CD-album

Tony Joe WhiteThe Beginning

By his own admission, he's a lone wolf, a swamp fox, a gator - a dark and blues drenched anomaly in the music world that likes to put its artists in nice, neat little boxes.

But Tony Joe White, the superstar singer/songwriter who rose howling out of the swamplands of Louisiana into the national spotlight with his classic "Polk Salad Anniein 1969, will never fit into any music industry box. Forty years later he's still doing what he's always done: creating soul-flavored, blues drenched, truth-injected songs about swamp characters and reflective soul-tinged ballads about life, love, hard times and rain. Always the rain.

"When I look back now, I guess it was pretty different to be doing what I was doing and sounding like I was sounding," says Tony Joe White. "I haven't changed a whole lot. I'm like a lone wolf out there. I just play my guitar and don't worry about it. They still don't know if I'm black or white, country or rock."

Tony Joe White was born on July 23, 1943. He was one of seven children raised on a cotton farm near the small town of Oak Grove, Louisiana. Situatedjust west of the Mississippi River, it's a land of cotton fields, where polk salad grows wild and alligators lurk in moss covered swamps.

"I spent the first 18 years of my life down there, my folks raised cotton and corn," remembers White. "There were lots of times when there wasn't too much to eat, and I ain't ashamed to admit that we've often whipped up a moss of polk salad. Tastes alright, too....a bit like spinach."

As a child he listened not only to local bluesmen and country singers but also to the hopped up Cajun music of Louisiana, that rare hybrid of traditional musical styles introduced by French settlers at the start of the 19th century.

Inspired by the examples of John Lee Hooker and Elvis Presley, Tony Joe began performing at school dances. After graduation it was on to nightclubs in Louisiana and Texas. He eventually formed his own band, made his way to Nashville and recorded three albums for Monument Records, with the then unknown Billy Swan as his producer.

"Polk Salad Annie," a Top 10 hit in 1969 was followed by Brook Benton's soulful rendition of Tony Joe's timeless classic, "Rainy Night In Georgia" in 1970. Throughout the '70s, Tony Joe toured with some of the biggest artists of the decade including Creedence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor.

In the 1980s he focused on songwriting, starting his own label and publishing companies. The '90s began with an explosion of activity as Tina Turner recorded four of his songs, including the worldwide hit "Steamy Windows" on her multi-platinum "Foreign Affiairs" album for which Tony Joe produced the track.

"'The Beginning' is the album that my fans in Australia, Europe and the U.S. have been asking me to do for 25 years," says White. 'It's just me and my guitar and my harmonica and my foot. This is the way I started out playing all those years ago, and it's the way I perform now."

ARTIST: Tony Joe White
ALBUM TITLE: The Beginning
RECORD#: 8139
UK STREET DATE: 29/09/01

1) Rich Woman Blues
(Tony Joe White)
Tony Joe White Music, Controlled and Administered by Screen Glems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI)

2) Raining On My Life
(Tony Joe White)
Tony Joe White Music, Controlled and Administered by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI)

3) Ice Cream Man
(Tony Joe White, Leann White)
EMI Blackwood Music Inc./Tony Joe White Music (BMI) and Wolf Woman Songs (BMI)
(All Rights for Tony Joe White Music Controlled and Administered by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.)

4) Going Back To Bed
(Tony Joe White)
EMI Blackwood Music Inc./Tony Joe White Music (BMI)
(All Rights Controlled and Administered by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.)

5) Drifter
(Tony Joe White)
Tony Joe White Music, Controlled and Administered by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI)

6) More To This Than That
(Tony Joe White)
EMI Blackwood Music Inc./Tony Joe White Music (BMI)
(All Rights Controlled and Administered by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.)

7) Down By The Border
(Tony Joe White)
Tennessee Swamp Fox Music, Controlled and Administered by ENH April Music Inc. (ASCAP)

8) Wonder Why I Feel So Bad
(Tony Joe White, Leann White)
EMI Blackwood Music Inc.1Tony Joe White Music (BMI) aild Wolf Woman Songs (BMI)
(All Rights for Tony Joe White Music Controlled and Administered by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.)

9) Clovis Green
(Tony Joe White)
Tony Joe White Music, Controlled and Administered by Screen Gems-EM1 Music Inc. (BMI)

10) Rebellion
(Tony Joe White)
Tony Joe White Music, Controlled and Administered by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI)

11) Who You Gonna Hoo Doo Now
(Tony Joe White)
EMI Blackwood Music Inc./Tony Joe White Music (BMI)
(All Rights Controlled and Administered by ENH Blackwood Music Inc.)

Vocals, guitar, harmonica, and foot: Tony Joe White
Mixing: Tony Joe White and Chet Hinesley
Mastering: Chet Hinesley
Artwork and Photography: Leann White
Art Direction and design: Jody White
Management: Roger Davies for RDWM Inc. Los Angeles/London

Tony Joe White - The Beginning

This album has been with me for most of my life. Through the years, people have always asked if I would ever do it. It is now finished. I started in early fall and finished in late winter. I left 3 microphones plugged up in the studio in the old house with the high ceilings and wooden floors. And, the guitar and harmonicas were always close at hand. I would go for long periods of time without touching either and then some days the feeling would be right and I would sit down and let the music out. This is all the freedom I could ever hope for.

KOCH International, 2001.