Tony Joe was already 26 when he started recording, so perhaps that
explains his style was already fully formed from the beginning onwards
and that he had already written a bunch of material. He’d release 5
studio in four years and Tony Joe – his third and last album for
Monument – was also a third effort in less than two years. With a pace
like that, things didn’t change that strikingly: the recognizable swamp
sound is still intact, even though there are perhaps a bit more acoustic
songs, but the fact that four of the last five songs on the album were
covers perhaps signalled that the pace was getting the best of him.
Anyway, those who liked …Continued will dig Tony Joe as well. Overall
the sound is perhaps a bit gruffer and there are not as many ballads,
while there are several more similarities. Like the second album, Tony
Joe starts off with a "primal” stomper, a soulful slice of folklore
that’s pure grits and sweat. During songs like these, White sounds as if
he’s from an unspecified era and a region where time stood still,
modern times never really had much of an impact, and media are replaced
by folk tales and a stronger bond between a man and his soil. His
earliest albums all share this natural plainness and authenticity that
never sounds contrived. Op top of that, White also knows how to tell a
story, as "High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish” and "Widow Wimberly”
perfectly fit in some rural narrative tradition. Both songs are
basically also the same merger of acoustic swamp-rock with some
pop-flourishes (strings, basically), but it’s the lyrical details in the
songs (the "voluptuousness” of the sheriff’s daughter in the former and
the pitiable widow in the latter ("how do you still manage to smile?”)
that make ‘em so nice to listen to. After these cuts, the album picks up
the drive again, first with the driven "Groupy Girl,” a wonderful song
that combines the tough and laidback side to White to great effect, and
then with the less interesting drone "Conjure Woman,” which has a
particularly flimsy chorus. I presume that the poppy "Save Your Sugar
for Me” was the last song on the original
A-side, so that means the second half contained five songs, "Stockholm
Blues” being the only self-penned track. It’s an excellent one – a
convincingly raw, Delta blues that features nothing but acoustic guitar,
harmonica and a foot stomping on the floor, so it’s not much of a
surprise that it’s followed by a romp through John Lee Hooker’s "Boom
Boom,” and a greasy as hell version at that. The way it starts, with
White playing the distorted riff once and then asking the producer
"Could you dig this, Swan?” always cracks me up. White isn’t
particularly creative with it – it’s not that it wasn’t a repetitive
dirge to begin with in the first place – but of course it sounds right
at home on an album by this guy. The other covers are fine as well,
though Otis Redding’s "Hard to Handle” is the only standout track, as
the songs exactly requires the grittiness and pure soul that White
possesses. Like I said, the others aren’t that great, but "What Does It
Take” (later also covered by Santana), with that wailing harmonica, is
the kind of stuff (a combination of pop, soul, schmalz and country) that
would’ve fit perfectly on, say, the soundtrack to Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid. "My Friend,” finally, is the only real ballad here, a
string-laden tearjerker featuring some moderately yelped vocals and some
nice piano parts by David Briggs. Tony Joe doesn’t mark a stylistic
shift from …Continued, as White probably still felt comfortable churning
out muddy swamp drones, alternated with more pop-oriented stuff. He’d
move on to a slightly different sound later on, but this is what he’s
become most "famous” (well, only "Polk Salad Annie” cracked the charts I
think) for. So, nothing really remarkable, certainly if you’re mainly
intrigued by today’s self-conscious meta-music, but occasionally
irresistible.
Produced by Tony Joe White and Billy Swan
ecorded at RCA Victor Studios, Nashville / Lyn-Lou Studios, Memphis 1970
Personnel: David Briggs (keyboards) Jerry Carrigan (drums) Norbert Putman (bass) Tony Joe White (guitar, vocals, harmonica) + Sammy Creason (drums on 04. + 05.) Tommy McClure (bass on 04.) Mike Utley (keyboards on 04. + 05.)
Tracklist:
01. Stud-Spider (White) 5.36
02. High Sherrif Of Calhoun Parrish
03. Widow Wimberly (White) 3.41
04. Conjure Woman (White) 3.59
05. Save Your Sugar For Me (White) 2.20
06. Groupy Girl (White) 3.04
07. Hard To Handle (Isbell/Jones/Redding) 2.52
08. What Does It Take (White) 3.40
09. My Friend (Fritts/Oldham) 3.09
10. Stockholm Blues (White) 3.27
11. Boom Boom (Hooker) 7.56
the drive again, first with the driven "Groupy Girl,” a wonderful song
that combines the tough and laidback side to White to great effect, and
then with the less interesting drone "Conjure Woman,” which has a
particularly flimsy chorus. I presume that the poppy "Save Your Sugar
for Me” was the last song on the original 
