Few bills could match the pedigree that landed at Mobile’s Saenger Theater on Saturday, April 2, 2011, when New Orleans piano legend Allen Toussaint shared the stage with Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans.
Toussaint’s songbook alone reads like a history of American pop and soul. He wrote “Working in the Coalmine” — later covered by Devo — along with “Southern Nights,” taken to the top of the charts by Glen Campbell; “Yes We Can Can” for the Pointer Sisters; “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,” recorded by Robert Palmer and Ringo Starr; “On Your Way Down,” cut by everyone from The Doors to Phish and Widespread Panic; “Get Out of My Life Woman,” heard from Jerry Garcia’s band; and “Fortune Teller,” which the Rolling Stones, The Who, and Robert Plant with Alison Krauss all took turns with.
An Alabama Starting Line
Toussaint’s break came early — and, fittingly for a Mobile audience, in Alabama itself. At 17, he got his first big shot sitting in for Huey Smith at a performance with Earl King’s band in Prichard, just across Mobile Bay from the theater where he now headlined. His session work and production ran through decades of New Orleans music, including collaborations with Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and The Band.
Thomas, whose hits include “It’s Raining” and “Ruler of My Heart,” has been covered by countless international artists across her career and remains one of the Gulf Coast’s most revered voices.