1944 Phillip „Phil“ May*
1945 Frank Hutchison+
1970 Susan Tedeschi*
1972 Carolyn Wonderland*
1976 Dominik Elefant Abłamowicz*
2015 Allen Toussaint+
1945 Frank Hutchison+
1970 Susan Tedeschi*
1972 Carolyn Wonderland*
1976 Dominik Elefant Abłamowicz*
2015 Allen Toussaint+
Happy Birthday
Susan Tedeschi *09.11.1970
Leben
Tedeschi kommt aus einer musikalischen Familie. Mit 15 hatte sie eine eigene Band namens "The Smoking Section". Sie interessierte sich früh für die Blues-Szene in Boston. Tedeschi hat einen Abschluss des Berklee College of Music.
1994 gründete sie die "Susan Tedeschi Band". Ihr zweites Album Just Won't Burn (1998) wurde begeistert aufgenommen. Die Band ging auf eine US-Tour und trat u. a. mit John Mellencamp, B. B. King, Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal und der Allman Brothers Band auf.
Susan Tedeschi und Derek Trucks, 2007
2001 heiratete Susan Tedeschi den Gitarristen Derek Trucks. Zweifache Mutterschaft und Familie veranlassten sie, sich von der Bühne zurückzuziehen; sie konzentrierte sich auf Studioaufnahmen.
Tedeschis Stimme wird als Mischung von Bonnie Raitt und Janis Joplin beschrieben, die sie beide als ihre Vorbilder nennt. Ihr Gitarrenspiel wurde von Buddy Guy, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Stevie Ray Vaughan und Freddie King beeinflusst.
2009 spielte Susan Tedeschi auf der Europatournee von B. B. King im Vorprogramm.
2010 beschlossen Trucks und Tedeschi, eine gemeinsame Band zu gründen. Nach einer erfolgreichen Tournee und Auftritten u.a. bei Eric Claptons Crossroads Guitar Festival in den Jahren 2007 und 2010 wurde 2011 das Album Revelator der Tedeschi Trucks Band veröffentlicht. Den Aufnahmen gingen intensive Songwriting Sessions auf dem gemeinsamen Anwesen der beiden Musiker in Jacksonville, Florida, voraus. Gäste waren unter anderem John Leventhal (Johnny Cash, Paul Simon), Jeff Trout (Counting Crows), Ryan Harris (John Mayer) und Gary Louris (The Jayhawks). Tedeschi beschreibt die Arbeit als "ein echtes Songwriting Camp" (Interview Gitarre und Bass, Ausgabe 7/2011).
Im August 2013 erschien mit "Made Up Mind" das dritte Album der Band, die 2014 zwei Blues Music Awards erhielt - den einen als beste Band und den anderen für Made Up Mind als bestes Rock-Blues-Album. Susan Tedeschi erhielt außerdem die Auszeichnung als beste Bluessängerin.
Susan Tedeschi (/təˈdɛski/; born November 9, 1970) is an American blues and soul musician who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations[1] and is well known for her singing voice, guitar playing, and stage presence. She is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band (originally known as "Soul Stew Revival"), which is a conglomeration of her band, her husband's The Derek Trucks Band, and other musicians.
Tedeschi served as a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
Susan Tedeschi was born on November 9, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, to a family of Italian ancestry (Tedeschi means Germans in Italian) and was raised in Norwell, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of Dick Tedeschi, granddaughter of Nick Tedeschi and great-granddaughter of Angelo Tedeschi, founder of the New England-based supermarket and convenience store chain.[3] Tedeschi has always been musically inclined and made her debut public performance as a six-year old understudy in a Broadway musical. Also, she sang for family members and listened to her father's record collection of old vinyl recordings such as Mississippi John Hurt and Lightning Hopkins. Raised as a Catholic, she found little inspiration in the church choir and attended predominantly African-American Baptist churches, feeling the music was "less repressed and more like a celebration of God." She has played in bands since the age of 13. At the age of 18 she formed her first all-original group, The Smokin' Section, in the nearby town of Scituate.[4]
After graduating Norwell High School, Tedeschi attended the Berklee College of Music, where she sang in a Gospel choir. She performed show tunes on the Spirit of Boston and received her Bachelor of Music degree in musical composition and performance at age 20.[1] During that time, she began sitting in on blues jams at local venues and immersed herself in the Boston music scene.
Career
Early career
Tedeschi formed the Susan Tedeschi Band in 1993[1] featuring Tom Hambridge and Adrienne Hayes. In 1995 her then boyfriend, Boston musician Tim Gearan taught Tedeschi how to play blues guitar. It was then she really began to hone her skills on the instrument. In December the band released Better Days to regional audiences. Record contracts were difficult to keep together; however, recording sessions from 1997 were acquired by Richard Rosenblatt and the band was signed to indy label Tone-Cool Records and Just Won't Burn, featuring young guitarist Sean Costello, was released in February 1998 to very positive reviews, particularly from blues critics and publications. Susan was the first artist to play the very first Sunset Sessions in March 1998 at the Marriott in the US Virgin Islands. [5]
In 1999, Tedeschi played several dates in the all-woman traveling festival Lilith Fair organized by Sarah McLachlan.[4] Throughout 1998 and 1999 she toured extensively throughout the United States and drew larger crowds.
Opening acts
Eventually Tedeschi was opening for John Mellencamp, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, The Allman Brothers Band, Taj Mahal and Bob Dylan. In 2000, Just Won't Burn reached Gold record status for sales of 500,000 in the United States, rare for a blues production. She recorded two tracks with Double Trouble band members Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon for their album.
She opened for The Rolling Stones in 2003 and played in huge venues, gaining national exposure. Somewhat surprisingly, the gig wasn't financially lucrative. According to Tedeschi, "They pay, but it's not great. I don't make any money 'cause I've got to pay all my sidemen. I'll be lucky if I break even."[6]
In 2004, Tedeschi was featured on the PBS show Austin City Limits, flanked by William Green, on Hammond organ, Jason Crosby, playing keyboards, violin, and vocals, bassist Ron Perry, and Jeff Sipe, on drums. The performance was extremely well received.[7]
Influences
Susan Tedeschi's voice has been described as a blend of Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin,[8] which she maintains is not surprising given that both have been her influences. Her guitar playing is influenced by Buddy Guy, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King and Doyle Bramhall II. On the album "Just Won't Burn," she lists a multitude of inspirations from various genres. This list includes Irma Thomas, Etta James, Bob Marley, Toots Hibbert, Aretha Franklin, Otis Rush, Ronnie Earl, Otis Clay, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Dennis Montgomery III, Orville Wright, Walter Beasley, Kenya Hathaway, and Mahalia Jackson.
