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It’s been more than a decade since Allen Toussaint passed away at the age of 77 in November 2015.  Yet the New Orleans native’s music and lyrics remain as powerful, funky, sweet, and moving as ever.  In 2013, the singer-songwriter-producer-arranger-musician looked back on his extraordinary career with The Allen Toussaint Songbook, his first live album since 1975 (and that set remained on a shelf for nearly three decades before seeing release).  Yet even that Grammy-nominated 25-song album couldn’t reflect the full breadth of Toussaint’s mighty discography. Now, Craft Recordings has revisited The Allen Toussaint Songbook as a sublime 2-CD Deluxe Edition with a second disc comprising 20 bonus tracks as well as bringing the original album to vinyl for the first time as a 2-LP set.

The original Allen Toussaint Songbook found him at his piano (where else?) from his frequent haunt of Joe’s Pub in New York City, delivering with aplomb such signature songs as “It’s Raining” (introduced by Irma Thomas in 1971), “Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)” (a hit for Benny Spellman in 1962), “Working in the Coal Mine” (an international top ten entry for Lee Dorsey in 1966), “Brickyard Blues” (a 1974 hit for Three Dog Night), “Freedom for the Stallion” (recorded by Dorsey, The Hues Corporation, Three Dog Night, Boz Scaggs, The Oak Ridge Boys, and others), “Yes We Can” (a 1973 hit for The Pointer Sisters), and “Southern Nights” (Glen Campbell’s chart-topping 1975 crossover smash).  His natural joie de vivre shines brightly on these live recordings, with his relaxed vocals a natural extension of his fleet piano accompaniment and lightness of touch.

The expanded edition’s second disc draws on eight more tracks from Joe’s Pub as well as studio interviews and performances conducted with original album producer Paul Siegel.  The result is an even deeper portrait of the music Allen Toussaint gifted the world as he spread the gospel of New Orleans.  The lesser-known cuts on the second disc are every bit as engaging as the familiar staples on the original album, among them the bouncy “Lover of Love” (the first Toussaint/Dorsey collaboration) or the poignant “Hi-Lee-Hi,” a tribute to Jerry Garcia (with whom Toussaint had a mutual admiration society).

The studio recordings with Siegel are just as moving.  Toussaint narrates in his gentle drawl, introducing each song in the manner of a radio broadcast.  These tracks run the gamut from hidden gems (“I’m Gone,” introduced on a Toussaint-produced album in 1974 by Canadian artist King Biscuit Boy, or “Two Tables Away,” written by AT for one Chick Carbo) to covers of influences, contemporaries, and those he may have influenced himself.  Paul Simon’s “American Tune” fits this most American of artists like a comfy glove.  Toussaint speaks warmly and movingly of those who came before him, including New Orleans piano legend Professor Longhair, and (unsurprisingly!) makes Steve Goodman’s “The City of New Orleans” his own.  A buoyant “Java” leads into the album’s final song – and one of Toussaint’s greatest.  The simple, spare, and elegant rendition of “Freedom for the Stallion” is a beautiful prayer for our time.  The 2-CD reissue’s 24-page booklet includes the album’s original essay and liner notes by Ashley Kahn, plus updated notes and track-by-track annotations from Paul Siegel.  Paul Blakemore has mastered the audio.

As Paul Simon put it, “Allen Toussaint brought New Orleans to the world, and he left before he could bless us with the complete genius of his music.”  That genius is on full display with The Allen Toussaint Songbook.  The late artist’s spirit and sense of uplift even in the face of adversity are fully evident here, and needed more than ever.  Look for the 2-CD Deluxe Edition and 2-LP original album reissue tomorrow, May 29, from Craft Recordings.  You’ll find the track listings and pre-order links for both editions below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Allen Toussaint, The Allen Toussaint Songbook: Deluxe Edition (Rounder 11161-9154-2, 2013 – reissued Rounder/Craft Recordings, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Introduction
2. It’s Raining
3. Lipstick Traces
4. Introduction to Brickyard Blues
5. Brickyard Blues
6. With You in Mind
7. Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further
8. Sweet Touch of Love
9. Holy Cow
10. Introduction to Get Out of My Life, Woman
11. Get Out of My Life, Woman
12. Freedom for the Stallion
13. James Infirmary
14. Introduction to Shrimp Po-Boy, Dressed
15. Shrimp Po-Boy, Dressed
16. Soul Sister
17. All These Things
18. We Are America/Yes We Can
19. The Optimism Blues
20. Old Records
21. Certain Girl Medley: Certain Girl/Mother-in-Law/Fortune Teller/Working in the Coal Mine
22. It’s a New Orleans Thing
23. I Could Eat Crawfish Everyday
24. There’s No Place Like New York
25. Southern Nights

CD 2

1. Lover of Love*
2. What Do You Want the Girl to Do*
3. Hi Lee Hi*
4. I’m Gone*
5. Singin’ the Blues*
6. Long, Long Journey*
7. Chris Kenner Medley: How Far/Packin’ Up*
8. American Tune*
9. Early Days: Spoken History/Sweet Georgia Brown/Stagger Lee/Junker Blues/Fess’s Inventions (Tipitina/Rhumba/Bald Head/Big Chief)/Bald Head (Variations)/Thank You, Lord*
10. Two Tables Away*
11. I’m Waiting at the Station*
12. With You in Mind*
13. Happy Times*
14. Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)*
15. City of New Orleans*
16. River Boat*
17. The Greatest Love*
18. Whirlaway*
19. Java*
20. Freedom for the Stallion*

(*) Previously unreleased

Tracks 1-8 recorded at Joe’s Pub, New York
Tracks 9-20 from Paul Siegel interviews at BiCoastal Music, Ossining, NY

Allen Toussaint, The Allen Toussaint Songbook (Rounder 11161-9154-2, 2013 – reissued Rounder/Craft Recordings, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Introduction
2. It’s Raining
3. Lipstick Traces
4. Introduction to Brickyard Blues
5. Brickyard Blues
6. With You in Mind
7. Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further

Side B

1. Sweet Touch of Love
2. Holy Cow
3. Introduction to Get Out of My Life, Woman
4. Get Out of My Life, Woman
5. Freedom for the Stallion
6. James Infirmary
7. Introduction to Shrimp Po-Boy, Dressed
8. Shrimp Po-Boy, Dressed

Side C

1. Soul Sister
2. All These Things
3. We Are America/Yes We Can
4. The Optimism Blues
5. Old Records
6. Certain Girl Medley: Certain Girl/Mother-in-Law/Fortune Teller/Working in the Coal Mine

Side D

1. It’s a New Orleans Thing
2. I Could Eat Crawfish Everyday
3. There’s No Place Like New York
4. Southern Nights