Tony Joe White - The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (2-CD Set)

Format: 2 x CD
Catalogue No.: RLGM4003292PMI
Barcode: 848064003298
Release Date: 01 Oct 2021
Genre: Rock / Pop

The late, great, Louisiana-born Tony Joe White first gained fame mainly through his songwriting; 1969’s “Polk Salad Annie” was his only Top Ten hit, but artists such as Dusty Springfield (“Willie and Laura Mae Jones”), Brook Benton (“Rainy Night in Georgia”) and Elvis Presley (“For Ol’ Times Sake”; “I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby”) took his songs to the charts. But White was always been a singular performer in his own right; the honeyed burr of his baritone, his alternately tough and tender vocal delivery and liberal use of his “whomper stomper” wah-wah pedal lend him a completely distinctive sound. Simply put, nobody, but nobody, sounds like Tony Joe White, and on this 2-CD collection, we’ve rounded up all three of the classic albums he recorded for Warner Bros. in the early ‘70s—all of which are out of print and costing a mint online—plus non-LP singles to create The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings. Recorded in Memphis (partly at Ardent Studios of Big Star fame), 1971’s Tony Joe White paired him with producer Peter Asher (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt) and shifted the focus slightly from the fuzz-drenched swamp rock of White’s Monument recordings to a more introspective style, though “They Caught the Devil and Put Him in Jail in Eudora, Arkansas” and “My Kind of Woman” could blow the doors off any roadhouse south of the Mason-Dixon line. White’s next album, 1972’s The Train I’m On, continued this gentler, more vulnerable style to great effect; produced by the legendary team of Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd, with the mighty Muscle Shoals sessioneers in support, Train’s set of songs tackled complex themes of dislocation, alienation and loss with a blend of blues, soul and folk highlighted by some beautiful acoustic guitar work by White and Tippy Armstrong.

It’s a masterpiece. And 1973’s Homemade Ice Cream might be even better; White’s original version of “For Ol’ Times Sake” is just devastating, and “I Want Love (‘Tween You and Me),” “Taking the Midnight Train” and the title track are every bit as good. Co-producer Tom Dowd and a crack band of guitarist Reggie Young, bassist Norbert Putnam, drummer Kenny Malone and keyboardist David Briggs catch every nuance of these deceptively simple songs. Real Gone’s presentation of this essential material features liner notes by Ben Edmonds with quotes from Tony Joe White himself. Not to be missed.

TRACKS
CD One
Tony Joe White
1. They Caught the Devil and Put Him in
Jail in Eudora, Arkansas
2. The Change
3. My Kind of Woman
4. The Daddy
5. Black Panther Swamps
6. Five Summers for Jimmy
7. A Night in the Life of a Swamp Fox
8. Traveling Bone
9. I Just Walked Away
10. Copper Kettle
11. Voodoo Village
Singles
12. Lustful Earl and the Married Woman
13. Delta Love
14. That on the Road Look
The Train I’m On
15. I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby
16. The Family
17. If I Ever Saw a Good Thing
18. Beouf River Road
19. The Train I’m On
20. Even Trolls Love Rock and Roll
CD Two
The Train I’m On (cont.)
1. As the Crow Flies
2. Take Time to Love
3. 300 Pounds of Hongry
4. The Migrant
5. Sidewalk Hobo
6. The Gospel Singer
Homemade Ice Cream
7. Saturday Night in Oak Grove Louisiana
8. For Ol’ Times Sake
9. I Want Love (‘Tween You and Me)
10. Homemade Ice Cream
11. Ol’ Mother Earth
12. Lazy
13. California on My Mind
14. Backwoods Preacher Man
15. Takin’ the Midnight Train
16. No News Is Good News
17. Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You
Singles
18. Sign of the Lion
19. Don’t Let the Door (Hit You in the Butt)
20. Wishful Thinking