Personal life
In December 2001, she married Allman Brothers Band slide guitarist Derek Trucks, who is bandleader and lead guitarist of The Derek Trucks Band. Tedeschi and Trucks met in New Orleans when she was the opening act on the Allman Brothers Band's 1999 Summer Tour. They have two children; Charles Khalil Trucks, born in March 2002, is named for saxophonist Charlie Parker, guitarist Charlie Christian, and author Khalil Gibran. Sophia Naima Trucks, born in 2004, takes her unusual middle name from the John Coltrane ballad, which was also the jazz legend's first wife's name. They reside in Jacksonville, Florida.[9]
Soul Stew Revival
Tedeschi, with her powerful vocals and Trucks on guitar complement one another, and have toured together frequently under the name "Soul Stew Revival". This includes the members of The Derek Trucks Band, the members of Susan Tedeschi's band, and other musicians who travelled with them, including Trucks' younger brother, drummer Duane Trucks. In 2008, they added a three-piece horn section.
Tedeschi Trucks Band
In 2010, both Susan Tedeschi and her husband Derek Trucks announced a hiatus for their solo bands, and formed a new group called Tedeschi Trucks Band. The group performed at a number of festivals including Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, Fuji Rock Festival and others. Unlike their previous collaborative project - Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi's Soul Stew Revival - the Tedeschi Trucks Band focuses on writing and performing original material, and is the focus of both Trucks and Tedeschi for the foreseeable future.
Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, & Warren Haynes Perform "I'd Rather Go Blind"
Carolyn Wonderland *09.11.1972
Nachdem Carolyn Wonderland die High School in Houston erfolgreich abgeschlossen hatte, setzte sie sich ein Ziel: Ihre musikalische Karriere. 1999 zog sie nach Austin/Tx weil sie dort bessere musikalischen Bedingungen vorfand. 2001 erkrankte ihr Vermieter und sie musste ihr Appartement verlassen, kurzerhand beschloss sie in ihrem Wohnmobil zu wohnen, da sie sowieso 300 Tage im Jahr auf Tour war. Seit ihrer Heirat wohnt sie wieder fest in Austin/Tx aber auf Tour ist sie noch immer 200 Tage im Jahr.
Carolyn Wonderland spielt neben Gitarre auch slide Gitarre, Mandoline, Trompete, Piano und Akkordeon. Sie ist zwar hauptsächlich eine Blues Musikerin aber sie integriert immer gerne und gekonnt Elemente aus Country, Swing, Zydeco, Surf, Gospel und Soul.
Sie spielt nicht nur Blues, sie lebt den Blues und mit jedem Akkord spürt man das sie eine wirklich echte Blues-Lady ist.
Ihre Songs sind auch immer Geschichten die sie erlebt hat und die ihr Leben ausmachen. Die Songs schreibt sie selbst und bewegt sich dabei immer auch im Bereich des Soul und Gospel. Einer ihrer Bewunderer ist Bob Dylan.
Da sieh nur selten hier zu Lande zu sehen ist sollte man sie auf keinen Fall verpassen. Zum aktuellen Line-Up der Band gehören: Rob Hooper - Schlagzeug & Cole El-Saleh an den Keyboards.
Carolyn Wonderland spielt neben Gitarre auch slide Gitarre, Mandoline, Trompete, Piano und Akkordeon. Sie ist zwar hauptsächlich eine Blues Musikerin aber sie integriert immer gerne und gekonnt Elemente aus Country, Swing, Zydeco, Surf, Gospel und Soul.
Sie spielt nicht nur Blues, sie lebt den Blues und mit jedem Akkord spürt man das sie eine wirklich echte Blues-Lady ist.
Ihre Songs sind auch immer Geschichten die sie erlebt hat und die ihr Leben ausmachen. Die Songs schreibt sie selbst und bewegt sich dabei immer auch im Bereich des Soul und Gospel. Einer ihrer Bewunderer ist Bob Dylan.
Da sieh nur selten hier zu Lande zu sehen ist sollte man sie auf keinen Fall verpassen. Zum aktuellen Line-Up der Band gehören: Rob Hooper - Schlagzeug & Cole El-Saleh an den Keyboards.
Carolyn Wonderland ist Texanerin. Das will heissen, die junge Dame hat eine gehörige Dosis Janis Joplin in ihrer DNA. Doch nicht nur das – in ihren Adern fliesst das gitarristische Blut eines Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins oder Freddie King. Carolyn Wonderland IST Texas: Blues, Rock, Country, Texmex. Und wie sie dies alles auslebt! Auf der Bühne ist sie der Schreck aller Fotografen – ein Wirbelwind, immer in Bewegung, ausdrucksstark, emotional, kaum abzulichten. Wenn Carolyn singt, scheint sich ihre Energie direkt auf die Zuhörer zu übertragen. Ihr Gesang ist derart intensiv, dass man beinahe überhört, wie gut sie Gitarre spielt – egal ob auf ihrer Fender Telecaster oder einer im Sitzen zu bedienenden Lapsteel, dazu beherrscht sie noch Mandoline, Trompete und Klavier.
Carolyn Wonderland (born Carolyn Bradford[1] 1972, Houston, Texas) is an American blues singer, songwriter and musician. She is married to A. Whitney Brown.
Wonderland dropped out of Houston's Langham Creek High School to pursue her music ambitions.[2] In 1999, Wonderland moved to Austin, Texas; in 2001, she lost her apartment lease after her landlord became ill, and decided to live out of her van since she was spending more than 300 days a year on the road performing.[2]
Wonderland's instrumental abilities include guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, trumpet and piano. Although primarily a blues artist, Wonderland likes to incorporate elements of country, swing, zydeco, surf, gospel, soul, and cumbia into her musical mix. She usually performs with Cole El-Saleh on keyboards and Robert Michael Hooper on drums.
In February 2008, Wonderland released the CD "Miss Understood" on the Bismeaux Productions label,[3] and the title song has been on the Top 50 of the 'Roots Music Report' chart since the album's release.[4] Fans of Wonderland's music include Bob Dylan,[5] and Ray Benson, founder of Asleep at the Wheel. Benson produced Miss Understood, and has been one of her songwriting collaborators. Wonderland credits several blues and Texas musicians as influences on her music. One notable influence is Austin singer/songwriter Terri Hendrix, as Wonderland covered two Hendrix songs, ("I Found the Lions" and "Throw My Love"), on Miss Understood.
