Tony Joe White – The Heroines

Tony Joe White’s brand of measured, southern country-soul was already something of an anachronism in 1969, when his breakout hit “Polk Salad Annie” splashed some tall-tale hickster funk on the Aquarian Age.

The following year, Brook Benton’s deathless (if barely altered) rendition of White’s “Rainy Night In Georgia” became an instant, enduring classic. But despite having his tunes covered by the likes of Elvis, Ray Charles, Etta James, Dusty Springfield, Charlie Rich, Isaac Hayes, Hank Jr. and Tina Turner, Tony Joe has not charted a significant hit in his own name since “Polk Salad”.

Three and a half decades and a dozen or so studio albums later, this incredible bayou booglarizer continues to bring it and sling it the old-fashioned way, relying on his intimate baritone rumble, serpentine guitar lines, blackwater harmonica, and deep-cut grooves to deliver his earthy, down-home musings.

White has generally found a better reception in Europe over the years, and he’s cut a few small-scale live and studio discs for various boutique labels. The Heroines marks his best stateside release since his career-peak album One Hot July. Incredibly, that masterpiece was caught in the snarl of not one, but two Polygram takeovers; a scheduled 1998 rollout on the Tupelo imprint was finally plopped on the racks with shameful indifference on the Hip-O label a year and a half later.

The Heroines finds Tony Joe still applying swampy heat ‘n’ humidity to an inimitable stewpot of original tunes. Stellar duets with Shelby Lynne, Lucinda Williams, daughter Michelle White, Emmylou Harris and Jessi Colter dress up the package, and each is wonderful. But the star is the vehicle, and the gals are merely eye/ear candy to draw attention to this ultra-cool, low-slung Cadillac of a man.