Tag: Tony Joe White

MIXTAPE: Thomas Csorba’s Songs for the Morning

Posted on by Editor

During COVID, I rediscovered my love for waking up, drinking coffee, and listening to the right music in the mornings. This is a playlist for some of my favorite songs to compliment the most sacred time of the day. — Thomas Csorba

JJ Cale – “Cherry”

This is one of my favorite vibes not just of JJ Cale, but of music in general. He finds his groove and stays put. Why fix it if it ain’t broke?

Michael Hurley – “Lush Green Trees”

I’ve been a big fan of this Michael Hurley record for a little while, and it seems that some of the deep cuts strike me differently on the 100th listen. This is one of those songs — a beautiful, simple song with an earnest spirit to it.

Elizabeth Cotten – “Goin’ Down The Road Feelin Bad”

Elizabeth Cotten is one of those artists who I fell in love with at a pretty young age (thanks to a well-informed older brother). Her voice may not be everyone’s taste, but her singing and playing seem to really shine as the sun is just starting to rise.

Yusuf / Cat Stevens – “Father and Son”

This song has a really special place in my heart because it reminds me of my grandfather and his story as a refugee from Hungary in the ‘50s. It’s a wild picture of a conversation between a father and a son in that situation. This song got me thinking about writing my new song “For You” and pairs really nicely with a front porch morning.

Jerry Garcia, David Grisman – “The Thrill is Gone”

Sometimes I’ll wake up in the morning and listen to this record all the way through. Hearing some of these old songs in a new light has really unlocked something for me. This song in particular has a great vibe to it that really draws you in.

Anaïs Mitchell – “Tailor”

I’m obsessed with Anaïs Mitchell. Plain and simple. Her vocal delivery of these lines, and the lyric congruency throughout the song is as good as it gets.

Willis Alan Ramsey – “Muskrat Love (Muskrat Candlelight)”

Name me a sexier song about rodents — I bet you can’t! This song has the perfect cocktail of interesting lyrics and sonic vibe. The vocals are killer and the chord change right after the chorus just make me so happy.

Gillian Welch – “Winter’s Come and Gone”

This is a deep cut from Gillian’s catalog, but I think it’s one of my favorites. There’s a great quick minor 6 chord change that echoes some old-time songs that I love. It’s my favorite Gillian song to drink coffee to.

Big Bill Broonzy – “Glory of Love”

There’s a soft spot in my heart for Big Bill Broonzy. This song has been cut by a bunch of folks, but Big Bill’s version is by far my favorite. Love that he doesn’t start singing until the minute-thirty mark in the song. Effortless vibe and energy here from Big Bill.

Tony Joe White – “Little Green Apples”

I first heard this version of this song from a buddy this past year and I think it’ll end up being one of my most-played songs of the year. Tony Joe’s delivery of these lyrics helps paint the best scene in these verses. I’ll be holding on to this recording for a very, very long time.

Roger Miller – “Where Have all the Average People Gone”

I love Roger Miller’s voice in the morning. There’s something nostalgic to me about it. There’s no song that speaks to me more in this political and social climate than this one. Perhaps, even though we look at things differently, we can be kind to each other.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/74b3fjg7bYPtXRoNK762OY?si=6e3546a3381444dc

Photo credit: Austin Leih

Harmonics with Beth Behrs: Time for Some Music Recommendations

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Let’s face it: times are pretty dark right now — but what else is new? Harmonics was born out of a love for music and its healing powers, and we are once again turning towards art to pull us through. Today, Beth is joined by Amy Reitnouer Jacobs — our very own BGS co-founder and executive producer of Harmonics — who shares with us the fruits of her curatorial labor in the form of her top albums getting her through the summer: from heart-wrenching yet uplifting folk songs by Allison Russell, to the vibey, Don Henley-esque sounds of John Mayer’s recent release, on through to ’70s Japanese pop, and stopping everywhere in between.

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Allison Russell – Outside Child

BGS readers will be familiar with this first pick. We’ve long sang the praises of Allison Russell (she was our Artist of the Month for May of this year) and when asked their favorite albums of the year, essentially every member of the BGS team chose her solo debut Outside Child. This is a very special record — for so many reasons — that you do not want to miss. And your listening experience will only be enhanced by learning the context in which it was written. Russell shared her painful story with us back in Season 1 of Harmonics, then came back and breathed uplifting hope into that story through the beautiful music of Outside Child.

Dante Elephante – Mid-Century Modern Romance

This album has been Amy’s weekend soundtrack for some time now. Throw this record on first-thing Saturday morning, and you, too, will be grooving, coffee in hand, in no time.

Tony Joe White – Smoke from the Chimney

This posthumous album from Tony Joe White features vocals from acoustic demos the roots legend recorded shortly before his passing, brought to their full potential through the lush arrangements and editing magic of Dan Auerbach.

Valerie June – The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers

Fall into the weird and wonderful world of Valerie June through the intricately layered yet completely raw and vulnerable musical journey of her latest album. Don’t try to define this album — just allow yourself to get wrapped up in whatever it is.

John Mayer – Sob Rock

While Amy has admittedly not dug into any John Mayer album since his 2001 debut Room for Squares, her love for the newly coined “Bistro Vibes” aesthetic (read into this y’all, and just trust us…) has led her to Mayer’s latest summer release: a more-than-likely pandemic-fueled nostalgic nod to the sounds of the ’80s a la Don Henley, Dire Straits, Steve Winwood, and Phil Collins, paired with songwriting that taps into the isolation and despair we’ve felt for the past year and a half.