Wonderland has been involved in a number of recordings, including several that were self-produced on independent labels. She was the lead singer fronting the band Imperial Monkeys. Wonderland released Bloodless Revolution in 2008, and is the primary singer on the Jerry Lightfoot's Band of Wonder Texistentialism CD with Lightfoot and Vince Welnick (Grateful Dead, Tubes.)[6] Wonderland was a founding member of the Loose Affiliation of Saints and Sinners (with Papa Mali, Eldridge Goins, Guy Forsyth, and others), with several of her songs being featured on their Sessions from the Hotel San Jose Rm. 50 CD.[6] She was also the lead guitarist in the all-girl, southern rock band Sis DeVille (other members include Shelley King, Sarah Brown, Lisa Pankratz and Floramay Holliday), and a founding member of the Austin Volunteer Orchestra.[6]
Wonderland appeared on Austin City Limits in 2008,[7] and has had her music used on NBC's Homicide and Fox's Time of Your Life. She was a headlining artist at the annual Rochester International Jazz Festival summer 2009 at the Eastman Theatre and New York. In 2003, Wonderland opened the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, after performing there for the previous ten years, singing the National Anthem with 'The Imperial Monkeys'.[8]
Wonderland also performs with the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers, raising money for local Austin charities, food banks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and on behalf of the legalization of marijuana.[6]
Wonderland married writer-comedian A. Whitney Brown on March 4, 2011, in a ceremony officiated by Michael Nesmith.[1]
Recognition
Wonderland has won the following awards:[9]
Best Female Vocalist - 2012 Austin Music Awards
Best Female Vocalist - 2009 Austin Music Awards
Best Blues Band - 2009 Austin Music Awards
Best Female Vocalist - 2000 Houston Press Music Awards
Gold Award - Flagstaff International Film Festival - Music Video Awards - Alan Ames
&Assoc. "Party on Houston" featured artist 'Carolyn Wonderland'
Best Blues Songwriter of the Year - 1999 Houston Press Music Awards
Local Musician of the Year & song of the Year ("Blue Lights") - 1998 Houston Press Music
Awards
Best Rock/Pop Album of the Year ("Bursting With Flavor ") and Local Musician of the Year
and Best Female Vocalist - 1997 Houston Press Music Awards
Best Blues Band - 1996 Public News Music Awards
TEXAS BURNING with Carolyn Wonderland: "I Live Alone With Someone"
Dominik Elefant Abłamowicz *09.11.1976
Quartet aus Warschau ausgeliehen seinen Namen von dem Song "Junkers Blues" aus dem Repertoire von Champion Jack Dupree'a. "Wir, die Musik vor allem von der alten Blues, Swing, rhytm'n'bluesa, Boogie-Woogie, Rock'n'Roll und Soul süchtig. Wir erfinden alten Kompositionen Größen wie Jimmy Reed, Etta James, Snooks Eaglin, Billy Boy Arnold , Canned Heat, Little Walter, Katie Webster, Slim Harpo, Cecil Gant, Amos Milburn, und viele andere, sowie das Erstellen von urheberrechtlich geschützten Werken Styling in Anspielung auf alten Aufnahmen Meistern des Blues. Wir wollen zeigen, dass der Blues ist ein Musikgenre, das ein Vater ist, oder bereits eher, Großvater und Urgroßvater, vielleicht sogar die gesamte zeitgenössische Musik, und dass, entgegen der landläufigen Meinung nicht, um Doppelarbeit in der Runde der 12-taktowego scheme "beschränkt - sagen die Musiker selbst.
Die Zusammensetzung der vorliegenden Junkers Blues Sängerin Natalia Abłamowicz (für die Bildung von Spielern bekannt), Pianist und Mundharmonika-Spieler Dominik Abłamowicz (auch mit Szulerami assoziiert), Gitarrist Maciej Sych und Schlagzeuger Gregory Zawiliński.
In diesem Jahr die 35. Ausgabe gehören die Rawa Blues Elvin Bishop Band, Bettye Lavette, Jarekus Singleton und Selwyn Birchwood. Rawa Blues findet am 3. Oktober in Kattowitz statt.
Die Zusammensetzung der vorliegenden Junkers Blues Sängerin Natalia Abłamowicz (für die Bildung von Spielern bekannt), Pianist und Mundharmonika-Spieler Dominik Abłamowicz (auch mit Szulerami assoziiert), Gitarrist Maciej Sych und Schlagzeuger Gregory Zawiliński.
In diesem Jahr die 35. Ausgabe gehören die Rawa Blues Elvin Bishop Band, Bettye Lavette, Jarekus Singleton und Selwyn Birchwood. Rawa Blues findet am 3. Oktober in Kattowitz statt.
koncert Blues Junkers w Pracowni Litografii 23 maj 2015
Phillip „Phil“ May *09.11.1944
Von Sergius aus der deutschsprachigen Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23860546
Phillip „Phil“ May (* 9. November 1944 in Dartford) ist Sänger und Komponist der Rockband The Pretty Things.
Durch seinen im Blues verwurzelten Gesang und seine Kompositionen prägt er seit der Gründung 1963 wesentlich den Sound der Pretty Things. Er fiel in den frühen 1960er Jahren auch durch sein Image auf. So galt er damals als „der Mann mit den längsten Haaren Europas“. Die aggressiven, manchmal auch chaotischen Bühnenauftritte von May und den Pretty Things der Anfangszeit sorgten für Aufsehen und harte Rocksongs wie Don’t bring me down und Midnight to six men für einige Hitparadennotierungen.
1968 schufen The Pretty Things, basierend auf einer Kurzgeschichte von May, mit S. F. Sorrow das erste Konzeptalbum der Rockgeschichte. Damals ein kommerzieller Misserfolg, gilt das Werk heute als Meilenstein der psychedelischen Rockmusik.
May und seiner Band, deren Mitglieder immer wieder wechselten, blieb der große Durchbruch trotz häufigen Kritikerlobes verwehrt. Er ist aber trotz seiner von vielen Schicksalsschlägen begleiteten Karriere immer noch regelmäßig auf Tournee.
Phil May (born Philip Arthur Dennis Wadey 9 November 1944 in Dartford, Kent)[1][2] is an English vocalist. He gained fame in the 1960s as the lead singer of The Pretty Things, of which he was a founding member.
May has maintained membership throughout the band's line-up, which otherwise underwent many changes over the years, and he was one of the band's main lyricists. He was the primary lyricist for the album, S.F. Sorrow. Controversy still exists as to which band member had the original idea for the piece.[3]
Fallen Angels sessions, 1976
In 1976 a new group called the Fallen Angels, led by guitarist Mickey Finn from Humble Pie, with Greg Ridley from Spooky Tooth, Twink Adler from the Pretty Things, and Bob Weston from Fleetwood Mac set out to record an album and for vocals Finn recruited Phil May. Six weeks in Geneva resulted in only eight partially complete songs, and everybody abandoned the project except May. May recruited some more players; Wally Allen, John Povey, Bill Lovelady, Chico Greenwood, Brian Johnston, Ed Dean, Fran Byrne, and completed the album with overdubs and new songs - releasing an album in Holland Phil May and the Fallen Angels. Thereafter May abandoned the project and reactivated the Pretty Things, and Mickey Finn took back the name the Fallen Angels and recorded three more songs - later included as bonus tracks on reissues of the Phil May album.
Dick Taylor + Phil May - live@blues
Phil May and Dick Taylor (The Pretty Things) - Just Can't keep from crying.MOV
Pretty Things - Raining in my Heart 1966
The Pretty Things are a rock and roll band from London. They pioneered a
raw approach to rhythm and blues that influenced a number of key bands
of the 1960s British invasion, particularly The Rolling Stones, and
David Bowie whose first hero was Phil May.
