“You know when you’re gone your music is always going to be”, Thomas said. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant even covered it on their excellent 2007 LP Raising Sand. He arranged parts of several records by The Band, including 1971’s Cahoots and parts of The Last Waltz film.
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“At least 12 “Get Out My Life Woman” snares were like starch in hip hop’s daily nutritional chart – meaning so there you barely notice it”, Questlove wrote. Both HARRY SHEARER and NEW ORLEANS native HARRY CONNICK JR., also posted messages. It was there that he began playing piano at the age of six, nurturing a talent that would make him one of the most in-demand figures in music.
In the beginning Toussaint was known mostly as an R&B songwriter and producer. Once again, Toussaint proved a reliable hitmaker. The news comes as a shock considering the 77-year-old New Orleans star was in the midst of a European tour. His song “Southern Nights” was covered by Glen Campbell in 1977 and wound up topping the Billboard Hot 100.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 flooded not only his home but his Sea-Saint studio, forcing Toussaint to flee to NY. Toussaint was also a successful producer, helming such classics as The Meters Trick Bag as well as more offbeat records like The Mighty Diamonds Fire and Ice and Elvis Costello’s Punch The Clock.
That album showcased the strong vein of civil-rights activism and social justice in his writing. But I was aware of something special happening – it just didn’t hit me until I was much older. We do it really for the love we get from the world and the smiles on the faces of people when we play our songs.
Toussaint had numerous hits to his name. His songs are durable, carefully crafted gems.
“Java” became a hit for Al Hirt in 1964, while “Fortune Teller” was a favorite of British rock acts like The Who and The Rolling Stones. But he could also turn an indelible image: “Lipstick traces on a cigarette/Every memory lingers with me yet”. Vocally, he was a strong if not especially distinctive singer, with an nearly sweet sound.
He was a wildly talented musician who will be dearly missed by many fans across the globe.
A Toussaint piano line will be rollicking, effortlessly funky, irresistibly syncopated, but never showy or overdone. WWL-TV reports that the versatile musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee passed away in Madrid yesterday. He was awarded America’s National Medal of Arts, the highest honor bestowed upon American artists, by President Obama in 2013.
“Louis Armstrong, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, he’s left a legacy that in many ways can’t be touched”, Breashears said.
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Toussaint had been scheduled to perform alongside Paul Simon at a December 8 benefit show for the New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness organization, which Allen founded.
