ElvisCostello.com, November 20, 2015: Difference between revisions
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I have been so lucky to spend even this little time with Allen Toussaint. | |||
I'm grateful to Blue Rider for allowing me to present these amended excerpts from Chapter 28 of ''Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink'' to tell some of this story. | |||
Allen was unfailingly gracious, elegant and musically curious. | Allen was unfailingly gracious, elegant and musically curious. | ||
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We last shared the stage at the Civic Center in New Orleans in [[Concert 2015-03-12 New Orleans|February]] of this year. As always, he was thoughtful, bringing a late Mardi Gras gift for my wife and asking after the well-being of my sons and my mother, who he had once visited on a trip around Merseyside. | We last shared the stage at the Civic Center in New Orleans in [[Concert 2015-03-12 New Orleans|February]] of this year. As always, he was thoughtful, bringing a late Mardi Gras gift for my wife and asking after the well-being of my sons and my mother, who he had once visited on a trip around Merseyside. | ||
He signed off every note and phone call the same way; | He signed off every note and phone call the same way; "Looking Forward." | ||
I will miss him very much. | I will miss him very much. | ||
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<center><h3> Chapter 28: The River In Reverse </h3></center> | |||
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<center> Elvis Costello </center> | |||
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'''Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | |||
Allen Toussaint and I were walking across the lobby of a fine but nearly deserted hotel, located just across Canal Street from the French Quarter. An older gentleman had just entered the rear door and was coming toward us when he recognized Allen and stopped in his tracks. His grim expression lit up. He became elated and emotional, grasping and shaking Allen's hand vigorously, as if his very presence were a sign that all was not lost in the shattered city. | |||
"If you are back, then we are all back." | |||
I had never doubted that Allen was a prince in a thin disguise. | I had never doubted that Allen was a prince in a thin disguise. | ||
We had begun our work on ''The River | We had begun our work on ''The River In Reverse'' in Hollywood because we had no choice. | ||
New Orleans was closed to us. | New Orleans was closed to us. | ||
We all knew where this music belonged. We all knew where we should conclude our task, it just | We all knew where this music belonged. We all knew where we should conclude our task, it just hadn't been clear for a while how we'd get there. | ||
Now A.T. was back. | Now A.T. was back. | ||
In April of 2005, I had seen Allen for the first time since the New Orleans sessions for ''Spike'' in 1989. When we said our farewells on the | In April of 2005, I had seen Allen for the first time since the New Orleans sessions for ''Spike'' in 1989. When we said our farewells on the showgrounds of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, it was with the hope that we might find a way to work together again. Neither of us could have imagined the circumstances in which this would occur. | ||
That was just seven months earlier. | That was just seven months earlier. | ||
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Before Katrina. | Before Katrina. | ||
Before what should have been fixed | Before what should have been fixed didn't get fixed, and now could never be mended. | ||
That was the city that Allen Toussaint had been forced to leave. | That was the city that Allen Toussaint had been forced to leave. | ||
I'm pretty certain he didn't do so willingly. | |||
Or easily. | Or easily. | ||
I've never pressed Allen on the details of his experience, but he has never been remotely bitter or self-pitying about the whole episode. | |||
When I finally got up the nerve to ask Allen what he knew of his home and his studio. | When I finally got up the nerve to ask Allen what he knew of his home and his studio. | ||
The news | The news wasn't very good. | ||
I heard myself say, | I heard myself say, "I'm so very sorry." | ||
Allen paused for moment, nodded his acknowledgment, and then added, | Allen paused for moment, nodded his acknowledgment, and then added, "Well, the things that I had then, they served me well." | ||
If he was angry about what transpired, it did not disable him, rob him of his grace or his elegance. | If he was angry about what transpired, it did not disable him, rob him of his grace or his elegance. | ||
Once Allen was safe and finding his way back to work in New York City, I went to | Once Allen was safe and finding his way back to work in New York City, I went to Joe's Pub on Astor Place to see him play the first of what would become a regular solo engagement over the next months. You have to remember that, up until this point, while Allen Toussaint's songs had been recorded and broadcast all over the world, and musicians had traveled to New Orleans to discover his secrets, Allen himself didn't find many reasons to leave town and performed mostly on festival occasions in the city. What everyone saw that day was a master songwriter awakening to a new set of possibilities. Allen may have lost his home and his studio and seen the rich pool of musicians on which he had always called scattered to other cities of refuge, but his songbook was invulnerable. | ||