R.I.P.
Frank Hutchison +09.11.1945
Kindheit und Jugend
Hutchison wurde 1897 im Raleigh County geboren, aber kurz danach zog seine Familie ins Logan County. Als Kind lernte er Mundharmonika und später Gitarre zu spielen. Die schwarzen Minenarbeiter Henry Vaughan und Bill Hunt beeinflussten Hutchins später immens – vor allem Hunt brachte Hutchison viele Blues-Songs bei, darunter auch Worried Blues und The Train That Carried the Girl from Town (die Hutchison später auf Platte aufnahm). Als junger Mann begann er, in den Minen des Logan County zu arbeiten, in denen er möglicherweise einen Arbeitsunfall erlitt, da Zeitgenossen in Interviews später aussagten, Hutchison habe gehinkt.
Karriere
Nebenbei trat er im Logan County in Kinos und auf Tanzabenden auf, die ihm bereits lokale Bekanntheit verschafften. Im Herbst 1926 reiste Hutchison nach New York City, wo er am 28. September seine ersten beiden Titel Worried Blues / Train That Carried the Girl from Town für Okeh Records einspielte. Die Verkäufe der Platte waren gut, sodass OKeh im Februar 1927 eine weitere Session für Hutchison organisierte, auf der er neun weitere Stücke einspielte. Unter ihnen befanden sich traditionelle Stücke wie The Wild Horse oder Gitarren-Rags wie der West Virginia Rag. Letzterer wurde von Hutchison mit einem Text, den er selbst gedichtet hatte, auf der gleichen Session unter dem Titel Coney Isle erneut aufgenommen. Cowboy Copas benannte das Stück 1960 in Alabam um und hatte damit einen großen Hit.
Hutchison stieg mit seinen Platten zu einem von Okehs erfolgreichsten Old-Time-Musikern auf. Viele seine Stücke beinhalteten viele Elemente des Blues, nicht zuletzt auch durch Hutchisons Slide-Stil auf der Gitarre. Er legte das Instrument wie eine Hawaiigitarre auf seine Beine und spielte die Töne mit einem Metallstab, wie seine damalige Freundin Jennie Wilson sich erinnerte. Hutchison gilt damit als erster weißer Musiker, der in diesem Stil Plattenaufnahmen machte.
Bis 1929 nahm Hutchison weitere Platten für OKeh auf, darunter der Logan County Blues, ein Gitarrenstück, das nach Hutchisons Heimat benannt ist, Lonesome Valley und Neueinspielungen von Worried Blues und The Train That Carried the Girl from Town sowie einige Stücke mit dem Fiddler Sherman Lawson. Seine letzte Session spielte Hutchison im Juli 1929 ein. Seine letzte Aufnahme war der K.C. Blues, eine Instrumentalversion des Traditionals John Henry.
Die Weltwirtschaftskrise zerstörte Hutchisons Plattenkarriere. Nach seinen letzten Aufnahmen der OKeh Medicine Show zusammen mit einigen anderen Old-Time-Musikern, die für OKeh unter Vertrag standen, machte er nie wieder weitere Aufnahmen. 1934 zog Hutchison zusammen mit seiner Familie erst nach Chesapeake, Ohio, dann aber wieder zurück nach Lake, West Virginia, wo er einen kleinen Laden besaß und als Postbeamter arbeitete. 1942 brannte sein Laden nieder und Hutchison wurde alkoholkrank. Mit seiner Familie zog er nach dem Brand nach Ohio, wo er 1945 an Leberkrebs starb.
Frank Hutchison (March 20, 1891 – November 9, 1945) was an American early country blues and Piedmont blues musician and songwriter.[1] Hutchison was best known as a slide guitar player, where he held the guitar in his lap.[1]
Biography
Born in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, Hutchison is considered to be the first white rural guitarist to record the blues,[1] as he cut several tracks for Okeh Records. He worked as a coal miner at various coal mines in Logan County, West Virginia, both before and after his career as a recording artist. Between 1926 and 1929, Hutchison recorded forty-one sides for Okeh, of which nine were unissued.[1] Three of the issued sides and three of the unissued were recorded with Sherman Lawson, a Logan County fiddler; others featured Hutchison's guitar, harmonica and voice. Hutchison also performed in the "Okeh Medicine Show," released by Okeh in 1929.[1]
Hutchison is considered to be one of the finest performers of the "white country blues" genre of early folk music. One of his more famous recordings is "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town." His recording of "Stackalee" was included in Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, and influenced a number of musicians during the 1950s and 1960s folk revival.
Some years after his recording career had ended and after he left the Logan County coal mines, Hutchison and his wife operated a store in Lake, West Virginia, where he also served as postmaster. His family lived above the store. The store burned down, Hutchison lost everything and reportedly developed alcohol problems after that. He worked as a riverboat entertainer[1] on the Ohio River and eventually moved to Columbus, Ohio.
He died in 1945 at a Dayton, Ohio hospital, of liver disease, aged 54.
Biography
Born in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, Hutchison is considered to be the first white rural guitarist to record the blues,[1] as he cut several tracks for Okeh Records. He worked as a coal miner at various coal mines in Logan County, West Virginia, both before and after his career as a recording artist. Between 1926 and 1929, Hutchison recorded forty-one sides for Okeh, of which nine were unissued.[1] Three of the issued sides and three of the unissued were recorded with Sherman Lawson, a Logan County fiddler; others featured Hutchison's guitar, harmonica and voice. Hutchison also performed in the "Okeh Medicine Show," released by Okeh in 1929.[1]
Hutchison is considered to be one of the finest performers of the "white country blues" genre of early folk music. One of his more famous recordings is "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town." His recording of "Stackalee" was included in Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, and influenced a number of musicians during the 1950s and 1960s folk revival.
Some years after his recording career had ended and after he left the Logan County coal mines, Hutchison and his wife operated a store in Lake, West Virginia, where he also served as postmaster. His family lived above the store. The store burned down, Hutchison lost everything and reportedly developed alcohol problems after that. He worked as a riverboat entertainer[1] on the Ohio River and eventually moved to Columbus, Ohio.
He died in 1945 at a Dayton, Ohio hospital, of liver disease, aged 54.
Stackalee Frank Hutchison
Allen Toussaint +09.11.2015
Allen
Toussaint (* 14. Januar 1938 in New Orleans, Louisiana; † 9. November
2015 in Madrid) war ein amerikanischer Musiker und einer der
einflussreichsten Plattenproduzenten der 1960er Jahre in New Orleans.
Als Pianospieler mit eigenem Stil arrangierte, produzierte und
komponierte er große Hits für US-amerikanische Interpreten.
