[6] "Southern Nights", which would become Toussaint's signature song, was written as a tribute to evenings spent with his Creole family in his native Louisiana.

[5][9][10] Campbell released a cover version on the album Southern Nights in February 1977, which spent four weeks at the top of the country, pop and adult contemporary charts.

[5] Toussaint's version of the song was very different from the "cheerful catchiness and...bright, colorful feel" of Campbell's;[2][11] Stephen Thomas Erlewine described it as featuring a "swirling, trippy arrangement that plays like a heat mirage", while The Times-Picayune remarked in 2009 on its "strange psychedelic-swamp-water sound.

"[12] In 1994, Toussaint came out of a lengthy hiatus as a performer to record the song in a duet with Chet Atkins for the compilation album Rhythm, Country and Blues.

[17] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic indicates that the album should be "part of any serious soul collection", but notes that the presence of instrumental filler material "prevents [it] from being a full-fledged masterpiece".