Allen Toussaint, New Orleans R&B Mainstay, Dies at 77
Skip Bolen/European Pressphoto Agency
Allen Toussaint, the versatile producer,
songwriter, pianist and singer who was a fixture of New Orleans R&B, died
after appearing in concert in Madrid on Monday. 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
(pronounced too-SAHNT) 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.”
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