I just wanted those songs to be heard again, and then again. I was the one with the way and will to put those songs and their composer before a new and different audience. We wrote new songs together but Allen had already written so many lyrics that served the moment well, such as these lines from | I just wanted those songs to be heard again, and then again. I was the one with the way and will to put those songs and their composer before a new and different audience. We wrote new songs together but Allen had already written so many lyrics that served the moment well, such as these lines from "Freedom From The Stallion" and could be from today's headline as much as those of ten years past: | ||
'' | ''"They got men building walls to keep other men out'' | ||
''Ignore him when he whispers and kill him if he | ''Ignore him when he whispers and kill him if he shouts"'' | ||
The recording of | The recording of ''The River In Reverse'' was begun at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, but we had booked our flights to New Orleans as soon as we heard that Piety Street Studios was reopen for business. We then found the one hotel that was accepting bookings from out-of-town visitors, while all the other functioning establishments were still billeting FEMA staff or filled with insurance assessors. | ||
The first things we saw on the drive in from the airport were the eerie stacks of abandoned cars, caked in silt from the floodwaters, piled up under the freeway underpass. The streets of the French Quarter were almost deserted. There was little or no traffic on Canal Street. | The first things we saw on the drive in from the airport were the eerie stacks of abandoned cars, caked in silt from the floodwaters, piled up under the freeway underpass. The streets of the French Quarter were almost deserted. There was little or no traffic on Canal Street. | ||
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The driver turned the car around when my eyes were full and we drove quietly past the first signs of rebuilding and renewal, him keeping up a steady, positive commentary on the recovery that he believed was under way. | The driver turned the car around when my eyes were full and we drove quietly past the first signs of rebuilding and renewal, him keeping up a steady, positive commentary on the recovery that he believed was under way. | ||
Allen had recently recorded a muted and melancholy transcription of Professor | Allen had recently recorded a muted and melancholy transcription of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina." The very idea of him taking such a usually joyful and rambunctious piece and making it a more thoughtful and personal piece seemed to pull back a curtain on another time and place. The music suggested two simultaneous, superimposed realities. One was the brutal present, the other a memory of nobility and beauty. It was a trick of imagination, not a piece of reportage. | ||
I had wanted to see these things with my own eyes, as the words I had written for | I had wanted to see these things with my own eyes, as the words I had written for "Tipitina and Me" had already imagined them. | ||
''Not a soul was stirring<br> | {{n}}''Not a soul was stirring<br> | ||
''Not a bird was singing, at least not within my hearing<br> | {{n}}''Not a bird was singing, at least not within my hearing<br> | ||
''I was five minutes past caring<br> | {{n}}''I was five minutes past caring<br> | ||
''Standing in the road just staring | {{n}}''Standing in the road just staring<br> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
''Thought I heard somebody pleading<br> | {{n}}''Thought I heard somebody pleading<br> | ||
''I thought I heard someone apologize<br> | {{n}}''I thought I heard someone apologize<br> | ||
''Some fell down weeping<br> | {{n}}''Some fell down weeping<br> | ||
''Others shook their fists up at the skies<br> | {{n}}''Others shook their fists up at the skies<br> | ||
''And those who were left<br> | {{n}}''And those who were left<br> | ||
''Seemed to be wearing disguises | {{n}}''Seemed to be wearing disguises | ||
I called this song | I called this song "Ascension Day," for reasons that must surely be obvious. | ||
The sessions themselves were nowhere near as somber as all of this might suggest. Indeed, once within the studio walls, | The sessions themselves were nowhere near as somber as all of this might suggest. Indeed, once within the studio walls, Allen's evident relief and the New Orleans players' joy at being back to work in the city became completely contagious. Our only problem was that we could not work too late, even if we wished to, as a curfew demanded we be off the streets by one a.m. | ||
It was peculiar to see troops in sand fatigues manning barricades with armored cars better suited to Iraq, but just as unsettling to be driving out of one of the illuminated districts past a stretch of residential city blocks to which the power had still not been restored. The darkness seemed random and inexplicable. | It was peculiar to see troops in sand fatigues manning barricades with armored cars better suited to Iraq, but just as unsettling to be driving out of one of the illuminated districts past a stretch of residential city blocks to which the power had still not been restored. The darkness seemed random and inexplicable. | ||
"Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" was the best thing we recorded at Piety Street, and it might be my favorite cut on the whole album. It was also the one time we were able to persuade Allen to the microphone to take most of the lead vocal, although Big Sam Williams very nearly stole the song from both of us with his trombone solo. | |||
