On November 10 of this year one of the twentieth century’s American musical giants, Allen Toussaint, died at the age of 78. If you know his work you know he was one of the greats, a master of writing and producing sweet and funky songs with broad appeal that also satisfied the pickiest connoissuer. If you don’t know his work, you’re missing something special. Even if you think you don’t know his songs… you probably do, and just don’t know that the same guy wrote them all.

Toussaint, an irreplaceable ambassador-to-the-world of New Orleans music, was a beautiful piano player as well as a hugely influential producer of many classic records, a lot of them hits, that still sound as good as they ever did. He recorded his own songs, produced them for others, and was covered by scores of artists. He served as producer, arranger, and collaborator for artists as diverse as The Meters, The Band, LaBelle, Elvis Costello, and Dr. John. Even with all this and much more, his most permanent contribution will probably be as a songwriter.

His best known songs are mostly from the 1950s. ’60s, and  ’70s. They tended to be lowdown and bluesy, but also sly, humorous, fun, very hooky… and always funky. It was an unusual combination; quite a trick. Not coincidentally, his music has remained relevant through many generations.

If you’re not familiar with the songs, I strongly suggest that you give them a listen – or three. Some great ones are ‘Southern Nights’ (best known by Glen Campbell, but Toussaint’s version is supreme – listen below), ‘Yes We Can Can’ (The Pointer Sisters), ‘Workin’ In A Coal Mine’ (Lee Dorsey… and Devo!), ‘Get Out My Life, Woman’ (Lee Dorsey and many other artists), ‘Fortune Teller’ (Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, The Rolling Stones, The Who)… the list goes on… look it up!

I’d like to take a closer look at one of his greatest, ‘Southern Nights’, which was performed as a dreamy ballad by Toussaint and made into an uptempo country-rock megahit by Glen Campbell. Though Toussaint performed it in the key of ‘F#’ (taking advantage of the shimmering black keys on the piano), I’m going to take it up to ‘G’, for the sake of simplicity… and guitar players.

Its melody is plain – using only a one-octave G pentatonic scale (going up, that’s G, A, B, D, E, G) – no other notes. The tune is really pretty, but how he harmonizes it is what takes it to another level. The chords bring out the sweet and poignant depth of the melody… not to mention the lyric – “Southern Nights… Have you ever felt a Southern Night…”.

The song is an 8 bar pattern that repeats, with vamps on ‘G’ in between. I suggest you get familiar with the melody so you can sing it over the chords. The chord changes are:

||: G | E7 | A7 | A7 | Cmajor7 | Cmajor7 | Bminor | C/D :||

The melody begins, over the ‘G’ chord, on an E – the 6th of the chord. It gets really interesting in the fifth and sixth bar when he sings G, A. B, and D over the Cmajor chord… using the upper harmonies of the chord (6, 7, and 9) and avoiding the root altogether. And in the last bar the melody goes between E, D, and B, over the C/D chord, again using the 9 and the major 7 as melody notes.

Play through this very slowly – hear how touching the sounds created by the melody notes against these chords are. And, like most beautiful songs, if it’s played faster the emotion is still there.

The creative use in the melody of the upper parts of the chords – generally avoiding the more common root, 3rd, and 5th – gives the song a wistful floating gentleness that’s perfect for the nostalgic mood that the lyrics explore. And the chord progression is very interesting all by itself.

Don’t miss out on Allen Toussaint – he was a treasure. Listen below… (drop the chords a half step – to the key of ‘F#’ – to play along)…

Let me know your thoughts in the Comments section below:

And please share on facebook etc. by clicking the tabs under the video –