THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,694) Ernie K-Doe — “A Certain Girl”
An Allen Toussaint-written “classic[] of New Orleans R&B with the same laid-back, sheepish finesse that made ‘Mother-In-Law’ such a hit” (John Bush, https://www.allmusic.com/album/absolutely-the-best-mw0000016107), which, along with its B-side (“I’ve Cried My Last Tear”), gave us “one of the greatest R&B singles of the early ’60s”. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-real-mother-in-law-for-ya-the-allen-toussaint-sessions-1959-63-mw0000225575) “Girl” reached #71 and was covered by the Yardbirds and other ’60’s UK groups, but none approached the original.
Steve Huey writes about Ernie K-Doe:
Ernie K-Doe scored one of the biggest hits . . . in the history of New Orleans R&B with “Mother-in-Law,” a humorous lament that struck a chord with listeners of all stripes on its way to the top of both the pop and R&B charts in 1961. The song proved to be K-Doe’s only major success, despite several more minor hits that were equally infectious, yet he remained one of New Orleans’ most inimitable personalities. Born Ernest Kador, Jr. in New Orleans . . . he began singing at age seven in the Baptist church where his father served as minister. During his teen years, Kador performed with local gospel groups . . . . He entered and won talent competitions and became more interested in secular R&B and blues, and at 17, he moved to Chicago with his mother and began performing at local clubs. Thanks to connections he made there, he got the chance to sing with the Flamingos and Moonglows, as well as the Four Blazes, a gig that earned him his first recording session in late 1953 . . . . Kador returned to New Orleans in 1954 and honed his flamboyant stage act at numerous local hangouts . . . both solo and as part of the vocal group the Blue Diamonds. The Blue Diamonds cut a couple of sides for Savoy in 1954, and the following year, Kador . . . recorded his first solo single, “Do Baby Do[]” . . . . Finally, in 1959, he caught on with the newly formed Minit label and hooked up with . . . Allen Toussaint. His first Minit single, “Make You Love Me,” flopped, but the follow-up, “Hello My Lover,” was a substantial regional hit, selling nearly 100,000 copies. K-Doe struck gold with 1961’s “Mother-in-Law[]” . . . . That, coupled with the playful cynicism of the lyrics, made for a rollicking good time in the best New Orleans R&B tradition, and K-Doe was rewarded with a number one record on both the pop and R&B charts. He toured the country and landed a few more follow-up hits — “Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta,” “I Cried My Last Tear,” “A Certain Girl” . . . “Popeye Joe” . . . . Minit soon went under, and K-Doe followed Toussaint to the Instant label, but two 1964 singles failed to revive K-Doe’s chart fortunes, partly because the early prime of New Orleans R&B was fading as Motown gained prominence. . . . He reunited with Toussaint for a brief period in the early ’70s, to no avail, and drifted into a long period of alcoholism. Fortunately, K-Doe was able to reclaim some of his popularity around New Orleans when he began hosting a radio program in 1982, earning an audience with his wild antics and blatant self-promotion.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ernie-k-doe-mn0000169677#biography
And Huey tells us of Toussaint:
Producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, solo artist — Allen Toussaint wore all these hats over the course of his lengthy and prolific career, and his behind-the-scenes work alone would have been enough to make him a legend of New Orleans R&B. Thanks to his work with numerous other artists, Toussaint bore an enormous amount of responsibility for the sound of R&B in the Crescent City from the ’60s on into the ’70s. . . . As a composer, Toussaint proved himself a consistent hitmaker . . . . Toussaint waxed his own records from time to time, enjoying a creative peak in the ’70s with several albums that highlighted his laid-back vocals and elegantly funky piano work. Even if he wasn’t always the most visible figure, Toussaint’s contributions to New Orleans music — and to rock & roll in general — were such that he earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Toussaint was born . . . in New Orleans, and began learning piano at age seven . . . . [F]amed producer/songwriter Dave Bartholomew . . . hired him to lay down the piano parts at a Fats Domino recording session . . . . Bartholomew made regular use of Toussaint . . . and demand for the young pianist’s services grew quickly . . . . In 1958, Toussaint recorded an instrumental album . . . one of his original compositions for the record, “Java,” went on to become a smash hit for Dixieland jazz trumpeter Al Hirt five years later. . . . In 1960, Toussaint was hired by Joe Banashak as an A&R man for the brand-new Minit label; in practice, he wound up masterminding most of the label’s recording sessions. It was here that Toussaint truly began to build his legend. His first national success as a producer came with Jessie Hill’s R&B Top Five smash “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” in 1960, and the classic hits came fast and furious after that: Ernie K-Doe’s pop and R&B number one “Mother-in-Law” . . . Benny Spellman’s “Fortune Teller,” and “Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)” (both Toussaint tunes . . . ), Chris Kenner’s original version of “Land of 1000 Dances,” Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya,” and numerous sides with New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas. Toussaint’s singular touch on all these records redefined the sound of New Orleans R&B for a new decade. When Banashak left Minit to found another label, Instant, Toussaint went with him to fulfill much the same duties; he also freelanced elsewhere, most prominently with Dorsey’s recordings for the Fury label, and cut a few low-profile singles of his own . . . . “Whipped Cream[]” was covered by Herb Alpert in 1965 for an instrumental hit, which was in turn later adopted as the theme for TV’s The Dating Game. Upon his discharge in 1965, Toussaint teamed up with fellow producer Marshall Sehorn to form a production company and record label, Sansu Enterprises. . . . Their most profitable association was with Lee Dorsey, who returned to the upper reaches of the R&B charts with Toussaint-penned hits like “Ride Your Pony,” the oft-covered “Get Out of My Life Woman,” the immortal “Working in a Coalmine,” and “Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)” . . . . In 1966, Sansu also engaged the services of a house band dubbed the Meters[. A]fter the Meters started making their own records in 1969 (produced by Toussaint), they developed into arguably the top instrumental funk ensemble of the ’70s outside of the J.B.’s. In 1971, Toussaint recorded his first solo album in over a decade . . . . In addition to his solo records, Toussaint was getting more high-profile offers for outside work during the first half of the ’70s. He did horn arrangements for the Band, Paul Simon [see #1,621], Little Feat, and Sandy Denny, and his continued work with the Meters was moving him into contemporary funk with a harder edge than his own albums. In fact, he wound up producing two of New Orleans’ greatest funk records: Dr. John’s [see #177, 769] Top Ten hit “Right Place, Wrong Time” and LaBelle’s number one disco-funk smash “Lady Marmalade.” In 1975, Toussaint released what many regarded as his finest solo album, Southern Nights; the title track went on to become a huge hit for country-pop superstar Glen Campbell . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/allen-toussaint-mn0000933172#biography
Here are the Yardbirds:
Here are Wayne Fontana & the Mindbendes:
Here are the Paramounts:
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