THIS WEEK ON UNDERRATED: TONY JOE WHITE

   Let's talk the blues. How else you would call it when an amazing blues musician goes by largely unnoticed yet his songs are becoming hits when covered by other artists?

   Blues and swamp rock icon Tony Joe White was the youngest child born in a cotton farm down in Louisiana. A gifted songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with a sensual, bass baritone voice, he started performing music in his school dances. In his early twenties he signed with Monument records and released a number of singles with producer Billy Swan, which did not attract much attention in his home country; however one of them became a success all the way across the Atlantic in France. Becoming a minor success, he got to tour Europe with big names including Steppenwolf, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and many other major rock acta of the time. His greatest hit, "Polk Salad Annie", did not attract any attention during the first few months of its release printing his record company to write it off a failure, but eventually in summer '69 it entered the charts and eventually reached  no.8. Most famously, it has been covered by Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, and Joe Dassin , with whom White would go on to collaborate in the 80s.

   White also took part in a rock opera in the early 70s, composing nine and performing live four songs in Catch my Soul, an adaptation of Shakespearean Othello. During the same year, he was recruited to take part in Jerry Lee Lewis' Southern Roots album recordings. The next decade did not start off so well unfortunately. Hopping from one record company to the next, trying to marry his own swamp rock music style with the more commercial disco style, his three 80s albums completely flopped, printing him to drop his own endeavours and focus instead on song writing for others, working with Joe Dassin for his "Home Made Ice Cream" and "Blue Country" albums. During that time, Tina Turner's producer Mark Knopfler, a friend of White's, recruited him to write two songs for her, namely "Undercover Angent for the Blues" and "Steamy Windows", both of which became major hits in 1989. Turner's manager, seeing his potential, decided to take him on, which resulted in a new contract for White with Polydor, leading to the release of his 1991 comeback album "Closer to the Truth" which put him under the spotlight. Two more albums followed under that contact, the latter of which, "Lake Placid Blues", was co-produced by Roger Davis. Under his new found success, he toured in Europe with Joe Cocker and Eric Clapton, played the Montreux Festival, and, in the mid-90s, wrote another hit to Tina Turner, "On Silent Wings".

   The 00s saw White receiving some of the mainstream recognition that has been eluding him all these years, being signed by major labels, releasing one album upon another, being featured in the Legends Rock TV show, performing duets with upcoming and famous artists, writing more hit songs for others, releasing live albums and collaborating with major names, including his friend Mark Knopfler, JJ Cale, Eric Clapton,  as well as opening for Roger Waters' Dark Side of the Moon in France.

   White's success continued to thrive well into the current decade. One of his songs from his 1969 album, "Elements and Things", featured prominently in an HBO series, he released another album in 2013, which extracted triumphant  reviews, and went on to play with Foo Fighters in the Late Show with David Letterman show. The host himself was enamoured by his performance, and how could he not be after all!

   Another album was released in 2016, whose leading track was cowritten with his wife Leane, and in September 2018 saw the release of his last recorded album "Bad Mouthin' ", which was produced by his son Jody and features an Elvis Presley cover among other songs. He died a month later, on October 24th in his own home, aged 75, from a heart attack.

   Swamp rock is quite a niche musical style that not many people know of outside of its home in the southern United States or cultural hubs in Europe. Combining a laid back rock attitude and heartfelt blues, it touched the soul of anyone who hears it, and Tony Joe White was undeniably the kind of the swamp. With his unique songwriting abilities and deep, sensual voice, he captivates the mind and heart of his listeners, and provides the perfect soundtrack to a laid back afternoon or, even better, a romantic dim-lit evening with your significant other. Do yourself a favour and don't miss out checking out his music, for if you do, you will be doing yourself a great misservice.