"I loved the piano and played every day, learning to play by ear listening to records and the radio. The piano players I loved best were Professor Longhair, Lloyd Glenn, Albert Ammons, and Ray Charles. I listened to boogie woogie, hillbilly, and my mother loved classical so I heard a lot of that. Our piano was out of tune by a half-tone, so I learned Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, in B flat," he chuckles.
When he was 13, Toussaint joined a neighborhood band called the Flamingos (not the doo wop group of the same name) and began to play at dances and socials. A few years later the Flamingos were playing in "joints, maybe places we shouldn’t have been playing," he says. He was also arranging for the band - pulling horn parts off of records - and writing. By 17 Toussaint was playing sessions for Smiley Lewis at Cosimo Matassa’s legendary J&M Studio, and playing the Dew Drop Inn with Earl King.
Fats Domino's producer Dave Bartholomew heard Toussaint at the Dew Drop and asked him to play a "Domino-like" piano part for a Domino session that the Fatman himself would not be attending. Domino dubbed the vocals to "I Want You to Know" sometime later, which became a hit in late-'57. After that, Toussaint says, "people considered me someone to be reckoned with."
After Toussaint was hired by an RCA producer to accompany several auditioning artists, the producer realized that Toussaint was the real talent. He recorded The Wild Sound of New Orleans (under the name "Al Tousan") in just two days n '58, and though the album didn't sell, a song from it, "Java," became an enormous hit for Al Hirt a few years later.
When Joe Banashak started his Minit label in early-'60, Toussaint was again hired to accompany an open audition. In one amazing night Minit signed Jessie Hill, Benny Spellman, Irma Thomas, and Aaron Neville to join Ernie K-Doe on the fledgling label's roster. Toussaint, at 22, became the creative force behind the label: arranging, producing, playing on, and/or writing a staggering number of regional and national hits from ‘60 until he was drafted into the Army in '63.
Toussaint's collective of singers backed each other, and his band (Chuck Badie on bass, James Black on drums, Roy Montrell on guitar, Nat Perrilliat and Clarence Ford on saxes, along with Toussaint on piano and various other hornmen) laid down a consistent, syncopated groove that struck a balance between big-city slick and down-home grit.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Natalie Davis
Oh man, I can hear the Frogman croaking over Toussaint's piano, "I don't know why I love you / But I doo-ooo..."
And Irma Thomas... I heard her sing at Tipitino's years back. What a wonder, what a privilege. That woman was smoking; I hope I get to be so privileged again.
I pray that the creator delivers Thomas, Toussaint, Fats Domino, Ernie K-Doe's widow, and all the others, musicians or not, safe and sound after this nightmare.
2 - Eric Olsen
yes Nat, totally agree of course. It really made me sad putting this together - will it ever be the same?
3 - Crooked Spine
You neglected to mention the incredible horn arrangements that Toussaint did for The Band on their live album, Rock of Ages.
4 - Bob A. Booey
I wonder if Trent Reznor's OK. Didn't he move to New Orleans from Cleveland a few years back? Maybe he's on tour or flew away in his Dracula-copter to Transylvania or some other evil place ... like Los Angeles.
There ya go, folks. A laugh amidst the tragedy.
That is all.
5 - Eric Olsen
Yes, those were pretty great. I'm sure I neglected lots of things, but thanks for that reminder
6 - Bob A. Booey
Did Anne Rice's makeup get washed off?
That is all.
7 - Eric Olsen
I used to work out with a guy who dated Anne Rice in college - yes, he is older than I am
8 - Eric Olsen
he said she was really weird, by the way
9 - Bob A. Booey
You know everyone, oh captain my captain.
Did you notice perhaps that a certain minor French actress celebrity (or someone impersonating her) appears to be hitting on me through your website?
I kinda sorta think it's her.
That is all.
10 - Eric Olsen
Jeanne Moreau is hitting on you??
11 - Eric Olsen
in which digital portico is this transpiring?
12 - Bob A. Booey
I don't know who that is, but think Peter Pan hair and a movie I couldn't ever bring myself to actually watch :)
Check "Worst Song Lyrics" and tell me what you think, oh captain my captain.
Real or fake? I think real.
It's super-geeky fun.
If she e-mails you asking for my business (which of course she won't), you'll have to give me a heads-up here because no one will ever really read this topic.
That is all.
13 - Bob A. Booey
I don't even think she's that hot (although she's way hotter with longer hair in the pictures I found to find out who the hell it was since I honestly didn't know by name), but if that's her, she's a lot of fun :)
That is all.
