Tag: Tony Joe White

Our Favorite Podcasts of 2018

 in Americana Music, Podcast

It’s been a fun and rewarding year on the Americana Music News Podcast, featuring visits with some of the most vibrant artists in the field. Here are the five we’ll remember particularly fondly:

Tony Joe White – We were honored to speak with Tony Joe White about his new album Bad Mouthin’ at the Americana Music Festival. Sadly, he passed away weeks later. A great artist.

Kathy Mattea – We talked with Kathy Mattea at WMOT’s Americana Music Festival stage event in September about her new album Pretty Bird and her work to regain use of her singing voice.

Will Hoge – We also connected with Will Hoge at the WMOT event. His My American Dream is a powerful and passionate statement about today’s world.

Raul Malo – We kicked off the year with this entertaining conversation with Raul Malo of the Mavericks on the Sandy Beaches Cruise.

Mary Gauthier – Rifles and Rosary Beads features songs written by Mary Gauthier with veterans and their families, Moving and illuminating.

 

 

RIP Tony Joe White

 in Americana Music

Tony Joe WhiteWe learned hours ago that Tony Joe White had passed away. It was just weeks ago that we had the chance to sit down with him and discuss his new album “Bad Mouthin'” We’ve admired Tony Joe for decades, and he lived up to all expectations in both the interview and a brief set later high atop the BMI headquarters in Nashville. A classy and talented man.

Here’s our conversation. 

Show 26: Tony Joe White’s “Bad Mouthin'”

 in Americana Music, Americana Music Festival, Podcast
Tony Joe White

Tony Joe White discusses his new album at BMI in Nashville.

We were a little puzzled when we heard some describe Tony Joe White’s new release as a “blues album.” What Tony Joe White record isn’t a blues album?

Since emerging in 1969 by recording “Polk Salad Annie” and writing the brilliant “Rainy Night in Georgia,” a hit in the hands of Brook Benton in 1970. White has turned out decades of soulful and bluesy recordings, all stamped with his signature sound.

Yet “Bad Mouthin'” is indeed a return to his roots. It’s stripped down and simple, distilling Tony Joe’s  music to its essence. The title cut is also vintage, a long lost song from the very beginning of his songwriting efforts.

Tony Joe White explains how it all came about in this edition of the Americana Music News podcast.

 

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Tony Joe White: Complete Warner Bros. Recordings

 in New releases

Tony Joe WhiteBy Ken Paulson

Tony Joe White will always be associated with his swamp-rock hit “Polk Salad Annie,” but a new collection from Real Gone Music reveals an artist of greater depth and breadth.

The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings includes 40 tracks released between 1972 and 1974, including three albums and six songs issued on singles. White had enjoyed his greatest commercial success on Monument Records, and these recordings were largely overlooked and underappreciated.

You can’t say Warner Bros. didn’t try. They paired him with some of the hottest producers of the era and sent him to three iconic music towns to record.

Tony Joe White was produced by Peter Asher in Memphis in 1970. It’s a mixed outing, with “Polk Salad derivatives (“They Caught the Devil and Put Him in Jail in Eudora, Arkansas”) and the autobiographical “A Night in the Life of the Swamp Fox.”

“The Change” could have used one more draft. The drawled narrative: “It’s about a time of the year we call the fall.”

The gem here is “The Daddy,” a message to a teen-aged girl about finding an understanding with her father.

The Train I’m On found White in Muscle Shoals working with Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd. “Take Time to Love,” written with Donnie Fritts, reminds of us of White’s way with a ballad, exemplified by his earlier “Rainy Night in Georgia.” The album also features “I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby,” a Top 40 hit in Elvis Presley’s hands in 1974.

Another Presley single – “For ‘Ol’ Times Sake” – is a highlight of Homemade Ice Cream, a 1973 album recorded with Dowd in Nashville. It’s the most satisfying of the three albums, with a laid-back feel and a fine collection of songs.

White continues to tour and record, a testament to his enduring talents as both a performer and songwriter. The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings is compelling evidence of both.