That VOICE, Though (R.I.P. Tony Joe White)
I do not have a story about Tony Joe White. I don’t know that much about him, truth be told.
I did not meet him during my years as a rock crit at the Chicago Sun Times or any time after. I did correspond briefly with a family member after purchasing one of his last CDs, because I was so moved by some things he said during the Nashville episode of Dave Grohl’s HBO series, Sonic Highways.
Around 2:05 of this clip, Tony Joe, who passed away today, gives young musicians, and all of us, a life lesson worth remembering.
Let me transcribe that for you, in case you’d like to post those words somewhere:
“If you got something in your heart, put it out. Cause nobody on this whole planet has wrote those words or played that lick before. No matter if it’s bad or good, or sells or don’t sell, you wrote it…write what’s in your heart…”
Now, most people don’t know anything about Tony Joe White but “Polk Salad Annie.” In fact, most people don’t even know what polk salad is .
But my mother did, because she grew up on it down in Como, Mississippi. And when she heard that song, she was absolutely delighted that there was someone else who’d grown up on it, too.
She also thought Tony Joe was Black like us. As did many. But Mama’d fallen so hard for that honey drippin’ drawl that she didn’t care what color he was. She even liked just listening to him talk, like here:
I mean, that voice, though, right?
But mostly, I loved to hear him croon. “Rainy Night in Georgia,” which many people don’t realize he wrote, may be my favorite. This haunting recording of it is the one I love most.
And he was apparently still jammin’ right up to the very end, since this was recorded on September 27 of this very year. See Paste Magazine for the entire session. The old man rocks the house. Like always.
He was huge in Europe. Not so much in his own country. Happens. To some of our best musicians, actually. It’s our loss.
But he didn’t worry much about being “huge,” though. Just loved writing from the heart, like he said.
If this little taste makes you want more, I can’t think of a better tribute to him than for you to go over to YouTube and explore a while. Or go to his site and buy some music.
And Mama, just a heads up: the man with the honey drippin’ drawl is on his way up there where you are. Behave yourself, woman…
