Just over 50 years ago a generation of young British musicians, including the members of the Rolling Stones, grappled with the distinctive descending chord progression of Fortune Teller, a rhythm and blues hit written by the New Orleans pianist Allen Toussaint, while memorising its hip, humorous lyric. This was one of the many songs, including Working in the Coal Mine, Southern Nights, Yes We Can Can and Get Out of My Life, Woman, that poured from his pen.
Toussaint, who has died after a heart attack aged 77, was one of popular music’s great backroom figures: a talent scout, record producer, studio owner, singer and arranger. His early proteges included the singers Lee Dorsey, Irma Thomas and Ernie K-Doe, and he went on to collaborate with some of the great names of rock, including the Band, Paul McCartney, LaBelle, Robert Palmer and Elvis Costello.
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