Werdegang
Mit
sieben Jahren spielte er, beeinflusst durch Professor Longhair, Klavier
und gründete 1952 die Band Flamingos,[1] zu der später Snooks Eaglin
stieß. Dave Bartholomew holte ihn als Pianobegleitung insbesondere für
die Fats-Domino-Aufnahmen von I Want You to Know (B-Seite von The Big
Beat, Dezember 1957) und Young School Girl (August 1958). In dieser Zeit
arrangierte er im Januar 1958 auch Lee Allens größten Hit Walkin’ With
Mr. Lee.
Seine erste eigene Single entstand im Rahmen
eines Talentwettbewerbs am 29. Januar 1958 als Al Tousan unter dem Titel
Whirlaway / Happy Times (RCA #47-7192), aufgenommen in Cosimo Matassas
berühmten Tonstudios in New Orleans. Beeindruckt durch seine Pianoarbeit
ermunterte ihn Matassa zur Aufnahme weiterer Instrumentaltitel, die
dann im Februar 1958 als Instrumentalalbum The Wild Sounds of New
Orleans zusammengefasst wurden. Hierauf befand sich auch seine
Komposition Java, später ein großer Instrumentalhit für Al Hirt (#4
Pop-Charts im Januar 1963).[2] Das gesamte Album mit Unterstützung der
Hausband Matassas (Alvin „Red“ Tyler – Baritonsaxophon, Frank Fields –
Bass, Justin Adams und Roy Mantrell – Gitarre, Charles „Hungry“ Williams
– Schlagzeug) reflektiert den fesselnden, authentischen damaligen Sound
aus New Orleans. Trotz mäßiger Umsätze erlangte Toussaint durch das
Album nationale Bekanntheit.
Künstlerischer Direktor eines Plattenlabels
Ab
1960 ging er zu dem gerade gegründeten Plattenlabel Minit Records, für
das er produzierte, arrangierte, komponierte und auf dessen
Plattenaufnahmen er oft auch als Begleitpianist zu hören ist. Zusammen
mit Allen Orange brachte er unter dem Label Allen & Allen einige
Platten selbst heraus. Bei Minit Records begann sein eigentlicher
kreativer Durchbruch, als er an der Weiterentwicklung des „New
Orleans-Sound“ zu einem leichteren, melodiöseren, manchmal etwas
wehmütigen Stil, arbeitete. Er produzierte insbesondere im Mai 1960 Ooh
Poo Pah Doo für Jessie Hill, schrieb den Millionenseller Mother-In-Law
für Ernie K-Doe (April 1961) oder Benny Spellmans Fortune Teller /
Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette) (Juni 1962) unter seinem zweiten
Pseudonym Naomi Neville.[3] Für das Schwesterlabel Instant Records
produzierte er Lee Dorseys Ya Ya (August 1961) oder Chris Kenners oft
gecoverten Tanzsong Land of 1000 Dances (Juli 1963). Toussaints
Einberufung zur Armee hinterließ bei Minit Records eine kreative Lücke,
die durch seinen Ersatz Eddie Bo nicht geschlossen werden konnte. Das
Plattenlabel verlor seine Marktstellung fast völlig und wurde an
Imperial Records verkauft.
Neubeginn
Als
er im Januar 1963 zur Armee eingezogen wurde, litt hierunter seine
Kreativität enorm. Während einiger Zusammentreffen mit seiner
Hintergrundband Stokes, zu der auch der Schlagzeuger Billy Fayard
gehörte, entstand in dienstfreier Zeit unter dem Pseudonym Naomi Neville
Whipped Cream, von Herb Alpert im Februar 1965 gecovert und zu einem
mittleren Hit gebracht. Nach seiner Entlassung aus der Armee im Jahre
1965 arbeitete er mit Marshall Sehorn zusammen, mit dem er eine
Produktionsgesellschaft und das Plattenlabel Sansu Enterprises gründete.
Hier wurde – neben Betty Harris, Earl King, Chris Kenner und Lou
Johnson – auch Lee Dorsey unter Vertrag genommen. Kompositionen für
Dorsey wie Ride Your Pony, das oft gecoverte Get Out of My Life Woman
oder das unsterbliche Working in the Coal Mine stammten alle aus der
Feder Toussaints. Ab 1966 engagierte Sansu als Hausband die Meters, die
ab 1969 selbst den Status als Interpreten erhielten und von Toussaint
produziert wurden. 1971 nahm Toussaint nach langer Zeit sein erstes
Soloalbum auf, das schlicht mit Toussaint betitelt wurde. Mit Sehorn
entstand dann in New Orleans 1972 das später berühmte
Sea-Saint-Tonstudio in New Orleans.
Allen Toussaint – Whirlaway
Allen & Allen – Heavenly Baby
Lee Dorsey – Yes We Can
LaBelle – Lady Marmalade
Dr. John – Right Place Wrong Time
Toussaint
produzierte die Titel Right Place Wrong Time für Dr. John (Album In The
Right Place, März 1973) und den Nr. Eins-Funk-Hit Lady Marmalade für
LaBelle (Dezember 1974). Die Pointer Sisters übernahmen im August 1973
Yes We Can Can als ihre erste Single (Original von Lee Dorsey vom August
1970), aus Toussaints Soloalbum Southern Nights (Mai 1975) koppelte
Glen Campbell den Titelsong aus und machte daraus im Februar 1977 einen
millionenfach umgesetzten Country-Hit, Robert Palmer betitelte sein von
den Meters begleitetes Album Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley im Juni
1975 nach dem 1970 von Toussaint komponierten Song (Original wiederum
von Lee Dorseys Album Yes We Can, 1970).
Der Diskograf
Tom Lord listet Toussaint im Bereich des Jazz und Rhythm and Blues von
1957 bis 2012 mit insgesamt 50 Aufnahmesessions, u. a. mit Alvin Tyler,
Ramsey Lewis, Kip Hanrahan (Conjure: Music for the Texts Of Ishmael
Reed), Madeleine Peyroux und der Preservation Hall Jazz Band .[4] 2009
erschien bei Nonesuch das Jazzalbum The Bright Mississippi, u. a. mit
Nicholas Payton, Don Byron, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau und Marc Ribot.
Allen Toussaint starb am 9. November 2015 im Alter von 77 Jahren auf einer Tournee in Europa.
Allen
Toussaint (/ˈtuːsɑːnt/; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an
American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer, who was an
influential figure in New Orleans R&B from the 1950s to the end of
the century, described as "one of popular music’s great backroom
figures."[1] Many other musicians recorded Toussaint's compositions,
including "Java", "Mother-in-Law", "I Like It Like That", "Fortune
Teller", "Ride Your Pony", "Get Out of My Life, Woman", "Working in the
Coal Mine", "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "Here Come the Girls",
"Yes We Can Can", "Play Something Sweet", and "Southern Nights". As a
producer, his credits included Dr John’s hit "Right Place, Wrong Time"
and Labelle's "Lady Marmalade".
