It’s hard to decide where you file this one. Under Allen Toussaint, on the basis that he appears on most of the tracks as a player, as well as picking up the majority of the writing credits and all the production credits? Or under Various Artists, because that’s basically, what this collection is.
Much of it, predictably, also turns up elsewhere, but this 2011 double-disc compilation does a reasonable job of covering the obvious bases and delving into the obscurities. It's not exhaustive, doesn't cover his solo recordings for Scepter and Reprise through the seventies, and there are a couple of notable omissions (Lee Dorsey’s “Ride Your Pony”) for one, but it's a decent overview and reveals a few connections I hadn't previously been aware of, most notably in the Whipped Cream (yes, the Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass number). The obscurities tend to be clustered on the first disc (though there's the odd hidden gem on the second) but if you're after an R&B party record you could do a lot worse than the all-killer no filler second half of this compilation.
Overall, a reasonably comprehensive, thoroughly entertaining history of one of the great, but often overlooked, figures of R&B. As a sampler of the man's ventures into Crescent City jazz, blues and soul compressed into a single two disc 50-track compilation, this collection is hard to beat.
Track listing:
CD1: I Want You to Know Fats Domino/ Walking with Mr. Lee Lee Allen & His Band/ Tic Toc Lee Allen & His Band/ Young School Girl Fats Domino/ I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Some Day (Fats Domino/ Whirlaway Allen Toussaint/ Happy Times Allen Toussaint/ Java Allen Toussaint/ Wham Tousan Allen Toussaint/ Naomi Allen Toussaint/ Moo Moo Allen Toussaint/ Beverly Baby Allen and Allen/ Heavenly Baby Allen and Allen/ Tiddle Winks Allen and Allen/ Whipped Cream The Stokes/ Pie Crust The Stokes/ Banana Split The Stokes/ The Fat Cat The Stokes/ Young Man Old Man The Stokes/ Poor Boy Got to Move The Stokes/ Go Back Home The Stokes/ Omar Khayyam The Rubaiyats/ Tomorrow The Rubaiyats/ Baby Do Liddle Willie & Allen/ I Don't Need No One Willie & Allen
CD2: Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Pts. 1-2 Jessie Hill/ Over You Aaron Neville/ Mother in Law Ernie K-Doe/ A Certain Girl Ernie K-Doe/ Fortune Teller Benny Spellman/ Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette) Benny Spellman/ It's Raining Irma Thomas/ Wrong Number (I'm Sorry, Goodbye) Aaron Neville/ Ruler of My Heart Irma Thomas/ I Like It Like That, Pt. 1 Chris Kenner/ I Like It Like That, Pt. 2 Chris Kenner/ All These Things Art Neville/ Oogsey Moo Jessie Hill/ It Will Stand The Showmen/ Hot Tamales, Pt. 1 Prime Mates/ Hot Tamales, Pt. 2 Prime Mates/ Nearer to You Betty Harris/ I'm Evil Tonight Betty Harris/ Working in the Coal Mine Lee Dorsey/ Holy Cow Lee Dorsey/ Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On) Lee Dorsey/ Sophisticated Cissy (Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste / Leo Nocentelli) The Meters/ Look A Py Py (Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste / Leo Nocentelli) The Meters/ Yes We Can Lee Dorsey/ Night People Lee Dorsey