Black and White

by Tony Joe White

Overview

When "Polk Salad Annie" blared from transistor radio speakers in the summer of 1969, the first thought was of Creedence Clearwater Revival, for Tony Joe White's swamp rock bore more than a passing resemblance to the sound John Fogerty whipped up on Bayou Country and Green River. But White was the real thing -- he really was from the bayou country of Louisiana, while Fogerty's bayou country was conjured up in Berkeley, CA. Plus, White had a mellow baritone voice that sounded like it had been dredged up from the bottom of the Delta. Besides "Annie," side one of this album includes several other White originals. The best of these are "Willie and Laura Mae Jones," a song about race relations with an arrangement similar to "Ballad of Billie Joe," and "Soul Francisco," a short piece of funky fluff that had been a big hit in Europe in 1968. "Aspen, Colorado" presages the later "Rainy Night in Georgia," a White composition popularized by Brook Benton. The second side consists of covers of contemporary hits, with the funky "Who's Making Love" and "Scratch My Back" faring better than the slow stuff. Dusty Springfield had a minor hit with "Willie and Laura Mae Jones," and White's songs were recorded by other performers through the years, but "Polk Salad Annie" and the gators that got her granny provided his only march in the American hit parade. ~ Jim Newsom

Product Details

Release Date:	09/24/2021
Label:	France
UPC:	0181141813329
Rank:	84078

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Willie and Laura Mae Jones
2. Soul Francisco
3. Aspen Colorado
4. Whompt Out on You
5. Don't Steal My Love
6. Polk Salad Annie
7. Who's Making Love
8. Scratch My Back
9. Little Green Apples
10. Wichita Lineman
11. Look of Love
12. Elements and Things
13. Roosevelt and Ira Lee
14. Woodpecker
15. Rainy Night in Georgia
16. For Le Ann
17. Old Man Willis
18. Woman With Soul
19. I Want You
20. I Thought I Knew You Well
21. The Migrant
22. Stud-Spider

Disc 2

23. High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish
24. Widow Wimberly
25. Conjure Woman
26. Save Your Sugar for Me
27. Hard to Handle
28. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)
29. My Friend
30. Stockholm Blues
31. Boom Boom
32. They Caught the Devil and Put Him in Jail in Eudora, Arkansas
33. The Change
34. My Kind of Woman
35. The Daddy
36. Black Panther Swamps
37. Five Summers for Jimmy
38. A Night in the Life of a Swamp Fox
39. Traveling Bone
40. I Just Walked Away
41. Copper Kettle
42. Voodoo Village

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tony Joe White   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica
Jerry Carrigan   Drums
David Briggs   Organ,Piano,Keyboards,Organ,Piano
Jim Isbell   Drums
Chip Young   Guitar
Norbert Putnam   Bass

Technical Credits

Hal David   Composer
Lee Herschberg   Digital Mastering,Digital Remastering
Raymond Jackson   Composer
Donald Davis   Composer
Ken Kim   Photography,Art Direction
Cam Mullins   Arranger
Bobby Weiss   Liner Notes
John Adkins   Composer
Bettye Crutcher   Composer
Bergen White   Arranger
Bobby Russell   Composer
Jimmy Webb   Composer
Don Davis   Composer
Homer Banks   Composer
Ray Stevens   Producer
Al Pachucki   Engineer
Buddy Buie   Composer
Burt Bacharach   Composer
Tony Joe White   Composer
Billy Swan   Producer
James Moore   Composer