Biography
Early life and career
One of three children, Toussaint was born in 1938 in New Orleans and grew up in a shotgun house in the Gert 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] Allen Toussaint learned piano as a child, and took informal music lessons from an elderly neighbor, Ernest Pinn.[2] In his teens he played in a band, the Flamingos, with guitarist Snooks Eaglin,[3] before dropping out of school. A significant early influence on Toussaint was the syncopated "second-line" piano style of Professor Longhair.[4]
After a lucky break at age 17, in which he stood in for Huey "Piano" Smith at a performance with Earl King's band in Prichard, Alabama,[5] Toussaint was introduced to a group of local musicians led by Dave Bartholomew who performed regularly at a night club, the Dew Drop Inn, on Lasalle Street in Uptown.[6] His first recording was in 1957 as a stand-in for Fats Domino on Domino's record, "I Want You to Know", on which Toussaint played piano and Domino overdubbed his vocals.[2] His first success as a producer also came in 1957 with Lee Allen's "Walking With Mr. Lee."[1] He began performing regularly in Bartholomew's band, and recorded with Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Lee Allen and other leading New Orleans performers.[3]
After being spotted as a sideman by A&R man Danny Kessler, he initially recorded for RCA Records as Al Tousan. In early 1958 he recorded an album of instrumentals, The Wild Sound of New Orleans, with a band including Alvin "Red" Tyler (baritone sax), either Nat Perrilliat or Lee Allen (tenor sax), either Justin Adams or Roy Montrell (guitar), Frank Fields (bass), and Charles "Hungry" Williams (drums).[7] The recordings included Toussaint and Tyler's composition "Java", which first charted for Floyd Cramer in 1962 and became a #4 pop hit for Al Hirt (also on RCA) in 1964.[8]
Success in the 1960s
In 1960, Joe Banashak of Minit Records, and later Instant Records, hired Toussaint as A&R man and record producer.[2][9] He also did freelance work for other labels, such as Fury. Toussaint played piano, wrote, arranged and produced a string of hits in the early and mid 1960s for New Orleans R&B artists such as Ernie K-Doe, Chris Kenner, Irma Thomas, Art and Aaron Neville, The Showmen, and Lee Dorsey, whose first hit "Ya Ya" he produced in 1961.[1][3]
The early to mid-1960s are regarded as Toussaint's most creatively successful period.[2] Notable examples of his work are Jessie 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".[9][10][11] A two-sided 1962 hit by Benny Spellman comprised "Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)", later covered by The O'Jays, Ringo Starr, and Alex Chilton; and the simple but effective "Fortune Teller", which was covered by many 1960s rock groups including The Rolling Stones, The Nashville Teens, The Who, The Hollies, The Throb, and ex-Searchers founder member Tony Jackson.[9][12][13] "Ruler of My Heart", first recorded by Irma Thomas, was subsequently recorded by Otis Redding under the title "Pain in My Heart", and by The Rolling Stones on their second album.[14] In 1964, "A Certain Girl" (originally by Ernie K-Doe) was the B-side of the first single release by The Yardbirds; the song was released again in 1980 by Warren Zevon, then in 2007 by Mary Weiss, former lead singer of the Shangri-Las, as "A Certain Guy".[15]
Toussaint credited about twenty songs to his parents, Clarence and Naomi, sometimes using the pseudonym, "Naomi Neville".[16][17] These include Benny Spellman's 1961 original version of "Fortune Teller" and The Artwoods' 1966 version of "Work, Work, Work". In 2007, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant covered "Fortune Teller" on their album Raising Sand. Toussaint also wrote songs credited as Allen Orange.[18]
Sansu: soul and early New Orleans funk
Toussaint was drafted into the US Army in 1963, but continued to record when on leave.[1] After his discharge in 1965, he joined forces with Marshall Sehorn.[19] They started Sansu Enterprises which hosted their own record label, Sansu, variously known as Tou-Sea, Deesu, or Kansu, and recorded with 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).[3][19] The core players who essentially functioned as the rhythm section used on so many of the Sansu era recordings from the mid to late 1960s, Art Neville & The Sounds, consisted of Art Neville on keyboards, Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter on bass, and Zigaboo Modeliste on drums, and would later become known as the Meters.[20] Their backing can be heard in songs such as in Dorsey's "Ride Your Pony" and "Working on a Coal Mine," sometimes augmented by horns usually arranged by Toussaint.[21] 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, yet updated these strands, effectively paving the way for the development of a modern New Orleans funk sound. [20][22]
Late 1970s to 1990s
Toussaint continued to produce the Meters when they began releasing records under their own name starting in 1969 and as part of a process which had begun at Sansu and would reach fruition in the 1970s, as he evolved to a funkier sound, writing and producing for a host of acts, such as Dr. John, backed by the Meters, on the 1973 album In the Right Place, which spawned a hit with "Right Place, Wrong Time," as well as an album by The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians tribe led by "Big Chief Jolly" (George Landry) backed by the Meters and several of his nephews, including Art and Cyril Neville of the Meters, as well as their two brothers Charles and Aaron, who would become known as the Neville Brothers.[23][24][25] One of his compositions, "Here Come the Girls," recorded by Ernie K-Doe in 1970, formed the basis of the Sugababes' 2008 hit "Girls".[26]
He also began to work with non-New Orleans artists such as B. J. Thomas, Robert Palmer, Willy DeVille, Sandy Denny, Elkie Brooks, Solomon Burke, Scottish soul singer Frankie Miller (High Life), and southern rocker Mylon LeFevre.[27][28] He arranged horn music for The Band's albums Cahoots (1971) and Rock of Ages (1972) and for The Last Waltz film (1978), in conjunction with arranging horn parts for their concert repertoire.[29][30][31] Boz Scaggs recorded Toussaint's "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" on his 1976 album Silk Degrees, which reached #2 on the U.S. pop albums chart. The song was also recorded by Bonnie Raitt for her 1975 album Home Plate, and later by Geoff Muldaur (1976), Lowell George (1979), Vince Gill (1993), and Elvis Costello (2005).[32] In 1976 he also collaborated with John Mayall on the album Notice to Appear.[33]
In 1973 Toussaint and Sehorn created the Sea-Saint recording studio in the Gentilly section of eastern New Orleans.[34][35] Toussaint also began recording under his own name, contributing vocals as well as piano. His solo career peaked in the mid-1970s with the albums From a Whisper to a Scream and Southern Nights.[36][37] It was during this time that he teamed with Labelle, and produced their highly acclaimed 1975 album Nightbirds, which spawned the number one hit, "Lady Marmalade". The same year, Toussaint collaborated with Paul McCartney and Wings for their hit album Venus and Mars and played on the song "Rock Show". 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.[38]
In 1987, he was the musical director for an off Broadway show, Staggerlee, which ran for 150 performances.[2][39] Along with many of his contemporaries, Toussaint found that interest in his compositions was rekindled when his work began to be sampled by hip hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s.[40][41]
2000s
Most of Toussaint's possessions including his home and recording studio, Sea Saint, were lost during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.[42][43] He initially sought shelter at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel on Canal Street.[42] Following the hurricane, whose aftermath left most of the city flooded, he left New Orleans for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and for several years settled in New York City.[42][43] His first television appearance after the hurricane was on the September 7, 2005, episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, sitting in with Paul Shaffer and his CBS Orchestra. Toussaint performed regularly at Joe's Pub in New York City through 2009.[44] He eventually returned to New Orleans and lived there for the remainder of his life.[45]
