Sir Earl Toon
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Sir Earl Toon

Helotes, Texas, United States

Helotes, Texas, United States
Band R&B Funk

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"City of New Orleans endorsement letter"


March 11, 2008

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in regards to Sir Earl Toon, a gentleman I have had the privilege of knowing for over five years here in the City of New Orleans. Like myself, the Honorable Mayor C. Ray Nagin and the City of New Orleans has adopted Sir Earl Toon as one of our own.

New Orleans plays a very special part in why we know each other because as a musician Sir Earl was drawn to this musically rich city in his quest for creative inspiration in following his first love,…his music.

As you may already know, Sir Earl achieved notoriety with the very popular band Kool & the Gang at the height of their worldwide fame and penned classic tunes like “Celebration”, “Ladies Night” and many others. It was a desire to stretch creatively that brought Sir Earl to the Crescent City and led him to me.

Among Sir Earl’s many significant bonifides is the fact that he is the only protege of the master-writer Otis Blackwell. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Blackwell, you most assuredly have heard his music. Otis Blackwell wrote such hits as "All Shook Up", "Don't Be Cruel", and "Return To Sender" for Elvis Presley and "Great Balls Of Fire" for Jerry Lee Lewis, "Handy Man" for Pat Boone and James Taylor, "Fever" for Peggy Lee and Madonna, just to name a few.

Under the tutelage of Otis Blackwell, Sir Earl wrote approximately 70 songs with him. Neither BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, or other publishing companies have acquired or owns these songs. Sir Earl Toon is the owner of these songs which span genres from rock n’ roll to country & western tunes. They are treasures, collaborated with one of the world’s most beloved and celebrated writing sensations of all time. This legacy of musical writing genius lives on and can be accessed through Sir Earl Toon.

The Mayor’s Office has produced several highly successful events that Sir Earl has been featured in like the concert for the cutting edge media festival called the New Orleans Media Experience, and New Years Eve in New Orleans, one of the official half dozen NYE celebrations around the country with approximately 50,000 attendees.

In each of those events, Sir Earl conducted himself in a very businesslike manner and was always ethical and accountable with any financial arrangements we had made. We would welcome not just the opportunity to work with Sir Earl again, but would like to afford him the chance to return to his beloved New Orleans.

A few additional events that Sir Earl has been featured in are a very successful fundraiser for the entrepreneurial incubator, Idea Village, where they raised over 250,000.00 and drew attendees from around the region. Sir Earl has thrived creatively since coming to the Crescent City, blending his brand of R&B and Hip Hop funk with pop, rock, reggae, dance, jazz, blues and blending this musical gumbo with a host of New Orleans artists. We anticipate further collaborations with Sir Earl on ventures such as branded events for the City and possibly his recording projects as well.

If I, or the Mayor may offer our endorsement and support in any way for Mr. Toon’s endeavors, we are here to help. We appreciate all that he has brought to the City of New Orleans with his company YMO (Yours, Mine, Ours) and we anticipate a continued extraordinary partnership as we collectively help bring back New Orleans Music and Culture.

For further information and/or questions please feel free to call (504) 717-9824.

Best Regards,

Ernest Collins
Executive Director, Arts & Entertainment
City of New Orleans

- City of New Orleans - Mayor's Office of Recovery Management


Discography

Kool and the Gang – CELEBRATE
Earl Toon, Jr.: Co-Writer, Co-Producer, Vocalist, and Instrumentalist
- Celebration
- Jones vs. Jones
- Take it to the Top
- Morning Star
- Love Festival
- Just Friends
- Night People
- Love Affair

Kool and the Gang – LADIES NIGHT
Earl Toon, Jr.: Co-Writer, Co-Producer, Vocalist, and Instrumentalist
- Ladies Night
- Got You into My Life
- If You Feel Like Dancin’
- Hangin’ Out
- Tonight’s the Night
- Too Hot

Motivation – MOTIVATION
Earl Toon, Jr.: Co-Producer, Co-Arranger, and Co-Mixer
- Motivation (Are You Ready)
- Crazy Daze
- Please Don’t Say No
- Give the Gift of Music
- Stop!!!
- Color Blind
- Motivation (Are You Ready) Instrumental

Philip Michael Thomas – SOMEBODY
Earl E. Toon, Jr.: Co-Writer, Co-Producer, Background Vocals, Vocal Arrangement, and Instrumental Sequencing
- Don’t Make Promises
- Somebody
- Falling

Candela – CANDELA
Earl Toon, Jr.: Writer, Co-Producer, and Arranger
- Love You Madly (Special Extended Version)
- Love You Madly (Short Version)

Photos

Bio

Sir Earl is presently one of the most prolific Funk/R&B/Pop singer song writer/producers of the '80s and '90s. A former member of the multiplatinum R&B and pop group Kool and the Gang, Sir Earl co-wrote and co-produced songs like "Celebration", "Ladies Night", and "Too Hot" as well as many, other well known hits. He learned his trade by being the one and only protege of Mr. Otis Blackwell, who wrote many of Elvis Presley's greatest hits such as "Don't Be Cruel", "Return To Sender", and "All Shook Up". Mr. Blackwell also wrote songs for several other great American artists, including Peggy Lee/Madonna: "Fever", Jerry Lee Lewis: "Great Balls of Fire", and Pat Boone/James Taylor: "Handy Man".

After many world tours with Kool and the Gang, Sir Earl went on to independently produce, write, and arrange music for Atlantic, Arista, and Polygram Records. All of Sir Earl’s recording projects charted in Billboard’s Top 40, many of them earning him Platinum and Gold albums, Platinum and Gold singles, U.K. Silver albums and singles, multiple BMI Million-air citations, along with a host of other awards.