Tony Joe White, the legendary songwriter known for penning songs recorded by (or with) Elvis Presley (“Polk Salad Annie”), Brook Benton (“Rainy Night in Georgia”), Dusty Springfield (“Willie and Laura Mae Jones”), Eric Clapton (“Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You”), Tina Turner (“Steamy Windows”), Willie Nelson (“God’s Problem Child”), and many more, died on Wednesday, October 24, at his home in Leiper’s Fork, Tenn. White, 75, died of a heart attack.
The [Nashville] Tennessean, reporting the news on Oct. 25, quotes his son, Jody White: “He wasn’t ill at all. He just had a heart attack…there was no pain or suffering.”
White’s own Facebook page, also acknowledged his death: “We are with broken hearts to announce that Tony Joe White has passed away at the age of 75. A true legend that will always be remembered as a real artist.”
White’s version of “Polk Salad Annie” reached #8 on the Hot 100 in 1969.
The songwriter had just released a new, blues-based album, Bad Mouthin’, on September 28 for Yep Roc Records, described as a “blend of classics and five White originals.”
In describing the album, White said: “When and where I grew up, blues was just about the only music I heard and truly loved. I’ve always thought of myself as a blues musician, bottom line, because the blues is real, and I like to keep everything I do as real as it gets. So, I thought it was time to make a blues record that sounds the way I always loved the music.”
In 1970, Benton’s version of “Rainy Night in Georgia” topped the R&B chart and reached #4 on the Hot 100.
White, was born in 1943 as the youngest of seven children on a cotton farm about 20 miles from the nearest town, Oak Grove, Louisiana, and said the foundation of his music “comes from hearing blues singers play guitar with maybe just a harmonica or stomping their feet for accompaniment.” Adding a drummer, he cut his teeth playing school dances and then moved on to nightclubs along the Texas and Louisiana “crawfish circuit” of rough and tumble watering holes. And then the hits started happening, with “Polk Salad Annie” reaching #8 on the pop charts in 1968. Two years later, Brook Benton’s recording of “Rainy Night in Georgia” topped the soul charts. Decades of touring and recording marked by hit songs and collaborations followed, with the likes of classic rock legends Eric Clapton, Jerry Lee Lewis and Mark Knopfler.
Tony Joe White, of ‘Polk Salad Annie’ Fame, Dead at 75
Interesting song title. I looked it up and apparently it's referring to a "poke sallet" -- a cooked greens dish made from pokeweed -- all that poor Annie and her family could afford to eat.
The record company labeled the song "Polk Salad Annie". Which makes absolutely no sense.