The River in Reverse, Toussaint's collaborative album with Elvis Costello, was released on May 29, 2006, in the UK on the Verve label by Universal Classics and Jazz UCJ.[46] It was recorded in Hollywood and, more notably, at the Piety Street Studio in the Bywater section Toussaint's native New Orleans as the first major studio session to take place after Hurricane Katrina.[47] In 2007, Toussaint performed a duet with Paul McCartney of a song by fellow New Orleans musician and resident Fats Domino, "I Want to Walk You Home", as their contribution to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard).[48]
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 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. In February 2008, Toussaint appeared on Le Show, the Harry Shearer show broadcast on KCRW. He appeared in London in August 2008, where he performed a gig at the Roundhouse.[49] In October 2008 he performed at Festival New Orleans at The O2 alongside acts such as Dr. John and Buckwheat Zydeco.[50] Sponsored by Quint Davis of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Philip 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.[50] After his second performance at the festival, Toussaint appeared alongside then-Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu.[51]
Toussaint performed instrumentals from his then-recent album, The Bright Mississippi, as well as many songs from his back catalog for a taping of the PBS series Austin City Limits, which aired on January 9, 2015, during the show's 35th anniversary season.[52][53] In December 2009, he was featured on Elvis Costello's Spectacle program on the Sundance Channel,[54] singing "A Certain Girl".[55] Toussaint appeared on Eric Clapton's 2010 album, Clapton, in two Fats Waller covers, "My Very Good Friend the Milkman" and "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful".[56]
His late-blooming career as a performer began when he accepted an offer to play a regular Sunday brunch session at an East Village pub. Interviewed in 2014 by The Guardian′s Richard 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 choreographer Twyla Tharp.[1] Toussaint was a musical mentor to Swedish-born New Orleans songwriter and performer Theresa Andersson.[57]
Honors
In 1998 Toussaint was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2009 into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. On May 9, 2011, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2013 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.[58]
Death
Toussaint died in the early hours of November 10, 2015, while in Madrid, Spain, on tour. Following a concert at the Teatro Lara on Calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo, he suffered a heart attack at his hotel and was pronounced dead on his arrival at hospital.[59] He was 77. He had been due to perform in a sell-out concert at the EFG London Jazz Festival at The Barbican on November 15 with his band and Theo Croker. He was also to play with Paul Simon at a benefit concert in New Orleans on 8 December.[4]
Toussaint’s two marriages ended in divorce.[4] He is survived by his two children, son Clarence (better known as Reginald) and daughter Alison, and by several grandchildren. His children had managed his career in recent years.[60][61]
Writing in The New York Times, Ben Sisario quoted Quint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival: "In the pantheon of New Orleans music people, from Jelly Roll Morton to Mahalia Jackson to Fats—that’s the place where Allen Toussaint is in". 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."[61]
The Daily 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.
Biography
Early life and career
One of three children, Toussaint was born in 1938 in New Orleans and grew up in a shotgun house in the Gert 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] Allen Toussaint learned piano as a child, and took informal music lessons from an elderly neighbor, Ernest Pinn.[2] In his teens he played in a band, the Flamingos, with guitarist Snooks Eaglin,[3] before dropping out of school. A significant early influence on Toussaint was the syncopated "second-line" piano style of Professor Longhair.[4]
After a lucky break at age 17, in which he stood in for Huey "Piano" Smith at a performance with Earl King's band in Prichard, Alabama,[5] Toussaint was introduced to a group of local musicians led by Dave Bartholomew who performed regularly at a night club, the Dew Drop Inn, on Lasalle Street in Uptown.[6] His first recording was in 1957 as a stand-in for Fats Domino on Domino's record, "I Want You to Know", on which Toussaint played piano and Domino overdubbed his vocals.[2] His first success as a producer also came in 1957 with Lee Allen's "Walking With Mr. Lee."[1] He began performing regularly in Bartholomew's band, and recorded with Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Lee Allen and other leading New Orleans performers.[3]
After being spotted as a sideman by A&R man Danny Kessler, he initially recorded for RCA Records as Al Tousan. In early 1958 he recorded an album of instrumentals, The Wild Sound of New Orleans, with a band including Alvin "Red" Tyler (baritone sax), either Nat Perrilliat or Lee Allen (tenor sax), either Justin Adams or Roy Montrell (guitar), Frank Fields (bass), and Charles "Hungry" Williams (drums).[7] The recordings included Toussaint and Tyler's composition "Java", which first charted for Floyd Cramer in 1962 and became a #4 pop hit for Al Hirt (also on RCA) in 1964.[8]
Success in the 1960s
In 1960, Joe Banashak of Minit Records, and later Instant Records, hired Toussaint as A&R man and record producer.[2][9] He also did freelance work for other labels, such as Fury. Toussaint played piano, wrote, arranged and produced a string of hits in the early and mid 1960s for New Orleans R&B artists such as Ernie K-Doe, Chris Kenner, Irma Thomas, Art and Aaron Neville, The Showmen, and Lee Dorsey, whose first hit "Ya Ya" he produced in 1961.[1][3]
The early to mid-1960s are regarded as Toussaint's most creatively successful period.[2] Notable examples of his work are Jessie 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".[9][10][11] A two-sided 1962 hit by Benny Spellman comprised "Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)", later covered by The O'Jays, Ringo Starr, and Alex Chilton; and the simple but effective "Fortune Teller", which was covered by many 1960s rock groups including The Rolling Stones, The Nashville Teens, The Who, The Hollies, The Throb, and ex-Searchers founder member Tony Jackson.[9][12][13] "Ruler of My Heart", first recorded by Irma Thomas, was subsequently recorded by Otis Redding under the title "Pain in My Heart", and by The Rolling Stones on their second album.[14] In 1964, "A Certain Girl" (originally by Ernie K-Doe) was the B-side of the first single release by The Yardbirds; the song was released again in 1980 by Warren Zevon, then in 2007 by Mary Weiss, former lead singer of the Shangri-Las, as "A Certain Guy".[15]
Toussaint credited about twenty songs to his parents, Clarence and Naomi, sometimes using the pseudonym, "Naomi Neville".[16][17] These include Benny Spellman's 1961 original version of "Fortune Teller" and The Artwoods' 1966 version of "Work, Work, Work". In 2007, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant covered "Fortune Teller" on their album Raising Sand. Toussaint also wrote songs credited as Allen Orange.[18]
Sansu: soul and early New Orleans funk
