Brandon's
post in late July got me listening to a lot of Allen Toussaint, so I
thought I'd post one of my favorite Allen Toussaint produced songs,
Aaron Neville's "Hercules". ("Last Train", which a commenter so rightly
highlighted, is a close second. Oh and all of Rock of Ages by
the Band; Toussaint did the horn arrangements.) Aaron Neville is on
his A game here - he floats out the falsetto (you know: the touuuchh,
the feeeel of cawwwtonnnn) when the music calls for it, but otherwise
reigns in his voice for some cool and clipped wisdom about the feats
needed to survive in a hostile, mixed-up modern world. Neville is
great, but Toussaint's mellow production steals the show. The bass line
is downright infectious, and the way Toussaint folds in swelling horns,
cool jazz guitar, timbales fills, and piano harmonies is masterful.
Wait for the point around 2:30 with just drums and rhythm guitar; so
good. Street life is hard, but Neville and Toussaint know how much it
helps if you can just keep it funky. JUST LISTEN HERE FOR YOUR CONTINUING PLEASURE