Description
Release Date: 2012
Label: Ace UK
Track List
1 –Ernie K-Doe – Here Come The Girls
2 –Boz Scaggs – Hercules
3 –Bonnie Raitt – What Is Success
4 –Lee Dorsey – Occapella
5 –Aaron Neville – Let’s Live
6 –Don Covay – Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)
7 –The Meters – Ride Your Pony
8 –Allen Toussaint – Soul Sister
9 –The Judds – Working In The Coalmine
10 –Solomon Burke – Get Out Of My Life Woman
11 –Irma Thomas – Sweet Touch Of Love
12 –Frankie Miller – Shoo-Rah
13 –The Pointer Sisters – Yes We Can Can
14 –Benny Spellman – Fortune Teller
15 –Bill Medley – Freedom For The Stallion
16 –Robert Palmer – Sneakin’ Sally Thu’ The Alley
17 –Z.Z. Hill – Whoever’s Thrilling You (Is Killing Me)
18 –Maria Muldaur – Brickyard Blues (Play Somethin’ Sweet)
19 –Lowell George – What Do You Want The Girl To Do
20 –Millie Jackson – I’ll Be Rolling With The Punches
21 –The Rhine Oaks – Tampin’
22 –Warren Zevon – A Certain Girl
23 –Lee Dorsey – Holy Cow
24 –Glen Campbell – Southern Nights
Review
Allen Toussaint is unquestionably one of the great American songwriters of the 20th century, so it is no surprise Ace Records dedicated a volume of their ongoing Songbook series to the New Orleans R&B titan. Rolling with the Punches illustrates the full range of Toussaint’s gifts and influence, touching upon classic ’60s New Orleans sides (Dorsey’s “Holy Cow”; Benny Spellman’s “Fortune Teller”), how his music got funkier as the ’70s began (Ernie K-Doe’s “Here Come the Girls”; Dorsey’s “Occapella,” which Toussaint produced; Don Covay’s “Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky [From Now On]; the Pointer Sisters’ “Yes We Can”), and, especially, how many rockers and blue-eyed soul singers relied upon his songs. Robert Palmer got seriously funky with “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley” (assisted by Little Feat leader/guitarist Lowell George, who was a huge Toussaint fan and is heard here covering “What Do You Want the Girl to Do”), Frankie Miller tore into “Shoo Rah,” Bonnie Raitt laid down a seductive groove on “What Is Success,” and Boz Scaggs ushered “Hercules” toward the slick Southern California coast. By no means does this contain all of Toussaint’s great songs — some of the versions are by no means close to definitive, either, with the Judds’ perfectly fine version of “Working in the Coal Mine” being the main example — but this illustrates his depth and range and, best of all, it’s wildly entertaining.
