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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZWHITE, Tony Joe(b 23 July 1943, Oak Grove LA; d 24 October 2018, Leiper’s Fork TN) Singer and successful songwriter, one of the few authentic practitioners of the swamp-rock genre. Played in Tony & the Mojos in teen years, moved to Texas and led Tony & the Twilights, worked solo for some years, signed with Monument in Nashville '68 and was produced by Billy Swan. His debut album Black And White '69 included his originals 'Polk Salad Annie', a top 10 hit later covered by Elvis Presley, 'Willie And Laura Mae Jones', covered by Dusty Springfield, and several covers. Continued also charted in '69; this time all the tunes were originals, including 'Rainy Night In Georgia', covered by Brook Benton. Tony Joe '70 included seven originals (of 11 songs), top 30 UK hit 'Groupy Girl' but failed to make top 200 LPs in USA. He switched to WB, where Tony Joe White '71 was produced by Peter Asher, and charted briefly; The Train I'm On '72 produced by Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd included well-known 'I've Got A Thing About You Baby'; Home Made Ice Cream '73, produced by Dowd and White, was full of collaborative songs. Eyes '77 appeared on 20th Century, Real Thing '80 on Casablanca, Dangerous '83 on CBS, Roosevelt & Ira Lee c.'84 on Astan. |