Allen Richard Toussaint was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, described as "one of popular music's great backroom figures." Many musicians recorded Toussaint's compositions. He was a producer for hundreds of recordings: the best known are "Right Place, Wrong Time", by longtime friend Dr. John, and "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle.
The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968. Their most successful recording was "A Lover's Concerto" (1965), which sold more than two million copies and reached the number-two spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Bessie Regina Norris, better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teenager, Wright rose to fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is the Night". Wright was also prominent in her use of whistle register.
Robert Thomas Freeman was an American rock, soul and R&B singer, songwriter and record producer from San Francisco, best known for his two Top Ten hits, the first in 1958 on Josie Records called "Do You Want to Dance" and the second in 1964 for Autumn Records, "C'mon and Swim".
Marsha Ambrosius-Billups is an English singer and songwriter. She began her musical career as a member of the R&B duo Floetry. Ambrosius released her debut solo album Late Nights & Early Mornings in 2011.
Loleatta Holloway was an American singer known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation". In December 2016, Billboard named her the 95th-most successful dance artist of all time. According to the Independent, Holloway is the most sampled female singer in popular music, used in house and dance tracks such as the 1989 Black Box single "Ride on Time".
Jon Tiven is an American composer, guitarist, record producer, and music journalist. He has produced albums by Wilson Pickett, Frank Black and Don Covay as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwriting of Don Covay, Arthur Alexander, Otis Blackwell, Curtis Mayfield, and Van Morrison. He was also the co-founder of the Memphis power pop band Prix, as well as the bands The Yankees and The Jon Tiven Group.
Betty Jean Everett was an American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling "Shoop Shoop Song ", and her duet "Let It Be Me" with Jerry Butler.
Garnet Mimms is an American singer, influential in soul music and rhythm and blues. He first achieved success as the lead singer of Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters and is best known for the 1963 hit "Cry Baby", later recorded by Janis Joplin. According to Steve Huey at AllMusic, his "pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers [and] his legacy remains criminally underappreciated."
O'Bryan McCoy Burnette II, known by his stage name O’Bryan, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist.
Maxine Ella Brown is an American soul and R&B singer.
Gwendolyn Dianne Brooks, was a soul, r&b and jazz singer from New Jersey. With the Three Playmates, Brooks recorded several songs in 1957. She moved to Toronto shortly thereafter. Her part in Canadian soul music history began when the group Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and the Soul Searchers was formed. As a solo singer, she recorded two albums and several singles of her own. Her biggest solo hit was "Walkin' on My Mind" in 1969. She was also a prolific session singer. As a vocalist, she provided backing vocals on albums by a multitude of artists that include Anne Murray, Gino Vannelli and Richie Havens. She was also a song-writer.
"When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" is a classic hit song, a soul ballad, written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. It was first released in 1967 by Sam & Dave on Stax Records.
"Cry to Me" is a song written by Bert Berns and first recorded by American soul singer Solomon Burke in 1961. Released in 1962, it was Burke's second single to appear in both Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides and Hot 100 singles charts. On March 20, 1962, Burke performed "Cry to Me" on American Bandstand.
"Inside That I Cried" is a song by American singer CeCe Peniston, released as the fifth and last single from her debut album, Finally (1992), on A&M Records. The single release includes "Hitmix", a medley of her songs "Finally", "We Got a Love Thang", "Keep On Walkin'", "Lifeline" and "It Should Have Been You", all taken from the album. "Inside That I Cried" reached the top 10 of the American Billboard Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart and peaked at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number 42 on the UK Singles Chart.
Marshall Estus Sehorn was an American A&R man, songwriter, music publisher and entrepreneur who played an important role in the development of R&B and popular music in New Orleans between the 1950s and 1970s, particularly as the business partner of record producer Allen Toussaint.
"Thug Cry" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Rick Ross, released on March 13, 2014 by Maybach, Slip-n-Slide, and Def Jam, as the 2nd and final official single from his sixth studio album Mastermind (2014). The song was produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, written by Betty Idol and features a guest appearance by American rapper Lil Wayne, along with a hook performed by Betty Idol. The song has since peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The sample comes from "Heather" by Billy Cobham (1974), which was previously used in songs such as "93 'til Infinity" by Souls Of Mischief (1993) and in "No Wheaties" by Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA & Curren$y (2010).
Sax Kari, born Isaac Columbus Toombs Jr., sometimes known as Isaac Saxton Kari Toombs or simply Saxton Kari, was an American multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, A&R man and promoter, who had a wide variety of roles during a career in African American entertainment and R&B music lasting from the 1920s to the 1990s. He also used pseudonyms, including Ira Green, Texas Red, Dirty Red Morgan, and Candy Yams.
Sea-Saint Studios was a music recording facility located at 3809 Clematis Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, which was co-owned by musician, producer, and arranger, Allen Toussaint and record A&R man and publishing agent Marshall Sehorn, which was in operation for over thirty years, from 1973-2005, when it was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. During those years it hosted recordings by numerous musical acts such as Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Patti LaBelle, Joe Cocker, and Elvis Costello, as well as local acts such as the Meters and Dr. John.
"It's Raining" is a soul/R&B ballad, written by Allen Toussaint under the name "Naomi Neville". It was first recorded in November 1961 by Irma Thomas, and produced by Allen Toussaint. The song has emotional ties to Louisiana, having been written and sung by people born in that state, being released on a New Orleans–based record label and enduring in the Deep South as a regional classic.
