You may not know that you know songwriter/musician/producer Allen Toussaint.  He wasn’t what you would call a household name at the time he sadly passed away late last year.

Maybe though you remember Lee Dorsey’s “Working in the Coal Mine”, the Rolling Stones “Fortune Teller”, or The Who’s version, Glenn Campbell’s “Southern Nights, The Doors “Get Out of My Life Woman”, or any number of  other Toussaint originals made famous by Al Hirt, Bonnie Raitt, The Pointer Sisters, Herb Alpert and many more.

August’s vinyl of the month pick is one of his own albums from 1972, his first for Warner and a belated tribute to a giant of a man who’s massive influence on New Orlean’s R&B and rock and roll in general should not be understated.

The twelve tracks that comprise Life, Love and Faith while mostly rooted in New Orleans R&B also dabble in funk, soul, and even elements of psychedelia.  While clearly the work of a focused idiosyncratic genius, Toussaint’s songwriting is as consistently strong as ever. Every track here sounds like an exhumed solid gold hit. Timeless in terms of quality, sound, and arrangement.

The fact that the album barely sold and yielded no real hits on release is almost unthinkable when you listen to it, but it’s a testament to the quality and quantity of Toussaint’s work over five and a half decades that this album which would be held up as the defining work of many lesser artists is often overlooked when discussing his legacy.