with Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello on Jun 8, 2006
with Albert Hughes and Allen Toussaint on Oct 12, 1995
Allen Toussaint is an American musician, songwriter and record producer and one of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B. In the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote numerous hits for artists including Lee Dorsey, and Willie West, who sang the title track for Black Samson, Robert Palmer, The Showmen, The Meters and Solomon Burke and produced material for Dr. John, Labelle, and Art and Aaron Neville, among others. An accomplished pianist, lyricist and arranger, Toussaint wrote many songs which continue to be covered by artists to this day, including “Working in the Coalmine,” “Brickyard Blues,” “Get Out My Life Woman” and “Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky.” Some of his songs from the 1950s and 1960s were penned under the pseudonym Naomi Neville. These include “Ruler of My Heart,” recorded by Irma Thomas and reinterpreted as “Pain in My Heart” by Otis Redding. He arranged horn music for The Band’s 1971 album “Cahoots,” as well as arranging horn parts into their concert repertoire.
Toussaint soon launched a solo career, which peaked in the ‘70s with the albums “From a Whisper to a Scream” and “Southern Nights.” For much of his career he partnered with Marshall Sehorn. They co-owned and operated the Sea-Saint recording studio in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. They also partnered in a record label that went under various names. Along with many of his contemporaries, Toussaint found that interest in his compositions was rekindled when his work began to be heavily sampled by hip hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. “The River in Reverse,” Toussaint’s collaborative album with Elvis Costello, was released in May 2006.
Source - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Toussaint
