Allen Toussaint

And even with this one, there were a couple of tricks to this song musically that interrupted Solomon's flow.

And Joe Henry, who produced this record, is a friend of mine who also produced the rhythm reverse and worked with Alan Toussaint.

And he had me stand in the booth with Solomon because I was at the recording session.

And Solomon, you know, he was such a big personality, but in many ways he was like, was something really wonderful about the way he you know invited you in and he told me to sing it for him because there was this timing of this one line he just kept every time he'd get rolling with it he'd come in the wrong place and you know i got to learn this so you sing it can you imagine that having to stand in front of solomon burke and sing the song you know you could i could sort of sing it in my head you know And, um, and then I did, and then of course, then he learned it and he could hear what it was once he, once he could watch me do it, he could, he got what the rhythm of it was and then he sang it great, you

Now, if anybody doesn't know, The Meters is an American funk band that was formed in 65 in New Orleans, really the sound of New Orleans.

They not only played their own music, but they backed so many great artists like Lee Dorsey, Robert Palmer, later on Dr. John, certainly, and Alan Toussaint from the area.

Loving what Perry describes as The Meters' riffy New Orleans funk music.

Here's where Joey Kramer comes in great.

I hadn't heard Professor Longhair.

I knew Alan Toussaint's songs.

from the from the radio and occasionally it would filter through that he was the man responsible for all these songs but it took me a long time to catch up exactly how many like so far back like to fortune teller and these songs like that and then all these leader c records i love And in writing songs for the guitar in the early 70s, I wanted to be able to time travel, and I couldn't play piano music.

Then I found I could play some of these, what I call ragtime kind of things.