Yellow Magic Orchestra – Yellow Magic Orchestra

The experimental nature and endlessly chill vibes of Japanese pop of the ’70s and ’80s make for the perfect summer soundtrack, and the traceable influence on today’s indie music is fascinating. Bonus points if you can listen on vinyl, as the depths of these recordings are all the more rewarding and delicious in this format.

Sara Watkins – Under the Pepper Tree

While the beautiful Under the Pepper Tree — a collection of lovely lullabies, both original and classic favorites — was recorded and released for Watkins’ small daughter, we, as adults, have been unable to take it off of repeat since its March release. While some may laugh at the idea of being so enamored with a “children’s record,” we dare them to experience the comfort of Watkins’ magical collection — especially amidst the tumultuous year we’ve had — and not fall in love. She pulls out what is so beautiful and lasting about these songs, and what makes us connect with and feel through them.

Listen and subscribe to Harmonics through all podcast platforms and follow Harmonics and Beth Behrs on Instagram for series updates!

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 208

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Welcome to the BGS Radio Hour! Since 2017, this weekly radio show and podcast has been a recap of all the great music, new and old, featured on the digital pages of BGS. This week, we bring you new music from both our Artist of the Month, Allison Russell, off of her brand new album Outside Child, and from the late Tony Joe White, too — plus much more! Remember to check back every week for a new episode of the BGS Radio Hour.

APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY

Maia Sharp – “Things to Fix”

Moving across the country is stressful enough on its own. At the end of a 21-year marriage, Maia Sharp put her energy directly into working on her new Nashville home — painting one room, then another, and another. She took the idea to her co-writer on “Things to Fix,” relating the things that could have been fixed in her relationship to what she was fixing in the house.

Last Year’s Man – “Still Be Here”

Singer-songwriter Last Year’s Man (Tyler Fortier) explained his new track “Still Be Here” to BGS, relating, “I think we’re all eager for life to get back to what it was in some way or another and this is a love song built out of the idea that it will.”

Casey Driessen featuring Taro Inoue – “Little Cabin Home on the Hill”

Casey Driessen’s recent project Otherlands: A Global Music Exploration, is a self-produced travelogue of on-location recordings, short films, and essays that documents collaborations with masters of regional music in Spain, Ireland, Scotland, India, Finland, and Japan, where he recorded this bluegrass standard with his friend and mandolinist Taro Inoue.

Tony Joe White – “Smoke From the Chimney”

Legendary country singer and songwriter Tony Joe White, who penned hits like “Polk Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia,” passed away in 2018, leaving behind quite a legacy of music. However, the material didn’t quite stop after he died. His new posthumous record, Smoke From the Chimney, was recorded a year later in 2019, as producer Dan Auerbach built the music around voice and guitar demos that White had left behind.

Carsie Blanton – “Mercy”

Carsie Blanton wrote “Mercy” for her husband Jon, who helped her find out that love can be a gentle force that allows us to become more ourselves: “Once I discovered that, I was able to envision a whole world of love; a world that’s less about control and more about compassion.”

Angela Autumn – “Sowin’ Seeds”

“Sowin’ Seeds,” the latest track from Americana singer-songwriter Angela Autumn, explores the could-be life of a musician, one of imagined ease and free from sacrifice.

Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass – “Date With an Angel”

Up next is Baltimore bluegrass royalty Danny Paisley with a track off of his newest record, Bluegrass Troubadour. Paisley started out performing in the Southern Mountain Boys with his father, Bob Paisley, and Ted Lundy. Years later, Danny formed the Southern Grass and performs with his own son as well as the sons of Ted Lundy. They’re a two-family, three generation band! Paisley is the most recent IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year, an award he’s received more than once. Listening to Bluegrass Troubadour, you can see why.

Beth Whitney – “I Go”

Singer-songwriter Beth Whitney wrote “I Go” inspired by her family’s tradition of taking backpacking trips and her favorite Wendell Berry poem, “The Peace of the Wild Things.” While she’ll be the first to admit that she doesn’t backpack gracefully, though as blisters and bug bites take hold, “as the wilderness takes me in, it starts to heal me somehow and I come into focus.”

Amy Helm – “Sweet Mama”

“Sweet Mama” is a rock and roll track made with love in Woodstock, NY by Amy Helm with one and only Phil Cook on harmonica!

Allison Russell – “Montreal”

Our current Artist of the Month, Allison Russell, has just released her stunning solo debut, Outside Child, an album that delves deeply into the extreme trauma she experienced in her youth spent in Montreal. We recently spoke with Russell about her experience making the record and the relief that songwriting, music and art can bring.

Mike Barnett featuring Alex Hargreaves – “Piece O’Shrimp”

Mike Barnett, a Nashville-based fiddle player who recently released +1, an album of duets with friends and heroes, had originally slated the album for release in late summer 2020, but was delayed when he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, putting his career and life on hold. Undergoing extensive rehabilitation, he posted a welcome update in February on his GoFundMe (support here) that a full recovery is still possible and likely! While we’re wishing Mike the best, and supporting his recovery through his GoFundMe, we’re also enjoying a “Piece O’ Shrimp” from his new album, featuring Alex Hargreaves.