The song was glorious to play. As it said, | The song was glorious to play. As it said, ''"We're covering up the pain."'' | ||
But you | But you didn't have to look very far outside the studio door to see what Allen had meant by his closing lines: | ||
''What happened to the Liberty Bell, I heard so much about?<br> | {{n}}''What happened to the Liberty Bell, I heard so much about?<br> | ||
''Did it really ding-dong?<br> | {{n}}''Did it really ding-dong?<br> | ||
''It must have dinged wrong, it | {{n}}''It must have dinged wrong, it didn't ding long | ||
In the spring of 2006, I was | In the spring of 2006, I was Allen's guest at the first Jazz Fest following Katrina. It was an extraordinary afternoon in which to play even the smallest part. Then we got to reprise those songs over again as the two of us traveled from a bar in [[Concert 2006-05-01 Chicago|Chicago]] to a nightclub in [[Concert 2006-06-01 Tokyo|Tokyo]], as a preface to the release of ''The River In Reverse''. Japanese fans welcomed Allen like a returning hero and brought re-issues for him to sign containing his most obscure productions and recordings; songs he seemed amazed that anyone remembered. | ||
The Imposters and | The Imposters and Allen's musicians then went on a twenty-five-date U.S. tour that took us from [[Concert 2006-06-10 Green Bay|Green Bay]], Wisconsin, all the way back to the [[Concert 2006-07-18 New Orleans|French Quarter]]. | ||
Needless to say, Allen returned to New Orleans just as soon as it was possible, and his faith in the | Needless to say, Allen returned to New Orleans just as soon as it was possible, and his faith in the city's restoration was repaid in time, but seeing him become a performing, touring musician for a while was a remarkable transition to behold. | ||
Not so very long ago, Allen sent me an e-mail greeting from Quito in Ecuador, where he was playing a date. | Not so very long ago, Allen sent me an e-mail greeting from Quito in Ecuador, where he was playing a date. I'd never heard of anyone playing in Ecuador. The world no longer has to come to New Orleans to see Allen Toussaint. He's been taking that part of New Orleans that lives in his songs out to the world. | ||
Back in the summer of 2007, Steve Nieve and I toured Europe with | Back in the summer of 2007, Steve Nieve and I toured Europe with Allen's band, including his son-in-law, Herman LeBeaux, on drums. | ||
The moon was rising and the temperature falling below a hundred degrees Fahrenheit for the first time all day as we took the stage for an encore at the amphitheater of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. | The moon was rising and the temperature falling below a hundred degrees Fahrenheit for the first time all day as we took the stage for an encore at the amphitheater of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. | ||
The ruins of the Parthenon where illuminated above us as Allen began to play | The ruins of the Parthenon where illuminated above us as Allen began to play "Yes We Can." | ||
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{{tags}}[[Allen Toussaint]] {{-}} [[Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink]] {{-}} [[ | {{tags}}[[Allen Toussaint]] {{-}} [[Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink]] {{-}} [[Merseyside]] {{-}} [[The River In Reverse]] {{-}} [[Spike]] {{-}} [[New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival]] {{-}} [[Joe's Pub]] {{-}} [[Freedom For The Stallion]] {{-}} [[Professor Longhair]] {{-}} [[Tipitina]] {{-}} [[Ascension Day]] {{-}} [[Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?]] {{-}} [[Sam "Big Sam" Williams]] {{-}} [[Schubas Tavern ]] {{-}} [[Blue Jay Way]] {{-}} [[The Imposters]] {{-}} [[The Allen Toussaint Band & Horns]] {{-}} [[:Category:2006 US Tour|2006 US Tour]] {{-}} [[Steve Nieve]] {{-}} [[Herman LeBeaux]] {{-}} [[:Category:2007 European Tour|2007 European Tour]] {{-}} [[Concert 2007-07-10 Athens|Herodion, Athens, Greece]] {{-}} [[Yes We Can Can]] | ||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
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{{Bibliography next | {{Bibliography next | ||
|prev = ElvisCostello.com, April 30, 2013 | |prev = ElvisCostello.com, April 30, 2013 | ||
|next = ElvisCostello.com, | |next = ElvisCostello.com, November 16, 2016 | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''ElvisCostello.com, November 20, 2015 | '''ElvisCostello.com, November 20, 2015 | ||
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{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:2015-11-20 ElvisCostello.com photo 01.jpg| | [[image:2015-11-20 ElvisCostello.com photo 01.jpg|300px]] | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160115134508/http://www.elviscostello.com/news/the-river-in-reverse/775 | *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160115134508/http://www.elviscostello.com/news/the-river-in-reverse/775 ElvisCostello.com] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:ElvisCostello.com 2015-11-20}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:ElvisCostello.com 2015-11-20}} | ||
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[[Category:Online articles]] | [[Category:Online articles]] | ||
[[Category:Elvis writes]] | [[Category:Elvis writes]] | ||
[[Category:Eulogies]] |
Revision as of 01:58, 20 March 2023
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