The Blind Boys In New Orleans

Since 2001's "Spirit Of The Century" the Blind Boys Of Alabama have made one of the industries most unlikely comebacks. Where most Gospel groups seem to have slipped into obscurity, the Blind Boy Of Alabama have reached an increasingly broad audience and played for a diversity of crowds. Formed in the early forties The "Five" Blind Boys Of Alabama are an institution. Though it may be one of the music business longest running groups, few of the original members are still part of the current line up. In fact 79 year old Clarence Fountain and Jimmy Carter are the only original founding members still part of the group. But even Clarence seems to be dropping now as diabetes related health problems do not allow him to tour anymore. The current "Down In New Orleans" is the first album since the groups founding day that doesn't feature Fountain on vocals. Though the original members might be quietly slipping from the scene, as an institution the Blind Boys Of Alabama are still going strong. Traditions in Gospel music are handed down by the seniors in the group preparing the Benjamins to keep that Gospel train rolling.



Though Down In New Orleans sounds like a traditional album, it by no means is. In a sense the ancient institute that is the Blind Boys Of Alabama have been one of the most progressive Gospel acts in recent year. Traditionally the world of Gospel and R&B have strictly segregated world. There was a time when Blues was considered the Devil's music. Not for Jimmy Carter though. "No indeed! I'm a big fan of Blues music" Carter confesses in the liner notes. This has allowed the Blind Boys to seek alliances with artists who mainly work in the secular field. In 2004 that attitude resulted in a fine collaboration with Ben Harper on his "There Will Be A Light" and a subsequent as impressive tour. With Ben Harper the Blind Boys fused various strands of Blues with their brand of Gospel. A natural continuation of what they had been doing since the mentioned comeback album, on which secular songs and Gospel would compliment each other. Of course the secular material the group picks has a highly spiritual undertone. "We believe in songs with a positive message" Carter acknowledges in the notes, allowing them to branch out while not really crossing over into Pop like Sam Cooke or Bobby Womack did back in the day. But as above video testified Gospel and R&B might have had a little bit more in common anyway. The two styles have been jumping of each other since day one, with store front preacher using R&B theatrics to spice up their sermons and Gospels and Blues singers adding that Gospel fervor to fire up their tunes.



That relation between R&B and Gospel and the Blind Boys' open mindedness to it has brought them to New Orleans for a collaboration with some of the cities finest. From the greasy Funk of the opening track "Free At Last" it is clear we've got another gem at hand. The album is less traditional as it seems on first glance, this wasn't an easy ride for the Blind Boys. "New Orleans musicians use a different rhythm" Carter explains, "Push and pull". It took the Boys some getting used to he admitted. Yet with its syncopation and the use of call and response in the rhythmic foundation, New Orleans' music proves to be especially suited to bring that Gospel message home.The absolute high point of the album to me is "If I Could Help Somebody" with Allen Toussaint's lush and rollicking piano as solo companion to Carter's voice. Though shaky his voice hasn't lost any of its story telling powers through the decades. It is a voice that fill you up with hope, a voice that empowers. "Down In New Orleans" isn't just an album that brings the message of the Lord, its an album that again reaches out to the people of New Orleans and their trials and tribulations after Katrina. The marching band version of "Uncloudy Day" must have a personal resonance to many of that fine city's citizens. But maybe the song that captures the spirit of this album best is "Across The Bridge" as "Down In New Orleans" is truly an album filled with musical bridges, inviting you to cross that bridge of unity, that bridge of friendship, that bridge of freedom and that bridge of salvation.



"Across The Bridge"

Simply Toussaint

I wish I could say Allen Toussaint doesn't need any introduction. But for some reason he still does. Despite his '98, long overdue, induction into the R&R Hall of Fame, most people were very much in the dark on who Allen was when Elvis Costello decided to record with him last year for "The River In Reverse". Allen Toussaint doesn't need any introduction amongst Soul fans, not even amongst the more casual admirer of the genre. But beyond that people hardly have a clue of who he is, hardly have a notion of the vastness of his legacy. With "The River in Reverse" a critical success, commercially even being relatively successful, there has been some new attention to the man. His albums have finally all been re released hopefully leading to more of a notion again of Allen Toussaint's influence on the development of popular music. On top of that, Costello's and Toussaint's successful tour has been released on DVD. Allowing people to see the man live in action. A rarity since Allen has always been an artist that preferred to be in the shadows of R&B's greatest.



Toussaint, at first glance, is a perfect example of how the influence of Black artists on R&R generally seem to be forgotten. The sense of importance fading over time. Allen Toussaint was essential in developing the sound of New Orleans. A sound that eventually spread out through artists like Dr. John, the Band and the Rolling Stones to a world wide audience. The brilliance of those acts is heralded, the origin of their brilliance a fading memory. In the case of Allen Toussaint this might not be so surprising. He mostly created behind the scenes. Allen wrote, produced, arranged and played for the greats of Soul music. At the age of 18 Allen was already a very accomplished piano player, mimicking the style of the great Professor Longhair. Soon Toussaint found himself filling in for no other than Fats Domino in the studio. Fats being mostly on the road, where the real money was, hardly had the time to record. Toussaint would play the piano on the studio track laid down in New Orleans for Fats, the instrumental would then be sent to a studio in the neighborhood of where Fats was on tour at that moment, and Domino would simply do the vocal. To this day it's uncertain on which tracks Fats played himself and what tracks Toussaint delivered for him . His studio work would eventually lead to an album of instrumentals under the name of Tousan for the RCA label. Although the album failed to chart and Toussaint was dropped from the label, it gave him enough clout to become a producer.