Christina Alden & Alex Patterson – “Hunter”

UK-based folk duo Christina Alden & Alex Patterson wrote “Hunter” inspired by an unlikely friendship between a grey wolf and a brown bear, as captured by Finnish photographer Lassi Rautiainen.

Charlie Marie – “El Paso”

Country singer-songwriter Charlie Marie recently joined BGS for a 5+5, that is 5 questions and 5 songs. She talks growing up listening to Patsy Cline, meditating before “big” shows, listening to Frank Sinatra at old school Italian restaurants, and more.

Photos: (L to R) Amy Helm by Ebru Yildiz; Allison Russell by Marc Baptiste; Tony Joe White by Leann White

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 207

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Welcome to the BGS Radio Hour! Since 2017, this weekly radio show and podcast has been a recap of all the great music, new and old, featured on the digital pages of BGS. This week, we bring you new music from our Artist of the Month, Allison Russell, an exclusive live performance by Madison Cunningham from BGS’ Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, and much more. Remember to check back every week for a new episode of the BGS Radio Hour.

APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY

Sunny War – “Losing Hand”

Coming out of COVID isolation with fingers crossed and masks on, many artists are releasing new and exciting music. We’re particularly thrilled about Sunny War’s latest release, Simple Syrup. We caught up with the LA-based guitarist and singer for an edition of 5+5 and talked everything — from Elizabeth Cotten’s guitar playing to eating black-eyed peas with Nina Simone.

Ted Russell Kamp – “Lightning Strikes Twice”

Singer-songwriter Ted Russell Kamp originally wrote “Lightning Strikes Twice” in the style of Billy Joe Shaver, as a honky tonk number. But, for his upcoming album Solitaire, he decided to rework the track, bluegrass style.

No-No Boy – “Gimme Chills”

A student of singer-songwriter, multimedia artist, and scholar No-No Boy (AKA Julian Saporiti) once called his song “Gimme Chills” a “fucked up love letter to the Philippines.” No-No Boy agreed. The track is part history lesson and part tribute.

Yola – “Diamond Studded Shoes”

Yola’s roots-pop outing “Diamond Studded Shoes” is a song that explores the divides created to distract us from those few who are in charge of the majority of the world’s wealth. It calls on all of us to unite and turn our focus to those with a stranglehold on humanity.

Dale Ann Bradley – “Yellow Creek”

BGS recently caught up with Kentucky’s own Dale Ann Bradley, discussing her recent album, Things She Couldn’t Get Over — her first release since departing group Sister Sadie. Each of the songs on the project deal with hard times, and finding the courage that gets us through. “Yellow Creek,” a song about the forced removal of Native Americans from their land, finds Bradley giving us a reminder to walk with empathy.

Josephine Johnson – “Where I Belong”

“Where I Belong” by singer-songwriter Josephine Johnson was inspired by characters from British Navy novels set during the Napoleonic wars. Love and high seas adventure, to be sure!

The Wandering Hearts – “Gold”

Inspired by their song “Gold,” The Wandering Hearts created a Mixtape for BGS, entitled The Golden Tonic, it’s a selection of songs that have helped them through tough situations, inspired them, and take them back to specific moments in time. They hope that the Golden Tonic will work its magic on the listener after this heavy and hard year.

Eli West – “Brick in the Road”

In a recent 5+5, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Eli West discusses the influence of Paul Brady and Irish folk music, understated chaos in visual art, and drunk BBQ with Sting and Mark Knopfler.

Allison Russell – “Nightflyer”

Our Artist of the Month Allison Russell has already made a mark on the modern roots scene through various powerhouse groups, like Birds of Chicago and supergroup Our Native Daughters. Now, she’s stepping out with her first solo record, Outside Child. Stick around all month long for exclusive content from Russell.

Bhi Bhiman – “Magic Carpet Ride”

Bhi Bhiman reimagines iconic rock song “Magic Carpet Ride” in the style of old country blues players – artists like Mississippi John Hurt, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and others who’ve played a huge role in Bhiman’s evolution as a guitarist.

Parker Millsap – “Vulnerable”

Parker Millsap, one of our recent guests on The Show On The Road, is a gifted singer-songwriter who grew up in a Pentecostal church and creates a fiery gospel backdrop for his tender (then window-rattling) rock ‘n’ roll voice.

Madison Cunningham – “L.A. (Looking Alive)”

Last spring, on our debut episode of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, Los Angeles-based, Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham kicked off the entire series with an acoustic rendition of “L.A. (Looking Alive).”

Stash Wyslouch – “Lord Protect My Soul”

From bluegrass mad scientist Stash Wyslouch, formerly of progressive string band the Deadly Gentlemen, here’s a traditional number turned upside down, taking a Bill Monroe tune and contrasting it with polytonal backup. Wyslouch told BGS that while he gravitates towards gospel standards in the bluegrass world, his own style drifts to the absurd and unexpected. Like a bluegrass Frank Zappa!

Bob Malone – “The River Gives”

Singer-songwriter and pianist Bob Malone wrote “The River Gives” after the devastating 2016 flooding in West Virginia, but he never had a chance to produce the track like he wanted to – until now!

