paul secor Posted September 18, 2012 Report Posted September 18, 2012 Allen Toussaint can't sing much, at least for my ears, but he's written a slew of very fine songs, and produced and played on a slew of classic New Orleans r&b songs. And he's a good player in the Profesor Longhair tradition. Check out Piano Players Hardy Ever Play together, as Medjuck suggested. All of that's enough for me to respect him - and dig some of the music he's made. As for Mac Rebennack, who's been mentioned, he was strictly a minor leaguer in the glory days of New Orleans r&b, and never amounted to anything much until he got into his Dr. John/Gris Gris schtick and found something that white folks could latch onto. And if I compare his voice to Mac Rebennack's, Allen Toussaint can sing some. My opinion - and I know that Jeff disagrees with me about Mac Rebennack. Quote
jeffcrom Posted September 18, 2012 Report Posted September 18, 2012 Allen Toussaint can't sing much, at least for my ears, but he's written a slew of very fine songs, and produced and played on a slew of classic New Orleans r&b songs. And he's a good player in the Profesor Longhair tradition. Check out Piano Players Hardy Ever Play together, as Medjuck suggested. All of that's enough for me to respect him - and dig some of the music he's made. As for Mac Rebennack, who's been mentioned, he was strictly a minor leaguer in the glory days of New Orleans r&b, and never amounted to anything much until he got into his Dr. John/Gris Gris schtick and found something that white folks could latch onto. And if I compare his voice to Mac Rebennack's, Allen Toussaint can sing some. My opinion - and I know that Jeff disagrees with me about Mac Rebennack. Paul and I have already had our discussion about Mr. Rebennack's voice, so I won't get into that again. But I wouldn't say that he was a "minor leaguer" in his early days, unless you're talking about his own records, which certainly didn't sell a bunch. Starting when he was 16, he was a pretty busy studio musician, producer and songwriter - a role not unlike Toussaint's. And ironically, young Mac Rebennack seemed to agree with you about his singing ability. He sang on very few of his early records - most were instrumentals, which is probably why they didn't sell. And Rebennack wasn't supposed to be Dr. John. (Sorry if this story is common knowledge.) The "Dr. John" idea was cooked up by Rebennack, producer Harold Batiste, and keyboardist/singer Ronnie Barron. Barron was to be Dr. John, the Night Tripper; Rebennack was just going to play keys and guitar. At the last minute, Barron backed out, so they went ahead with Mac R. in the Dr. John role. Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted September 19, 2012 Report Posted September 19, 2012 Oh, I never knew that! MG Quote
AllenLowe Posted September 19, 2012 Report Posted September 19, 2012 sure it was a sop - but not to the white folks, per se, but the Hippies - who intersect, I will admit. But those early Dr John Records (walter Bishop is on at least one) are junker classics. Dr. John has the feeling, or at least he did in the old days. Quote
JSngry Posted September 19, 2012 Report Posted September 19, 2012 I've seen a few dance floors packed to this one (which I suspect is built for dancing and not for listening): Slick? Hell yeah. They put wax on dancefloors to make them slick, and when somebody asks, they got wax powder they sprinkle on it to make it even more slicker. So, yeah, slick, functional, and proud of it! Anyway, I'm cool w/Dr. John in some kind of place and in some kind of way. He's cool, But he ain't Alan Toussaint. He's Dr. John/Mac Rebennak. Quote
robertoart Posted September 19, 2012 Report Posted September 19, 2012 Dr John and his 'stick/shtick' always put me in mind of the Wrestler 'Dusty Rhodes'. I just think Dusty Rhodes is funnier. Quote
Fer Urbina Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 (edited) Spanish papers report that Toussaint died last night in Madrid, Spain, after his gig at Teatro Lara. He felt unwell and had two consecutive heart attacks. He died at Hospital Fundación Jiménez Díaz. Diario El Mundo (in Spanish). F Edited November 10, 2015 by Fer Urbina Quote
Steve Gray Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 RIP Allen I was going to see him on Sunday in London Quote
Cyril Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 RIP http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/nov/10/allen-toussaint-dies-aged-77 Quote
mr jazz Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 RIP to a great artist. I treasure the performances I saw. Quote
catesta Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 Wow, this is sad news. He did some appearances on the HBO show Treme. I thought they showed him a lot of respect. RIP Quote
soulpope Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 (edited) "From A Whisper To A Scream" = Soul of New Orleans .... RIP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vctkqYSLLLU Edited November 11, 2015 by soulpope Quote
paul secor Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 I loved Allen Toussaint's music from the time I heard his songs and record productions in the early 1960's. That was before I knew who he was or even that there was a person named Allen Toussaint. I grew up listening to his music and stayed with it. Thank you for everything, Mr. Toussaint. You were appreciated and you'll be missed. Quote
fasstrack Posted November 10, 2015 Report Posted November 10, 2015 On 9/17/2012 8:44:04, paul secor said: As for Mac Rebennack, who's been mentioned, he was strictly a minor leaguer in the glory days of New Orleans r&b, and never amounted to anything much until he got into his Dr. John/Gris Gris schtick and found something that white folks could latch onto. And if I compare his voice to Mac Rebennack's, Allen Toussaint can sing some. My opinion - and I know that Jeff disagrees with me about Mac Rebennack. My one experience with Mac Rebennack/Dr. John was in 1981, on a gig I was on at Tramp's with Big Joe Turner (and subsequently was fired from by Doc Pomus----another story for another day). Dr. John came in during our one rehearsal to pay his respects to the old man. I was on the bandstand and he came up, sat at the piano, started a slow blues---and didn't kick me off. I don't know about the gris gris stuff, but the man could definitely play the blues. Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted November 11, 2015 Report Posted November 11, 2015 On 18/09/2012 01:44:04, paul secor said: Allen Toussaint can't sing much, at least for my ears, but he's written a slew of very fine songs, and produced and played on a slew of classic New Orleans r&b songs. And he's a good player in the Profesor Longhair tradition. Check out Piano Players Hardy Ever Play together, as Medjuck suggested. All of that's enough for me to respect him - and dig some of the music he's made. Exactly what I feel about him. RIP MG Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.