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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:52 pm 
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Man Of Peace

Joined: 23 Dec 2014
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Tony Joe White, ‘Polk Salad Annie’ Singer, Dies at 75

Swamp-rocker Tony Joe White, a cult-favorite singer/songwriter whose songs were covered by everyone from Elvis Presley to Tina Turner, died Wednesday at 75.

White had just released his latest album, “Bad Mouthin’,” on the Yep Rock label Sept. 28 and had made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry that same night.

“He wasn’t ill at all,” his son, Jody White, told the Tennessean. “He just had a heart attack…there was no pain or suffering.” The Louisiana native died at his home in Leipers Fork, Tennessee, outside of Nashville.

White recorded more than 20 albums, beginning in 1969, but had his only serious brush with the charts as a performer with “Polk Salad Annie,” which reached No. 8 in 1969. The song became even better known as a staple of Presley’s repertoire, showing up in Elvis’ live albums and concert movies in the early 70s. Another early composition became an even bigger hit via a popular cover version, as Brook Benton’s version of “Rainy Night in Georgia” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the soul chart in 1970.

The extent to which White was a hero to the music intelligentsia became evident when the Foo Fighters performed “Polk Salad” with White on David Letterman’s program in 2014. That performance drove the talk show host to a rare level of effusiveness. “Oh my God!” exclaimed Letterman. “Holy cow! Man alive. I tell you something, this is just between us, if I was this guy, you could all kiss my ass — and I mean that. That was delightful. My God!”

Others who recorded White’s songs included Tina Turner (who included four on her 1989 “Foreign Affair” album), Ray Charles, Kenny Chesney, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, Shelby Lynne, Nancy Wilson, Etta James, Isaac Hayes, Hank Williams Jr., Los Lonely Boys, John Anderson, Joe Bonamassa and Carmen McRae. Common and Kanye West both sampled his song “Stud-Spider.” HIs song “I’ve Got a Thing About You, Baby” was also covered by Presley and showed up on the 2016 album that combined Elvis’ vocals with new arrangements from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

His September release, his first full-on blues album, had received generally good reviews, with American Songwriter saying it “resonates with the dark, ominous, rootsy authenticity Tony Joe White has always exuded” and noting that his “dusky baritone voice, laconic delivery, shadowy harmonica and snakelike guitar were never more than a few chords away from a bluesman’s approach.” He was a favorite among Americana enthusiasts in the UK, where Uncut magazine hailed the latest album as a “haunting late-career contemplation.”

White had canceled tour dates in Australia for October after the Opry date, with a promoter announcing, “After a recent show at Nashville’s legendary Ryman, the great man was almost unable to walk after suffering severe pain in his calves and had to be helped off the stage while in extreme pain. Since then the discovery of a bulging disk in his back has meant an immediate end to future engagements that involve significant travel until physical therapy can hopefully reinstate him to a healthy state for travel.”

His last Los Angeles appearance was just over two months ago, when the Grammy Museum hosted an “evening with” performance and Q&A.

He’d previously appeared at the Grammy Museum in 2016, when the Los Angeles Times recounted some of the stories he told from the stage. One of them involved meeting Tina Turner in 1989, when she was devoting a good portion of her album to his material. “I walked into her dressing room, and she was putting on her makeup, and she looked into the mirror and just started laughing,” White said. “It went on for quite a long time. Finally she said, ‘And all this time, I thought you were black!'”

White is survived by his wife, Leann, his children Michelle, Jim Bob and Jody (who produced several of his latter-day recordings), and several grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.

https://variety.com/2018/music/news/ton ... 1202994735


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:54 pm 
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Man Of Peace

Joined: 23 Dec 2014
Posts: 14208
The September release that was mentioned in the above article, Bad Mouthin', turned out to be his final album:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=106402


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:04 pm 
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Joined: 23 Jan 2007
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R.I.P. Tony Joe. Loved "Rainy Night In Georgia".


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:13 pm 
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Joined: 23 Jan 2007
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Just saw these postings on twitter about Tony Joe White, from an author, Tara Murtha.

"Thank you, Tony Joe White. I talked to him a few years ago about Bobbie Gentry. He told me "Ode to Billie Joe" was his inspiration to write his own songs." "He figured if Bobbie Gentry could write songs with observations from her own life like that, so could he, and one of those results was "Polk Salad Annie." "Tony Joe really wanted me to relay that he missed Bobbie. Said he kept a letter she wrote him some time in the 1990s hanging on his wall. I relayed the message. I hope she got it."

It is interesting the way Bobbie Gentry just virtually vanished from public life.


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 8:29 am 
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Puppy Monkey Alan!

Joined: 20 Sep 2006
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RIP.

This is the aforementioned Letterman appearance.


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"This is a true story, except for the parts that didn't happen." - Steven Wright


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 8:36 am 
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Joined: 18 Jul 2009
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Location: The urban jungle
R.I.P. :(


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 8:45 am 
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Joined: 23 Jul 2006
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Location: Florida
God Bless him, he went out making music that he loved.

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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 10:45 am 
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Joined: 30 Oct 2006
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Location: Tampa to Tennessee
Wow, I had no idea he was the guy who wrote "Rainy Night In Georgia" which is absolutely one of my favorite songs. RIP.


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 12:51 pm 
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Luckless Pedestrian

Joined: 04 Oct 2006
Posts: 2224
Location: Brooklyn OWNS this charmer!
There are so many treasures to be found on that Rhino Handmade Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings box. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform not 10 feet in front of me - just him and his guitar - in 2011. What an original.

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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 4:10 pm 
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Joined: 31 Jan 2007
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RoyalScam wrote:
There are so many treasures to be found on that Rhino Handmade Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings box. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform not 10 feet in front of me - just him and his guitar - in 2011. What an original.


The Rhino box is excellent and highly recommended. I haven't picked up his last release yet, really loved his music.


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:26 am 
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Music from the 60s & 70s and a bit of the 80s

Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Posts: 4368
Location: Australia
RIP

He was another 'American treasure'


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 Post subject: RIP Tony Joe White
PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:30 pm 
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Top of the Pops 65-68

Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 3130
Location: Sherwood Forest VA
D.u.r.n.i.t . . b.u.r.n.i.t...

RIP Tony, you were a true original...



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