Ten Favorite Allen Toussaint Compositions: Working in the Coal Mine (#10)

Tweet

No, it’s not a re-run of the “coal mining songs” countdown (which I’ll conclude in a few mintues). But that inspired this: I started thinking about the great tunes that Allen Toussaint wrote in his lifetime, and how so many people know the songs but not necessarily the name. Well, I’m gonna fix that! Here are ten favorite hits that Allen Toussaint wrote. Starting us off, a repeat from the last countdown. #10: Working in the Coal Mine As I mentioned when I used this with the coal mining countdown, Toussaint admitted he’d never seen a coal mine, let alone worked in one. That also went for Lee Dorsey, who had the first hit with the song. From there, it’s been covered famously (Devo) and infamously (the Judds???? Warning: don’t listen to their version, I suffered so you don’t have to!) a whole lot of times. This was one of Toussaint’s first major hits as a songwriter, and one of his most enduring. Working in the Coal Mine Written by Allen Toussaint Recorded by Lee Dorsey Released as a single, 1965 Recorded by Devo From Heavy Metal (soundtrack), 1981 Here’s Toussaint performing one of the songs that made him famous: