Allen Toussaint
The Complete Warner Recordings (Rhino Handmade) Toward the end of the minibook that houses the 2-CD The Complete Warner Recordings, New Orleans’ dean of Music U. condenses his storied career in a phrase: “Too white to be black, too black to be white.” Gray, colorless? Rock & roll standards like “Fortune Teller” and “Working in the Coal Mine” are anything but. Besides, Toussaint’s gifts as songwriter, pianist, producer, and arranger dispel any “passing” notions. By 1972’s Life, Love and Faith, the Crescent City piano prince was in his 30s, having gone professional by replacing Huey Smith in Earl King’s band while still an early teen. Backed by most of the Meters, Toussaint wastes no time nailing the slick pocket funk of “Am I Expecting Too Much?” before turning mindlessly rote, but still hopelessly catchy (“Gone Too Far”). Southern Nights (’75) is smoother: the sexy, horn-driven chorale in “Back in Baby’s Arms,” swamp pop of “Basic Lady,” and de rigueur Seventies soul of “What Do You Want the Girl to Do?” Disc two features ’78’s Jerry Wexler-produced Motion, which is even mellower outside its jaunty single “Lover of Love” and hokey “Viva la Money” and “The Optimism Blues.” Any and all mixed results fall perfectly into place on the crisp, vibrant, 40 minutes’ worth of live material recorded in Philadelphia in 1975 that fills out the disc. Tight, everything is all right (“Brickyard Blues”). A timeless tale told on www.rhinohandmade.com.
This article appears in December 19 • 2003.