Marty Stuart – “One In A Row”

Marty Stuart’s new project, Songs I Sing In The Dark, is a collection of twenty songs that he curated that helped him through the tough times that we all saw in 2020. Stuart says this Willie Nelson song has followed him around since he first heard it over twenty years ago. “I think of it as an old friend, same as Willie. It’s a friend for the ages, and an excellent song to sing in the dark.

Photos: (L to R) Madison Cunningham by Claire Marie Vogel; Yola by Joseph Ross Smith; Allison Russell by Marc Baptiste

On ‘Smoke From the Chimney,’ Tony Joe White’s Storytelling Lives On

Posted on by Editor

There’s some serious sleight of hand going on with Tony Joe White’s new album, Smoke From the Chimney. Well, sleight of sound, really.

Listening, you can easily picture the sessions: the musicians playing together with White, taking cues from him as they spin out a tableau of characters and scenes that flow as if they were chapters in a book. It’s the latest volume in a legacy of witty, gritty songs stretching back more than 50 years to “Polk Salad Annie,” “Willie and Laura Mae Jones,” and “Rainy Night in Georgia.”

And leading it all with a sly grin is the Swamp Fox himself, as he’s known, with his still-strong, speak-sing baritone voice echoing his origins in the tiny town of Goodwill, Louisiana — a barely-there dot on the map a bit east of Shreveport.

Only one thing.

These sessions were done in the summer of 2019, a year after White died of a heart attack at age 75. Producer Dan Auerbach built the record around basic vocal-and-guitar demos that White had made over a period of years before he died. The illusion, though, is by design.

“I approached it very much the same way I would have any other album we do here,” Auerbach says from his Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville. “I hired a band and we played live. And instead of Tony being in the room, he was in the headphones with us. You are hearing performances.”

He pauses.

“I’ve had people in the room that were less ‘there’ than Tony Joe was!” he says, laughing heartily.

The results are vibrant, a lovingly made set bringing out the full richness of White’s signature storytelling, steeped in his singular brew of soul, blues, rock and backwoods boogie. It’s the kind of stuff that over the decades led to his songs being recorded by dozens, from Elvis Presley to Waylon Jennings to Dusty Springfield to Tina Turner, but which had something extra when sung by White himself.

It’s not the only bit of deception going on in the album. There’s the matter of some of the most moving, affecting songs in the set. Take “Over You,” a heartwarming-turned-heart-wrenching ballad of love and loss. White sings touchingly of a relationship that started as friends at 7 years old, later growing into romance and a wonderful life together — until the woman, his soulmate, became ill and died.

Only one thing. Again.

“That’s not true,” says Jody White, the son of Tony Joe and, if you would have it from the song, the woman who died.

“No,” he says in a separate interview from his Nashville home. “My mom is still alive.”
In fact, Tony Joe White and Leann White were married in 1964, raised three kids and were together until the day he died. “And they didn’t meet when they were 7,” Jody says. “There’s nothing true about ‘Over You.’”

It’s as big a whopper as the record-size widemouth bass that mercilessly taunts its would-be conqueror in “Bubba Jones,” another highlight of the new album. But even Jody, who at 46 has spent his whole life surrounded by his dad’s work and became his manager 20 years ago, could get sucked in to the depth of the song.

“That’s the great thing about Tony,” he says. “He’d write these songs and you’re like, ‘Oh man. Poor guy!’ Like he must have been going through it now.”

This is nothing new. There’s a lot of did-it-really-happen running though his vast, vaunted catalog. “There was a ‘Rainy Night in Georgia,’” Jody says, noting at least some truth behind the song his dad wrote, which was a big hit for soul singer Brook Benton in 1970. “But a lot of his best songs are just fictional tales. Sometimes you can’t differentiate. ‘Polk Salad Annie,’ is that a real girl or not? And ‘Over You’ is kind of the same thing.”

Smoke from the Chimney, in both the songs and sound, builds on a resurgence that started in the early 2000s when, after laying low some, White had resumed touring and recording, finding enthusiastic receptions among both older fans and new ones. Auerbach, now 41, was among the latter. “I was a little bit of a latecomer to his music,” Auerbach says. “But as soon as I heard his original version of ‘Rainy Night in Georgia,’ I was hooked.”

Having established himself both as half of the Black Keys and as an in-demand producer (his extensive credits include Yola, Valerie June, Ray LaMontagne, Lana Del Rey, the Gibson Brothers, and dozens more), Auerbach started pushing to produce a Tony Joe album years ago.

“Dan and I met probably 15 years ago,” Jody says. “And he said, ‘For the last 10 years I’ve been wanting to produce a Tony Joe White record.’ And it just didn’t happen. He only co-wrote with a few people, like Jamey Johnson. They would come out to the farm and sit by the fire with him. That sort of thing. He wasn’t going to go to a studio and collaborate with someone. It just wasn’t what he did.”

Even after Auerbach moved from Ohio to Nashville a while back, it still didn’t work out. “We did get a chance to meet, though,” Auerbach says. “We were on tour with the Black Keys and we were both on a festival in Australia. Hung out backstage. I played his Strat. We hung out and talked. Pretty awesome, actually.”

When Tony Joe White died, Jody’s job changed, he says, “from ‘What are we going to do next?’ to ‘What did he leave behind?’” What he found was daunting. “I discovered that there was probably more unreleased music than there was released music,” he says.