14 - Natalie Davis
I'll just bet putting this together was sad for you, Eric. The whole thing is distressing. There is an emptiness inside me that just won't go away, no matter what diversions I try to use to distract myself.
But I have some good news: I just saved on my car insur...
No, CNN reports that Fats Domino has been found and he is OK.
"Rock 'n' roll pioneer Fats Domino was among the thousands of New Orleans residents plucked from rising floodwaters, his daughter said Thursday.
Karen Domino White, who lives in New Jersey, identified her father in a picture taken Monday night by a New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer.
The photograph shows Domino -- the singer behind the 1950s hits "Ain't That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill" -- being helped off a boat near his home in the city's Lower 9th Ward.
His whereabouts since the rescue were not immediately known. Nor was there any information about his wife, Rosemary, friends said."
That lifted my spirits a bit. Hope it helps you.
15 - Bob A. Booey
Good news. Thanks for sharing that, human. I love Fats Domino and "Blueberry Hill." Although I do admit I always got him confused with Chubby Checker, but I'm young.
That is all.
16 - Matthew T. Sussman
Did you ever notice in certain publications that there would be a phenomenal writer stuck in the ladder while some cretin ran the show?
Totally not the case here. Olsen is by far the most talented blogger here.
17 - Bob A. Booey
Sussman, you've got something on your nose there :) But yeah, I think there's a reason this site attracts so much good writing about music (and occasionally bad, but "interesting" and "random" writing).
That is all.
18 - Matthew T. Sussman
It's nose poop. I accept that.
But with Olsen's sensible columns on the left and middle parts of the page, it really balances out the horrible writing on the far right side of the page.
That's not a political metaphor either.
And that's why I stick with just sports and humor.
19 - Bob A. Booey
Yeah, I remember when I first found the site, I think it didn't have a separate Politics section. I think I said then it needed one -- in retrospect, perhaps the right-wing political contingent isn't the best thing in the world. But it's always better to have more topics and more interests than less. The right-wing political types seem to enjoy what they do.
I think the music/culture/film focus of the site is great as well and you have better discussions of a lot of that stuff here than almost anywhere else I've seen.
That being said, can you believe Olsen voted for Bush? I think he's still proud of it too :)
We need more sports from you -- I think you, me and RJ are the only ones who seem to care about sports here.
That is all.
20 - Matthew T. Sussman
Don't forget about Tan the Man. I've also seen tennis and soccer/football on here from contributors.
But I have some football/NFL stuff I'm getting ready to unleash. Also when baseball playoffs heat up I'm on it.
21 - areaderwrites
This is a great piece on the Allen Toussaint--thank you for drawing attention to his work. He has been in my thoughts often over the past few days, along with the other musicians that have made New Orleans such a unique bright spot in our homogenized American culture. I hope they can all make it to safety like Fats Domino.
22 - Natalie Davis
A number of safe-and-sound musicians with ties to NO are doing their part: NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC will telecast a Concert for Hurricane Relief tomorrow night featuring Harry Connick Jr., Aaron Neville (his famous family had to flee to Memphis hotels; most of their homes were destroyed), Wynton Marsalis, and Tim McGraw. Meanwhile New Orleans-born comedian Ellen DeGeneres reports that her aunt lost everything she had; she and her show's production company have pledged $1.5 million for Katrina victims. No, Ellen is not a musician, but she is a really good dancer.
Ah, more good news to report: Irma Thomas has been found. She is safe at her aunt's house in Baton Rouge, according to Fox News.
23 - Dave Nalle
>>Jeanne Moreau is hitting on you??<<
At her age she can't be hitting very hard - but she remains hot.
Dave
24 - E-Unit
How about the other musical greats- Cosimo Matassa, Huey "Piano" Smith, Dave Bartholomew, Eddie Bo. Are they O.K?
25 - Natalie Davis
I can't find any info on them, sad to say. Will check again tomorrow.
The following, from Channel 2 in Baton Rouge, offers news on some others:
"While the whereabouts of many New Orleans singers and musicians remains unknown, Mark Samuels, president of Basin Street Records, reports from Memphis that Basin Street artists Kermit Ruffins, Irvin Mayfield, Ronald Markham and Theresa Andersson are safe in Baton Rouge, traditional jazz musician Michael White is in Houston, jazz-blues pianist Henry Butler is in Monroe and drummer Jason Marsalis, a member of the famous Marsalis jazz family, is in New York."