Toussaint was drafted into the US Army in 1963, but continued to record when on leave.[1] After his discharge in 1965, he joined forces with Marshall Sehorn.[19] They started Sansu Enterprises which hosted their own record label, Sansu, variously known as Tou-Sea, Deesu, or Kansu, and recorded with 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).[3][19] The core players who essentially functioned as the rhythm section used on so many of the Sansu era recordings from the mid to late 1960s, Art Neville & The Sounds, consisted of Art Neville on keyboards, Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter on bass, and Zigaboo Modeliste on drums, and would later become known as the Meters.[20] Their backing can be heard in songs such as in Dorsey's "Ride Your Pony" and "Working on a Coal Mine," sometimes augmented by horns usually arranged by Toussaint.[21] 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, yet updated these strands, effectively paving the way for the development of a modern New Orleans funk sound. [20][22]
Late 1970s to 1990s
Toussaint continued to produce the Meters when they began releasing records under their own name starting in 1969 and as part of a process which had begun at Sansu and would reach fruition in the 1970s, as he evolved to a funkier sound, writing and producing for a host of acts, such as Dr. John, backed by the Meters, on the 1973 album In the Right Place, which spawned a hit with "Right Place, Wrong Time," as well as an album by The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians tribe led by "Big Chief Jolly" (George Landry) backed by the Meters and several of his nephews, including Art and Cyril Neville of the Meters, as well as their two brothers Charles and Aaron, who would become known as the Neville Brothers.[23][24][25] One of his compositions, "Here Come the Girls," recorded by Ernie K-Doe in 1970, formed the basis of the Sugababes' 2008 hit "Girls".[26]
He also began to work with non-New Orleans artists such as B. J. Thomas, Robert Palmer, Willy DeVille, Sandy Denny, Elkie Brooks, Solomon Burke, Scottish soul singer Frankie Miller (High Life), and southern rocker Mylon LeFevre.[27][28] He arranged horn music for The Band's albums Cahoots (1971) and Rock of Ages (1972) and for The Last Waltz film (1978), in conjunction with arranging horn parts for their concert repertoire.[29][30][31] Boz Scaggs recorded Toussaint's "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" on his 1976 album Silk Degrees, which reached #2 on the U.S. pop albums chart. The song was also recorded by Bonnie Raitt for her 1975 album Home Plate, and later by Geoff Muldaur (1976), Lowell George (1979), Vince Gill (1993), and Elvis Costello (2005).[32] In 1976 he also collaborated with John Mayall on the album Notice to Appear.[33]
In 1973 Toussaint and Sehorn created the Sea-Saint recording studio in the Gentilly section of eastern New Orleans.[34][35] Toussaint also began recording under his own name, contributing vocals as well as piano. His solo career peaked in the mid-1970s with the albums From a Whisper to a Scream and Southern Nights.[36][37] It was during this time that he teamed with Labelle, and produced their highly acclaimed 1975 album Nightbirds, which spawned the number one hit, "Lady Marmalade". The same year, Toussaint collaborated with Paul McCartney and Wings for their hit album Venus and Mars and played on the song "Rock Show". 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.[38]
In 1987, he was the musical director for an off Broadway show, Staggerlee, which ran for 150 performances.[2][39] Along with many of his contemporaries, Toussaint found that interest in his compositions was rekindled when his work began to be sampled by hip hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s.[40][41]
2000s
Most of Toussaint's possessions including his home and recording studio, Sea Saint, were lost during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.[42][43] He initially sought shelter at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel on Canal Street.[42] Following the hurricane, whose aftermath left most of the city flooded, he left New Orleans for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and for several years settled in New York City.[42][43] His first television appearance after the hurricane was on the September 7, 2005, episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, sitting in with Paul Shaffer and his CBS Orchestra. Toussaint performed regularly at Joe's Pub in New York City through 2009.[44] He eventually returned to New Orleans and lived there for the remainder of his life.[45]
The River in Reverse, Toussaint's collaborative album with Elvis Costello, was released on May 29, 2006, in the UK on the Verve label by Universal Classics and Jazz UCJ.[46] It was recorded in Hollywood and, more notably, at the Piety Street Studio in the Bywater section Toussaint's native New Orleans as the first major studio session to take place after Hurricane Katrina.[47] In 2007, Toussaint performed a duet with Paul McCartney of a song by fellow New Orleans musician and resident Fats Domino, "I Want to Walk You Home", as their contribution to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard).[48]
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 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. In February 2008, Toussaint appeared on Le Show, the Harry Shearer show broadcast on KCRW. He appeared in London in August 2008, where he performed a gig at the Roundhouse.[49] In October 2008 he performed at Festival New Orleans at The O2 alongside acts such as Dr. John and Buckwheat Zydeco.[50] Sponsored by Quint Davis of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Philip 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.[50] After his second performance at the festival, Toussaint appeared alongside then-Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu.[51]
Toussaint performed instrumentals from his then-recent album, The Bright Mississippi, as well as many songs from his back catalog for a taping of the PBS series Austin City Limits, which aired on January 9, 2015, during the show's 35th anniversary season.[52][53] In December 2009, he was featured on Elvis Costello's Spectacle program on the Sundance Channel,[54] singing "A Certain Girl".[55] Toussaint appeared on Eric Clapton's 2010 album, Clapton, in two Fats Waller covers, "My Very Good Friend the Milkman" and "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful".[56]
His late-blooming career as a performer began when he accepted an offer to play a regular Sunday brunch session at an East Village pub. Interviewed in 2014 by The Guardian′s Richard 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 choreographer Twyla Tharp.[1] Toussaint was a musical mentor to Swedish-born New Orleans songwriter and performer Theresa Andersson.[57]
Honors
In 1998 Toussaint was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2009 into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. On May 9, 2011, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2013 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.[58]
Death
Toussaint died in the early hours of November 10, 2015, while in Madrid, Spain, on tour. Following a concert at the Teatro Lara on Calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo, he suffered a heart attack at his hotel and was pronounced dead on his arrival at hospital.[59] He was 77. He had been due to perform in a sell-out concert at the EFG London Jazz Festival at The Barbican on November 15 with his band and Theo Croker. He was also to play with Paul Simon at a benefit concert in New Orleans on 8 December.[4]
Toussaint’s two marriages ended in divorce.[4] He is survived by his two children, son Clarence (better known as Reginald) and daughter Alison, and by several grandchildren. His children had managed his career in recent years.[60][61]
Writing in The New York Times, Ben Sisario quoted Quint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival: "In the pantheon of New Orleans music people, from Jelly Roll Morton to Mahalia Jackson to Fats—that’s the place where Allen Toussaint is in". 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."[61]
The Daily 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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Toussaint
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