Toussaint's work at Minit records in the early sixties is an essential part of R&B history. Toussaint wrote numerous hits for the likes of Lee Dorsey ("Ya Ya"), Irma Thomas ("Ruler Of My Heart"), Chris Kenner ("Land Of A 1000 Dances"), Benny Spellman ("Lipstick Traces") or Aaron Neville ("Over You"). Meanwhile "Fortune Teller"recorded by Jessie Hill would become a staple for a great variety of British Invasion acts, such as The Who and the Rolling Stones. Minit and Toussaint defined the sound of New Orleans as much Stax did for Memphis or Motown for Detroit. Toussaint did as much to create what we now call Soul as those two labels did. It is therefore highly ironic that his biggest commercial success came when he let bubble gum cocktail Pop artist use his "Whipped Cream" on what would become one of the most successful albums of the sixties. Believe it or not, but at the time Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass Band outsold even the Beatles. The instrumental would go on to be used as the trailer for the immensely popular TV show "The Dating Game". The royalty checks of that one song must have softened the lack of commercial recognition for his own records later on down the road a bit.

After his service in the army Toussaint went on to produce a second string of impressive hits with his own production company Sansu, formed with partner Marshall Sehorn in the early sixties. At Sansu his sound would become decidedly funkier. Classics 45s like Lee Dorsey's "Ride Your Pony" or "Working In The Coal Mine" are floor fillers even today. On Sansu Allen also started his collaboration with the Meters, a funk band whose influence on the genre is trumped by James Brown only. Even though it is very possible that Toussaint's work with Dorsey and the Meters is where Brown found the raw material for his polyrhythmic revolution. Brown may claim otherwise, but nothing is born in a vacuum. Brown ants came crawling in his pants all the way down from New Orleans to Augusta Georgia. In turn the sound of the Meters was highly indebted to the earlier mentioned Professor Longhair, who created that mix of R&B and Rumba that became so typical for the New Orleans sound. The history of Funk originates in New Orleans and beyond. It was born out of a sweaty fusion of styles and Toussaint was one of its main ingredients.

Finally in 1968, after recording so many brilliant sides for others, Toussaint started to explore his own voice at Bell records with a string of three singles, amongst which the upbeat civil rights anthem "We The People" and his own version of the Lee Dorsey hit "Get Out My Life, Woman". Together with the album that followed those 45s, "Toussaint", these singles our now re-released on yet another great Kent records compilation, "What Is Success: The Scepter & Bell Recordings". "Toussaint" was somewhat of a mixed affair. It became a showcase of his talents. Mixing instrumentals with new materials and re-recordings of a few songs he had earlier produced for Lee Dorsey. Especially when you hear the latter you can't help but wonder why he didn't record for himself sooner than he did. Maybe it has something to do with his demeanor. Toussaint has always been a quiet force, lacking the gusto and bravura that is so common in the world of Soul. Allen is a man of a gentle smile sooner than a roaring laugh, more at ease in the back ground it seems. But as "Toussaint" demonstrates he has a voice to be reckoned with. Allen's delivery is gentle yet commanding, somewhat distant but simmering with contained emotion through out. Toussaint continuously sounds warm and gentle, even on his more confrontational songs.

"Toussaint" is filed with gems. There's the painful "From a Whisper To A Scream", after which the album would later be named when released in the UK. "From a Whisper" has emotions simmering to a boil. The song finds us looking into a relationship falling apart because of blindness. Subtle guitar work underscores the desperation of one of the partners as he franticly tries to make amends, yet we feel it all falling apart. "Whisper" would later be brilliantly covered by Esther Phillips. The instrument "Pickles" lightens things up a bit after that, smooth, seductive and sexy. But also a demonstration of Toussaint's forte as a pianist. Allen was never the musician to let it all hang out, always subtly supporting the songs he recorded for others, always in the service of. On "Pickles" we finally hear how great a pianist he really is. The re-cut of Dorsey's "Everything I Do Is Gonh Be Funky" is every bit as catchy as Lee's version. The album's center piece "What is Success" ask some very confrontational questions. It might be Toussaint's most personal song on the album. But it doesn't stay that way. "What is Success" is one of those songs that forces you to reevaluate your own life. The song is a mirror to your own Soul, questioning you on your own personal happiness. It is one of those songs that, to a willing ear, can kick start change in one's life.

For some reason Kent chose to mix up the playing order of the original album. Mixing the Bell singles with the album. This does take away some of the power the original album held. When "Toussaint" was originally released on Tiffany, "From a Whisper to a Scream" for example was followed by "Chocking Kind", adding to the claustrophobic feel relations can sometimes have. I'd like to advise using the program function on your CD player to restore the album to its original glory. Even though "Toussaint" failed to make a dent on the charts, it did take Allen's career to the next level. Bonnie Rait soon covered "What is Success" on her classic "Streetlights" album. Allen went on to produce for and with the Band, Doctor John, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney. Toussaint gained the recognition he deserved amongst his peers at least. "Toussaint" led to him being signed at the Warner subsidiary Reprise, where he recorded two of Soul's finest albums, "Life, Love and Faith" and "Southern Nights". Both albums were re-issued last year as well.



"What is Success"
"Pickles"
"We The People"