Van Morrison, Georgie Fame and Ben Sidran collaborated with him on a tribute album, Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison.

Allison's music had an important influence on other artists, such as Jimi Hendrix, J. J. Cale, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, and Pete Townshend.

[4] Allison was born in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi on his grandfather's farm (known as "the Island"), located outside the small unincorporated community of Tippo.

[10] Shortly after mustering out, he enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU), from which he graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in philosophy.

In 1956, Allison moved to New York City and launched his jazz career, performing with artists such as Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, and Phil Woods.

His delivery and resonance come off with a coy matter-of-factness, while his no-frills, laid-back singing sets the mood for his jazz trio to lean back and enjoy the ride.

[6] His performances were described as being "delivered in a casual conversational way with a melodic southern accented tone that has a pitch and range ideally suited to his idiosyncratic phrasing, laconic approach and ironic sense of humour.

"[19] A reporter interviewing Allison once stated he was "a social critic before Bob Dylan, satirical long before Randy Newman and rude before Mick Jagger.

John Evans, keyboardist for the band Jethro Tull, was influenced by Allison's piano playing, which he described as "so deceptively simple and impressive.

"[21] Allison helped open the "blues' racial divide, proving that a white man from rural Mississippi could hold his own in a traditionally black genre.

Elvis Costello recorded "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy" for his album Kojak Variety and "Your Mind Is on Vacation" for King of America (bonus tracks).

Americana singer-songwriter Greg Brown wrote and performed the song "Mose Allison Played Here" for his 1997 album Slant 6 Mind.

The Dutch musician Herman Brood recorded several of Allison's songs, including "Going to the City", "Stop This World", "Back on the Corner", and "Swinging Machine".