Tony Joe White

Tony Joe White was born in Louisiana in 1943. He grew up hearing the blues of the Mississippi Delta, and that sound stayed with him. In 1969, he released "Polk Salad Annie," a song about a woman in the rural South that became his best-known work. Its swampy groove and vivid storytelling felt like a direct transmission from the place he came from.

He wrote "Rainy Night In Georgia," which became a hit for Brook Benton, and kept recording through the 1970s and 1980s. Albums like "Homemade Ice Cream" and "The Train I'm On" had a loose, atmospheric feel. He played guitar with a slow, deliberate touch and sang in a low, conversational drawl that made even his lighter songs, like "I Want To Be With You," carry some weight.

White worked with musicians like drummer Jerry Carrigan and bassist David Hood, but his sound was always his own. He wasn't much for chasing trends. Later songs, such as "Always The Song," kept to that same grounded, bluesy lane. He died in 2018, leaving behind a catalog that feels less like a series of hits and more like a consistent, humid mood.