Sorting through the archives, Jody found hundreds of songs put down on tape over decades of time — experiments with electronic keyboards from the 1980s among them. Some will surprise even the most devoted fans. But he was drawn to several reels from a few years before his father’s death.

“There was really no rhyme or reason why he recorded all those songs in that period of time,” he says. “Some are old, some were new. It’s all over the place. But it was weird how they all lined up.”

In July 2019, he texted Auerbach the demo of the song “Smoke From the Chimney.” Auerbach loved it and asked for more. “I sent him probably 11 songs and he said, ‘They’re all perfect.’ My dad knew what he was doing when he recorded those songs together.”

The timing was perfect, too. Auerbach had an unexpected break in his normally crammed schedule, and about four weeks later he told Jody he had most of the songs finished. “I’ve never seen anything happen so fast,” Jody says.

Auerbach says it was simply a natural fit for him and his label, Easy Eye Sound, which is releasing the album. “He embodies everything I’ve tried to do, and everything Easy Eye is,” he says. “It’s steeped in what he was about — diversity and the love of music, of all kinds. He so obviously loved so much music. Diversity and soul. That’s what he had. Boy. Some people just got it, you know?”

It’s a mission for him.

“I’m figuring out the big part of the reason you find people who didn’t know about Tony Joe,” Auerbach says. “Tony Joe had no category, which made it hard for labels to market him. Calling him swamp-rock doesn’t do him justice. Country doesn’t do him justice. Calling him blues doesn’t do him justice. Which is maybe why we need to tell his story a little bit louder.”

That’s played out through the wide emotional and musical range of the nine songs he picked. From the wistful title track to the swamp-voodoo chooglin’ of “Boot Money” and the campfire-side “Scary Stories” to the border ballad “Del Rio You’re Making Me Cry.” The achingly evocative “Someone Is Crying” is arguably the album’s sentimental peak, with strings swelling over the story of a young girl walking into the sunset after seeing her village burn.

With the band he assembled, Auerbach threaded that diversity of material together, consciously connecting, or transcending, genres. There are slide guitars (some by him, some by Marcus King) and steel (Paul Franklin) — a little touch of George Harrison here (the title song), Duane Allman and Dickie Betts there (“Listen to Your Song”). There’s Ray Jacildo’s Hammond B3 organ, a foundation for a wealth of Southern traditions touched on throughout.

On that ensemble he hangs such touches as the background vocals by Mireya Ramos and Shae Fiol of the all-women mariachi ensemble Flor de Toloache and evocative fiddles by Ramos and veteran Stuart Duncan on “Del Rio You’re Making Me Cry;” the strings on “Someone Is Crying” are the work of Matt Combs. Ultimately, it’s all there to illustrate the stories White tells.

Speaking of… there’s the closing “Billy,” a farewell to a life of drifting and to a lifelong friend “just like a brother to me.”

That has to be real.

“Didn’t happen,” Jody says of the song that’s the oldest on the album, having been recorded by Waylon Jennings back in the 1970s. “My mom and I were laughing about that. She came over and listened and she is like, ‘I don’t know how he makes this stuff up.’ She and I were speculating over who Billy could possibly be. And he was never homeless, walking the streets. None of it happened. None of it ever happened.”

Photo credit: Jim Marshall (black and white); Leann White (color)

The Show On The Road – Tony Joe White

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Zach talks to Texas Swamp Blues legend Tony Joe White. Sadly, Tony Joe passed away suddenly on October 25. Host Z. Lupetin was fortunate to speak with him at a hotel diner in Hollywood back in September about his storied career as a songwriter, guitarist, and touring musician.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • STITCHER • MP3

Song – “Bad Mouthin” (Courtesy of Yep Roc Records)

LISTEN: Tony Joe White, “Big Boss Man”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Tony Joe White
Hometown: Oak Grove, Louisiana (now in Nashville)
Song: “Big Boss Man” (written by bluesman Jimmy Reed)
Album: Bad Mouthin’
Release Date: Sept. 28 2018
Label: Yep Roc

In Their Words: “At the time I was just playing electric guitar and singing. When I heard Jimmy Reed and ‘Big Boss Man,’ I went straight to the music store and bought a harmonica with a holder. I thought I bought the wrong key, but come to find out, all the blues players pull on the harmonica instead of blowing on it so it was alright.” — Tony Joe White

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

Counsel of Elders: Robert Cray on Speaking from the Soul

Posted on by Editor

Robert Cray’s voice betrays a sense of electrified giddiness as he talks about recording with Hi Rhythm, the house band from famed Memphis label Hi Records that joined him on his latest project, Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm. For a musician who has performed with Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, it seems like “star struck” wouldn’t be an issue, but to hear Cray tell it, his latest LP was an experience unto itself. Whether describing listening to organist Charles Hodges replicate the “wah-wah” sound he perfected for Al Green, or standing in Royal Studies amidst all that history, or tapping into the groove that almost magically envelopes Memphis, there’s an expansive warmth — almost a sense of awe — that comes across as he talks about working with the infamous studio band. To say it was a “once in a lifetime” moment underscores the project’s timing, since he will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance from the Americana Music Association this year while Hi Rhythm will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist.

