Tony Joe White

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tony Joe White
Background information
Born	July 23, 1943
Origin	Oak Grove, Louisiana
Genre(s)	swamp rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, Songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1968–present

Tony Joe White (born July 23, 1943 in Oak Grove, Louisiana) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie", and for "Rainy Night in Georgia" which he wrote, but which was first made popular by Brook Benton. "Polk Salad Annie" was also recorded by Elvis Presley.

Nicknamed "the Swamp Fox", he is regarded as an original exponent of the sub-genre Swamp rock. His songs have been recorded by at least 25 major artists.

[edit] Biography

In 1969, Tony Joe White from Louisiana had a U.S. Top 10 hit with his classic swamp rock song "Polk Salad Annie," followed in 1970, by Brook Benton’s soulful rendition of White's timeless "Rainy Night In Georgia."

In late September 1973, White was recruited by producer Huey P. Meaux to sit in on the legendary Memphis sessions that became the landmark Southern Roots album of Jerry Lee Lewis.

By all accounts, these sessions were a three day, around the clock party, which not only reunited the original MGs (Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson Jr. of Booker T. and the MGs fame) for the first time in three years, they also featured rockabilly icon Carl Perkins, Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders), and Wayne Jackson and The Memphis Horns.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s White toured in support of artists including Creedence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor. In the 1990s Tina Turner recorded four of his songs for her multi-platinum selling album Foreign Affairs, including the world-wide hit "Steamy Windows". With the advent of that project, White formed an alliance with Turner's manager, Roger Davies and his career began to soar.

In Europe White gained legendary status following a successful debut at the historic Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. In 1991 he signed with Remark, issued the Closer To The Truth album and spent the next two years touring Europe in support of Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker, among others. He cut two more albums for Remark, 1993's Path Of A Decent Groove and 1995's Lake Placid Blues, the latter garnering the first of two nominations for "Best R & B Album" from the Nashville Music Awards, (the second being, The Best Of Tony Joe White, a 1996 retrospective of his work on Warner Brothers). French audiences eagerly embraced White as the ‘Swamp Fox’ and in 1998, he became the subject of a French produced documentary: Tony Joe White-The Man From Down South.

In 1999, White went back to his roots and recorded One Hot July, in the swamps of Louisiana. He then toured Australia and Europe once again in support of the critically acclaimed album. In 2001, Audium and Koch Entertainment released The Beginning - a stripped-down acoustic album that received worldwide recognition and five star ratings in virtually every country.

Throughout the years, White has had songs recorded by dozens of major artists including Elvis, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Hank Williams Jr., Tim McGraw, John Mayall and Waylon Jennings. More recently, he has worked with Marc Bryan of Hootie & The Blowfish and Michael McDonald. He has written and performed jingles for McDonalds and Levi's 501 Blues and been featured on movie soundtracks for Millennium, Selena and Hotspot. His music has also been featured in two HBO original films.

His most recent CD release is Heros and Heroines, on his own label, Swamp Records. White says he created the company with his son Jody White, so that he could continue to produce music his way.

Rory Gallagher did a cover of his song "As The Crow Flies" on his live album Irish Tour.

One of his most recent performances was on July 14, 2006 in Magny-Cours, France, as a warm-up act for Roger Waters' Dark Side Of The Moon concert. His new album entitled "Uncovered" is due out September 2006 and features collaborations with Mark Knopfler, Michael McDonald, Eric Clapton, Waylon Jennings & Shelby Lynne.

[edit] Discography

2006 - Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings
2006 - Uncovered (Due Out September 2006)
2006 - Live from Austin, Tx.
2005 - Hard To Handle
2004 - Night of the Mocassin
2004 - The Heroines
2002 - Snakey
2001 - The Beginning
1998 - One Hot July
1995 - Lake Placid Blues
1993 - The Path of A Decent Groove
1991 - Closer To the Truth
1983 - Dangerous
1980 - The Real Thang
1976 - Eyes
1973 - Home Made Ice Cream
1972 - Live in Europe
1972 - The Train I'm On
1971 - Tony Joe White
1971 - Tony Joe
1969 - Black And White
1969 - ... Continued
1968 - Polk Salad Annie
1968 - Roosevelt And Ira Lee

The above list includes same albums using different names - the confusion between European releases and North American releases. The following, in reverse order, are the albums TJW officially released in North America along with the CDs that initially only came out in Europe and a few legal Australian releases:

1968 - Black and White (Monument #18114)
1969 - Continued (Monument #18133)
1970 - Tony Joe (Monument #18142)
1971 - Tony Joe White (Warner Brothers #1900)
1972 - The Train I'm On (Warner Brothers #2580)
1973 - Home Made Ice Cream (Warner Brothers #92274)
1973 - Catch My Soul - movie soundtrack (Metromedia) (released RCA in Europe)
1975 - The Best of Tony Joe White (Warner Brothers)
1976 - Eyes (20th Century)
1980 - The Real Thang (Casablanca)
1983 - Dangerous (Columbia)
1991 - Closer To the Truth (Remark/Polydor #LC 0309 / 511 386-2)
1993 - The Path of a Decent Groove (Remark/Polydor #LC 6298 / 519 938-2)
1993 - The Best of Tony Joe White (Warner Brothers)
1995 - Lake Placid Blues (Remark/Polydor #LC 6298 / 527 530-2)
1997 - Collection (RDM #D31737 - Australian) A collection from his '91 -'95 releases.
1998 - Tony Joe White Live in Europe 1971 (WeeBuy #885972) - a reissue of earlier live and possibly bootleg live concert releases
1999 - One Hot July (Mercury - no #)
2000 - Tony Joe White In Concert (Brilliant BT 33053) - a reissue of earlier live and possibly bootleg material live concert releases
2001 - The Beginnings (Swamp Records, no #)
2003 - Snakey (?? Records, no #, says Tony Joe White Music but no company name)
2003 - Dangerous Eyes (Reissue of '76's Eyes & '83's Dangerous) (Raven RVCD-159 - Australian)
2004 - The Heroines (Sanctuary Records, #06076-88366-2)
2006 - Live from Austin, Texas (New West #NW6092)
2006 - Uncovered (Swamp Records, No #)
2006 - Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings (Rhino Handmade #RHM2 7731)