A quiet man of country blues who penned the classic sing-alongs 'Polk Salad Annie' and 'Rainy Night in Georgia', Tony Joe White has been a well-respected songwriter for more than 50 years and has had his tracks performed by Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield and Elvis Presley.

Raised on a cotton farm in Louisiana, White fell in love with the blues of Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker from an early age but changed his outlook on songwriting when he heard Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billie Joe' and started penning more personal, real-life stories. He first found fame in France with his 1969 hit 'Soul Francisco', but it was 'Polk Salad Annie' - a bluesy ballad about a poor Southern girl - which made his reputation in the US, reaching number eight on the Billboard charts and becoming a favourite of Elvis' live shows.

White's mix of rockabilly, blues, country and Cajun came alive on his acclaimed album 'Black & White' (1969), but his authentic Americana voice was more appreciated in Europe and Australia thanks to the swampy rock sounds of later records 'The Train I'm On' (1972), 'Homemade Ice Cream' (1973) and 'Dangerous' (1983). He played on Jerry Lee Lewis' record 'Southern Roots' (1973) and toured with Sly & The Family Stone, Booker T. and The M.G.'s and Eric Clapton in the 1980s, before making a comeback in the 1990s when he wrote Tina Turner's hit 'Steamy Windows' and landed a deal with Polydor. Continuing to tour regularly, he released 'Heroines', an album of duets, with Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and Shelby Lynne, in 2001 and returned to his roots with a set of dark, Southern boogies on 'Hoodoo' in 2013. In 2016 White released 'Rain Crow' with the lead single 'Hoochie Woman' which he co-wrote with his wife Leann.

In September 2018 he released 'Bad Mouthin'', an album of blues standards and self-penned tracks. Just a month later, White passed away after suffering a heart attack at the age of 75.

Tony Joe White

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