Although Cray is known for his emotive blues licks, he’s been exploring his soul influences in recent years. Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm continues what he began in 2014 with In My Soul (recorded with the Robert Cray Band). The latter charted his appreciation for the classic soul coming out of labels like Stax and Chess, and studios like Muscle Shoals; the former leans into the nexus of blues, soul, and even funk in order to explore where his guitar can guide those sounds. Besides covering Tony Joe White’s “Aspen, Colorado” and “Don’t Steal My Love,” Cray penned several new songs for the project, including the frank but tender “The Way We Are” and the politically charged “Just How Low.” Though he doesn’t point specific fingers with the latter, the opening bars of “Hail to the Chief” and the chorus make clear his message: “One never knows just how low someone might go.” He doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind about the current president, even if he knows how that’s gone for musicians in the past. An earnest and open songwriter, Cray’s partnership with Hi Rhythm continues the genre’s tradition of embedding necessary messages within its enchanting grooves and, in turn, reveals yet another piece of his soul.

Did you ever think, when you first started out, that you had 20 albums in you?

No, I didn’t go that far. All I knew was I wanted to play music. Everybody, as a youngster playing music, wants to make a record, but you never see any further past a first record.

What’s it like on the other end of that perspective now?

Well, the whole thing still remains a lot of fun. I enjoy doing what we do, and with all the records under our belts … we’re making a living at it and we’re still here.

This latest project recorded with the Hi Records house band is so special. Soul music, and especially the kind of soul music that label released, has long featured a potent message. How have you seen it shift or develop since the ‘60s and ‘70s?

It’s kinda hard to describe. Working with those guys from Hi Records, it’s been instilled in them. I’ve been a big fan of their music for the longest time. Everybody has more music appreciation even outside what they do, and then when you put the right people together — which was the case when Steve [Jordan] put us together — we were able to do what we love. It was pretty cool.

One of the songs, in particular — “Just How Low” — sounds as though you’re addressing Trump, even though you never mention his name. At the very least, you’re addressing this kind of divisive mentality that has once again become so prominent. Why did you want to take aim at that specifically?

Just the tone of everything that’s going on these days. It’s a dramatic shift from where we once were and with President Obama being in office. We haven’t had anybody that’s so out in the open with his disdain for government, different people, different cultures, all of that. We spend a lot of time on the road, trying to keep up with what’s going on, and we see how it is for people outside of our country, and how they feel about it, as well. So, yeah, it was just a natural thing. This wasn’t the first time that we’ve addressed political issues. We’ve gone back to even when the Iraq War started and talked about that on both sides of the issue, and then on behalf of military personnel.

It’s interesting that you choose this way to approach it, though. Because, in recent years, between William Bell and Don Bryant, the message they’re sharing about changing times advocates for peace. I love that music — don’t get me wrong — but I like that you take a more stringent tone.

Right. Well, my only issue with this song is, every day there’s something new. I gotta keep writing verses to this song. People are on the fence about going the way we went only because of what happened to Dixie Chicks years ago, and everybody is worried about their fan base. They just want to stay in line, but, you know, if you don’t address the issue, it doesn’t get addressed.

I can see why Steve Jordan has described you as an “honest soul” because it is a bit of a risk to come out and so blatantly share a specific perspective that might scare away portions of your fan base.

Well, thank you, Steve. But you have to, you just have to. There’s no dancing.

I appreciate that, as a listener. Some people talk about the special feeling Muscle Shoals and Memphis exude. Where do you think that special energy comes from?

I’d like to consider Memphis the hub of American music. When you think about rock ‘n’ roll, the blues, it’s such a big part. We have different areas, too: You’ve got country coming out of Nashville, and the jazz that came out of New Orleans. But I think, overall, Memphis is the hub. Without the blues, you wouldn’t have rock ‘n’ roll. It’s just there.

So how did you tap into it for this session?

I didn’t need any coaxing. I met some of the guys from Hi Rhythm in the past just briefly, but have always had a love for the music. I had the opportunity to work with Steve — this being our fifth project. Steve is the supreme organizer, and he has a way of making everyone feel really comfortable in the studio. When we work with Steve, one of the first things we do is, he gets behind the drum kit and just starts playing. No song. Everybody’s got their instrument and we’re just playing. And that groove will go on 20-25 minutes, until everybody feels really good. Just to be creative, just to make things happen. Then he goes, “Let’s do one of these tunes,” so we’ll start playing one of the tunes, and we’ll do the same thing for 15-20 minutes, and Steve’ll yell out, “Let’s cut it.” Everybody’s loose, and it’s really cool.

That’s fascinating. I’ve always loved this idea that places hold their history — in both good and bad ways — but here the fact that you could step into Royal Studios surely lent something to that groove.

Yes, and that’s what I should mention, as well. Another part of the whole “feel” thing is being in Royal Studios. You walk into the place and you see pictures of Willie Mitchell, of course, and you see pictures of Al Green, and you see old tape boxes with Ann Peebles’ name on it, and you have the whole Mitchell family bringing in food. It’s just a “Welcome to the family” kind of feel. It was really warming to be there.

That comes across in the tracks that you were able to capture together. There’s a family reunion kind of feel. So now, in addition to your original tracks, you chose to cover Bill Withers and Tony Joe White, but then you also recorded with White. You’re getting all these Tennessee titans together! What was that like?

