 11/10/15 8:19am

Cinny

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His name is on so many funky 45s I have. Funny the songs mentioned in the article must be the most famous ones but are not on the top of my mind if you asked me about "A. Toussaint"!

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Reply #2 posted 11/10/15 8:20am

Cinny

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Reply #3 posted 11/10/15 8:21am

Cinny

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Reply #4 posted 11/10/15 8:21am

Cinny

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Reply #5 posted 11/10/15 8:23am

Cinny

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Reply #6 posted 11/10/15 8:25am

Cinny

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GREAT SONGWRITER

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Reply #7 posted 11/10/15 8:27am

Cinny

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I love his Lee Dorsey hits

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Reply #8 posted 11/10/15 8:33am

madhattter

A true musician!! RIP

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Reply #9 posted 11/10/15 8:43am

Dancelot

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oh my sad


rose



Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy!
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Reply #10 posted 11/10/15 8:44am

Dancelot

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one of my faves

Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy!
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Reply #11 posted 11/10/15 8:50am

Dancelot

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Cinny said:

GREAT SONGWRITER

always loved that to death!
this was on one of my very first cassettes taped from the radio in the late 70s










and I admit here and now, that until today I never realised this was an Allen Toussaint compoistion (!!!) boxed

Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy!
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Reply #12 posted 11/10/15 2:34pm

thetimefan

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Just to echo the praise for Southern Nights, its a great song. Watched a BBC documentary a while back about Southern Music and Allen Toussaint was being interviewed on there and played Southern Nights and his version is just as good (or even better) than Glen Campbell's. RIP Allen Toussaint sad

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Reply #13 posted 11/10/15 3:41pm

purplethunder3
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Thanks for all the great music over the years, Mr. Toussaint. rose

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #14 posted 11/11/15 12:43pm

phunkdaddy

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R.I.P.
I'm familiar with his work with Chocolate Milk up until 1980 before
Allen Jones(Barkays)took the band under his wings. They served as Toussaint's
house band too.
Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint
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Reply #15 posted 11/12/15 3:36am

Hamad

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Cinny said:

GREAT SONGWRITER

Such a pretty song.

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QLH82
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Reply #16 posted 11/12/15 4:27am

paligap

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Hamad said: Cinny said: GREAT SONGWRITER Such a pretty song. ...Wow, I never heard this version before today--Thanks........
" I've got six things on my mind --you're no longer one of them." - Paddy McAloon, Prefab Sprout
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Reply #17 posted 11/12/15 8:25am

Cinny

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paligap said:

Hamad said:

Cinny said:

GREAT SONGWRITER
Such a pretty song. ...Wow, I never heard this version before today--Thanks........

It was actually the org's shorttrini who showed me Allen's own version.

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Reply #18 posted 11/12/15 11:50am

Hamad

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Cinny said:

paligap said:

Such a pretty song. ...Wow, I never heard this version before today--Thanks........

It was actually the org's shorttrini who showed me Allen's own version.

I didn't even know it was Allen's composition until you posted Glenn's, when I typed Allen's name in youtube that was the first song that showed up.

Kinda gives me Shuggie Otis vibes.

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QLH82
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Reply #19 posted 11/24/15 1:26pm

JKOOLMUSIC

For those that are interested there will be a second line this Saturday at Washington Square Park at noon in memory of Allen Toussaint. There will also be a tribute at City Winery that evening as Mr. Toussaint was scheduled to perform, featuring Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste

.

https://www.offbeat.com/n...toussaint/

.

http://www.citywinery.com...11-29.html This event has SOLD OUT, wait list is available.

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Reply #20 posted 11/25/15 9:17am

Cinny

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I was looking at the back of Dr. John's album last week, and noticed it was produced by Allen Toussaint.
cool

[Edited 11/25/15 9:18am]

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Reply #21 posted 11/27/15 7:15am

Dancelot

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^^ the Meters are all over this love i soooo fucking love Dr. John and his albums from that era

Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy!
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