Allen Toussaint's "Songbook," a 2017 collection of live performances from NYC's Joe's Pub was expanded and reissued last week. There is a full disc's worth of unreleased tunes including one called "Hi Lee Hi." This is a lovely song that I hadn't heard before this release.
I did some digging and I have been coming up empty. Some sources say it's Allen's tribute to Jerry Garcia. Other sources say Toussaint "covers Jerry Garcia's 'Hi Lee Hi.'" The song doesn't turn up in either Toussaint's or Garcia's catalogue. I asked my good friend Zippy, who is a Dead Head, and the song is new to him, as well. He also pointed out that Jerry rarely wrote lyrics and the lyrics here sound nothing like anything Robert Hunter would have written.
So, I am going to guess, that as usual, the 25 year old music journalists stating that "Toussaint covers Jerry Garcia's 'Hi Lee Hi," had never heard of either before given the assignment of reviewing "Songbook," and that the lovely "Hi Lee Hi" is a Toussaint tribute to Garcia that has never been released until now.
If anyone has real info, please let me know.
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