That was great. Steve’s wife, Meegan Voss, sent me the song “Aspen,” and I listened to it, and said, “This is really cool.” So when we got around to the song, Steve called him, and Tony Joe had just come from Australia or New Zealand, but he wanted to be the studio, so his son drove him over from the other side of the state. He showed up and he was so happy to be there, and he was like family, too. Everybody has a total respect for him. We just had a good time. He’s a wonderful human being.

There was another time that we did this program in Nashville, Songwriters & Storytellers or something like that, for PBS. I remember Keb’ Mo’ being there and a bunch of other people, but Tony Joe was there, and we each did songs. I’d do a song, then Keb would do one, then Tony Joe would do one. Everybody was pretty cool, until he broke out “Rainy Night in Georgia.” I think everybody wanted to walk out after that. He was the sweetest guy in the world. That’s when we first met.

And now here you are recording together! Your song “Way We Are” captures the beauty of staying with someone. Besides age and perspective, how has writing a love song changed for you over the years?

You can only write a love song if you’ve experienced love. I sat down and was thinking about the relationship that my wife and I have. We have our ways. Everybody has their ways. But the relationship works. I’m stubborn sometimes, and she’s stubborn sometimes, but at the end of the day, that’s who we are, and we acknowledge that. It came out that way.

I love it. Also, congratulations on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance at AmericanaFest this year.

I’m looking forward to, once again, having the opportunity to work with Hi Rhythm. We’ve done three or four gigs, and it’s always a special treat. I love watching Charles Hodges play his organ! I always think back to the days when I was listening to Al Green, and I heard him going “Whaa-o” across the organ, and he does that all the time. I’m always smiles. I have a really good time with it.

Photo credit: Ronnie Booze

Counsel of Elders: Tony Joe White on Playing from the Heart

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Tony Joe White’s protracted Southern drawl crackles across the telephone line. Underneath his deep, husky tone, the phone hums with a slight buzz thanks to a series of thunderstorms rolling through Franklin, Tennessee, where the iconic swamp rock musician lives. It seems fitting, as if his voice — one of his music’s trademarks — creates an electrifying response even for his landline. Conversing with White is not the same as listening to him sing. For one, he speaks softly, carefully. His speech contains no excess fat, none of the verbose over-sharing that has come to exemplify interpersonal communication in the 21st century. Instead, White is a man quietly in tune with the nature around him and the way it has helped him write some of his most definitive songs.

Classics like “Polk Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia” aligned White’s name with a musical style evoking heat, humidity, and good ol’ Southern funk. They also garnered the attention of Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, and others who have covered his work over the years. But don’t relegate White to the past. Yes, he’s a legend; but that doesn’t mean his best work is behind him. His newest LP, Rain Crow, shows he hasn’t slowed down and has no intention of doing so.

The album’s opening number ,“Hoochie Woman,” focuses on the relationship between a conjure queen and her “Smoochie Man.” But as wild and feverish as that song sounds, it’s not White’s only writing talent. He’s equally adept at love songs. They appear throughout his repertoire, vulnerable and honest offerings about the power that emotion has over him. One such track on the album, “Right Back in the Fire,” looks at a relationship still burning with passion even after many, many years together. It brims with a heat equally indicative of the song’s title, as well as White’s feeling for its subject.

At 72, he’s still channeling the inspiration — the itches — he gets for new music. They are the ideas that bubble in his psyche until he knows he has to sit down and work something out. 

I read that you like to build fires in order to write music, and there’s certainly a heat about your work. At first, it could be attributed to the Southern region that bred this sound, but perhaps there’s a greater sense of what you’re using to help you compose. What does fire bring to the songwriting process?

I can’t say, but the fact is, I’m part Cherokee Indian. My mom was half, and I always really liked to be around fire. Over the years, I would say 90 percent of the songs I write I’ll be around the campfire with a cold six-pack of beer. I go out on the river and build a fire and sit there with it, and suddenly a guitar lick comes up, or a line, so it helps me. Whether it’s real or not, in my mind, it does.

It ties you back to some essential part of the past.

It could be, yeah. I never really give a whole lot of thought to the end of it, but like I said, when I get some kind of idea in my head — a guitar lick or a line — usually that evening I head down to my spot and I’ll build a fire and it will come. I really like it in the Fall and even when Winter comes. I got a spot out there by the shed that kind of leans out and I keep the fireplace under it and, if it rains or snows or sleets, whatever, it don’t matter. It sounds good on that tin roof, and I got all the warmth I need right there. It’s important.

It seems like many musicians nowadays take to the studio once they have an idea, but they lose that connection with nature, with a distinct environment.

Yeah, there’s plenty of times, if I’ve got a machine — a tape machine or something — I lay something down and play it back. I don’t notice it at the time, but I’ll play it back and I can hear a screech owl, sometimes even a lone wolf down the river. I’ll send ‘em over to the publisher or the record company and they’re like, “Man, who’s your background singer?” I go, “The very best.”

You say sometimes you get a lick or a line. Where do you believe that comes from?

It all comes from up above. Everything. It’s all God-given. You just have tov…vwhen it comes by, you grab a piece. You do your best to make it turn out as it can turn.

How are you able to refine what you’re given?

I don’t know.

That’s fair. It’s a hard thing to articulate where creativity comes from.

Yep.

Characters play a large role in your songs. What interests you about that kind of songwriting or subject matter?

