FIVE SONGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ALLEN TOUSSAINT WROTE

June 30, 2020 | by SFJAZZ

Allen Toussaint

Simply put, Allen Toussaint was an American treasure. His fingerprints are all over some of greatest hits and albums put out since the 60s. With this week's Fridays at Five streaming concert featuring Toussaint with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, we've pulled together five songs you might not know were written by the late music legend.

“Working in the Coal Mine” — Lee Dorsey (1966)

Allen Toussaint returned to New Orleans in 1965 after serving in the US Army. He formed "Tou-Sea Productions" with Marshall Sehorn, which would produce a number of hits for Lee Dorsey. Although Toussaint admitted he didn't know anything about coal mines, he said, "(Lee Dorsey) was a body and fender man when he wasn’t singing... he would come off the road at the end of a successful tour, he would go and get into his grease clothes, his dirty work gear and go and work on cars. Straightening out fenders and painting bodywork." Other artists including country music mother and daughter duo The Judds and New Wave pioneers DEVO have covered the song over the years.

“Yes We Can Can” — The Pointer Sisters (1973)

Originally recorded as "Yes We Can" by Lee Dorsey in 1970, this Toussaint song was rearranged three years later for Oakland's own The Pointer Sisters and instantly became a funk classic. The performance below is from a 1974 BBC Television show, featuring a spirited call-and-response drum solo from Bay Area funk and soul legend Gaylord Birch. The lyrical message of this song could not be more timely, sounding like it could have been written yesterday.

“Life” — Dr. John (1973)

The same year "Yes We Can Can" came out, Toussaint also produced, arranged, and played multiple instruments on the late New Orleans legend Dr. John's breakthrough album In The Right Place. Although the leadoff track "Right Place, Wrong Time" was the hit, and Toussaint's presence is felt in every detail of the album, the super funky "Life" with backing from The Meters, was the only track on the album that Toussaint actually wrote. 

“Fortune Teller” — The Rolling Stones (1966)

Toussaint wrote "Fortune Teller" under the pseudonym Naomi Neville, and the track was recorded for the first time by Benny Spellman in 1962 as the B-side to Spellman's hit "Lipstick Traces," also written by Toussaint. The song was subsequently popularized by The Rolling Stones on the group's first live album, Got Live If You Want It! (1966). "Fortune Teller" has been covered by many artists since, most recently on Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' 2007 album Raising Sand.

“Sneakin’ Sally Thru The Alley” — Phish (2013)

While this Toussaint song was originally recorded by Lee Dorsey and is most strongly associated with Robert Palmer as the title track of his 1974 debut album, it's also been recorded by Ringo Starr, Colin James, and The Mighty Diamonds, and has become a go-to crowd pleaser for the jam band Phish. They perform the song in the video below during a 2013 show at the Gorge Amphitheatre near George, Washington.

Originally posted June 16, 2016