You know, my songs go all the way from stuff like “Rainy Night in Georgia” to love songs to alligators to the street. It goes everywhere. I never really try to direct it or know which way it’s going to go. I think to have total freedom in that way. If I don’t try to corral them, I never know how they’re going to turn out.

“Rainy Night in Georgia,” I drove a truck on the highway in Georgia. I’d just got out of school and was staying with my sister, so I was trying to write about things I knew, but also things that were real. So "Polk Salad Annie" was a real girl down in Louisiana, or maybe three or four girls could be "Polk Salad Annies." Then there was "Willie and Laura Mae Jones," a Black couple that was not too far from us and we picked cotton together and we played guitar together, he did and I did. So the characters went right along with staying real with this stuff. Then, all of a sudden, a love song will pop up or a song like “Mother Earth,” for instance, trying to say that there’s something to helping the environment. I never know which way they’re going to go.

Who has helped inspire you throughout the years?

Oh man, that’d be hard, because I have so many heroes I care about. I’d have to go all the way back to the very first — Lightnin’ Hopkins doing “Baby, Please Don’t Go.” That kinda kicked me into the guitar. I was about 15.

As far as artists doing your songs, a lot of them are my heroes: Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Elvis even. Not only were they doing the songs, but I was actually getting to go in the studio and play guitar with them. I feel like I was a real part of that vibe they were putting out at the time. “Steamy Windows,” for instance, from Tina … it was like a live show inside the studio.

God, that must’ve been something.

It was.

As you’ve gotten older and you’ve become someone other songwriters and artists look at as a hero, how has that affected your outlook?

I hadn’t really given it that much thought. I just come off a tour two days ago and so many people come up to me and say stuff like that and it’s fine and it’s good, but I mainly — like I told you at the very start of the conversation — just try to stick close to an idea. I got this one tune that’s really been bugging me lately. It’s fixing to be popping out soon. But if somebody really means it, say, “God, you really kicked me with this.” That would make me feel good.

But it’s not the defining mark.

No.

What kind of advice would you give to younger songwriters?

I would say only write or play what’s in your heart, straight in your heart. And not try to do it for radio, TV, or YouTube and others. Write what you think is important to you.

I think that’s applicable to so much more than songwriting

It pretty well covers it.

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

Rosanne Cash Begins Residency at the Country Music Hall of Fame

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Since the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum began its annual artist-in-residence program back in 2003, only two women have graced its stage — Connie Smith, in 2012, and Rosanne Cash, this year. Last night marked Cash's first-of-three performances at the Hall with a nearly three-hour concert, during which she and her band played her much-lauded The River & the Thread in its entirety, along with a smattering of back-catalog tunes.

As the musicians laid down the now-signature groove of “A Feather's Not a Bird,” Cash swaggered out to center stage and had at it. Classy and confident, she seemed right at home in the 800-seat CMA Theater. And why shouldn't she? Cash noted that a good part of her family's history resides in that building. (In fact, a Johnny Cash window display greeted guests as they walked down the corridor toward the theater's lobby.)

Another part of Cash's family history resides in the stories of the South that fill The River & the Thread and, between the songs, she fleshed those stories out a bit more. To hear an artist's seminal work, as originally visioned and personally narrated, is a powerful experience that takes the listener deeper into the craftsmanship than they can possibly go on their own. And, because the record came out 18 months ago, Cash and company were thoroughly at ease in its presentation.

In addition to producer/guitarist/co-writer/husband John Leventhal, Cash's phenomenally talented band included Kevin Barry on guitar and lap steel, Glenn Patscha on keyboards, Zev Katz on bass, and Dan Rieser on drums. Throughout the set, each player got a chance to shine from the “gospel song that even agnostics might love” that is “Tell Heaven” to the “Stephen Foster-ish, Johnny Mercer-ish, and Kurt Vile-ish” melody of “Night School.” But “Money Road” — which winds its way past Robert Johnson's grave at Mount Zion Church, Emmett Till's undoing at Bryant's Grocery, the Tallahatchie Bridge, William Faulkner's once-home, and more — was where Leventhal and Barry really got to go for it.

Deep into the album, Cash introduced Cory Chisel to guest on “50,000 Watts,” explaining that because Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and others listened to the “race music” being played on WDIA in Memphis, that station “changed the course of modern country music through those young men.” Likewise, she heard Chisel on the radio in Europe and tracked him down to sing with her, feeling like he had the power to do the same. That's quite a statement to make, and the honey-voiced Chisel showed why he deserved it.

For the second half of the show, Cash offered up all sorts of great cuts, from the shuffling groove of “Radio Operator” from 2006's Black Cadillac to the country chug of “I'm Movin' On” off 2009's The List. In between her tunes, she invited Lucinda Williams and Tony Joe White out to take turns in the spotlight.

The showstopper, quite literally, was a blazing rendition of the classic “Tennessee Flat Top Box” which found Leventhal and Walsh handing unfathomable runs off to each other. For the encore, Cash followed “Seven Year Ache” with a rousing group rendition of “500 Miles” which found Cash, Chisel, and Williams each taking a verse, with White chiming in on harmonica.

Over the course of those three hours, it became quite clear that Rosanne Cash's voice sounds and feels like that of an old friend, and her songs are not just the stories of her life … they are the stories of all our lives.

Photos courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum