"Black And White" US Debut LP on Monument Records (July 1969)
Remastered in Stereo with Many Bonuses
Inside "Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings"
"...Funky Fingers... "
Born
in 1943 Louisiana as the seventh son (literally) in the White Family and reared
on a weekly diet of Gospel and Church music – one fateful day Daddy White
brought home a Lightnin' Hopkins album and the young Tony Joe was solid gone.
Cut to the Union Chapel in Islington, London in 2014 and that young boy now
walks on stage with an electric guitar and a voice that rattles a church to its
core as he simply says - "Evening y'all!"
Minutes
later as he launches into his one-man Soul Francisco vibe, his loud electrified
swamp boogie feels like the beginning of JJ Cale morphing into a one-man ZZ Top
via maybe a little dash of Creedence. The effect as you can imagine was quite
awesome. But then, amongst certain circles (especially within the industry) –
Tony Joe White has always been a little bit special in the Mojo stakes. And now
with his recent loss, his legacy is being rediscovered like no man's business.
Details for the box set first...
"Swamp Music:
The Complete Monument Recordings" by TONY JOE WHITE was put out Stateside in September
2006 by Rhino Handmade on RHM2 7731 (Barcode 603497773121). Across 4 CDs and
83 tracks, the flip-top Brick Block mini Box Set offers three full albums, the A&B's of 10 x US 7" 45-singles (many
non-album) and a whopping 41 Previously Unreleased.The debut album is Disc 1...
Disc
1 (75:37 minutes):
1.
Willie And Laura Mae Jones [Side 1]
2.
Soul Francisco
3.
Aspen Colorado
4.
Whompt Out On You
5.
Don't Steal My Love
6.
Pork Salad Annie
7.
Who's Making Love [Side 2]
8.
Scratch My Back
9.
Little Green Apples
10.
Wichita Lineman
11.
The Look Of Love
Tracks
1 to 11 are his debut album "Black And White" released July 1969 in the USA on
Monument Records SLP 18114 (Stereo) and in late 1969 UK on Monument LMO 5027
(Mono) and SMO 5027 (Stereo) – Stereo Mix Used. Produced by Billy Swan – the
album didn't chart in either country.
BONUS TRACKS Disc 1:
12.
Willie And Laura Mae Jones (Alternate Version)
13.
I Protest
14.
A Man Can Only Stand Just So Much Pain
15.
Toil & Trouble (Early Version)
16.
Georgia Pines
17.
It's Not What You Got
18.
Prison Song
19.
Hung Up On You
20.
Ten More Miles To Louisiana (B-side to "Georgia Pines", see 16)
21.
Let The Party Roll On
22.
Watching The Trains Go By (Alternate Version)
23.
Georgia Pines (Alternate Version)
24.
Baby Please Don't Go
NOTES on Bonus Tracks:
Tracks 13 and 14 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of a May
1968 US 7" 45-single on Monument 45-1070
Track 16 is the A-side of his March 1967 Debut US 7" 45-single for Monument on
Monument 45-1003 - Produced by Ray Stevens
Tracks
12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 and 24 are Previously Unreleased
This
Box set will also allow fans to sequence Mono and Stereo variants of all of the
following US and UK 45-singles around the debut album:
US
7" 45-Singles:
1.
Georgia Pines b/w Ten More Miles To Louisiana, March 1967 on Monument 45-1003
(Tracks 16 and 20 on Disc 1)
2.
Watching The Trains Go By b/w Old Man Willis, February 1968 on Monument 45-1053
(Tracks 11 and 12 on Disc 2)
4.
I Protest b/w A Man Can Only Stand Just So Much Pain, May 1968 on Monument
45-1070 (Tracks 13 and 14 on Disc 1)
5.
Soul Francisco b/w Whompt Out On You, August 1968 on Monument MN 45-1086
(Tracks 1 and 4 on Disc 1 in Stereo)
6.
Pork Salad Annie b/w Aspen Colorado, October 1968 on Monument MN45-1104 (Tracks
6 and 3 on Disc 1 in Stereo)
UK
7" 45-Singles:
1.
Soul Francisco b/w Whompt Out On You (September 1968, Monument MON 1024 –
Tracks 1 and 4 on Disc 1 in Stereo)
2.
Pork Salad Annie b/w Aspen Colorado (February 1969, Monument MON 1031 – Tracks
6 and 3 on Disc 1 in Stereo)
3.
Willie And Laura Mae Jones b/w Scratch My Back (June 1969, Monument MON 1036 –
Tracks 1 and 8 on Disc 1 in Stereo)
Compiled
by BILL INGLOT and MASON WILLIAMS with Tape Research and Mastering done by BILL
INGLOT and DAN HERSCH – the mini box set features a flip-back lid with 4 repro
sleeves and a booklet contained within. The quality of the oversized card
sleeves is superb with most of the rear liner notes and credits perfectly
readable (even on the hard-to-read rear sleeve of the “Tony Joe album). The
sepia-feel 36-page booklet is numbered on the rear page to 5000 and features
detailed liner notes by BEN EDMONDS and interviews with Tony Joe White, Friend
and Musical Advisor Bob Beckham and Producer Billy Swan. Interspersed between
the dense texts are full-page shots of several Monument 7” singles (some demos)
and comprehensive reissue details at the rear. The remasters are fantastic –
bringing out that deeply funky groove and far better than what I had before.
His
debut has huge fan craves like "Soul Francisco" ("...some of those children got
something to say…") and the equally cool "Pork Salad Annie". The realistic "Willie And Laura Mae Jones" proved just too gritty for US radio as an album track
play (it never got issued as a 45 in America, only in the UK and certain Euro
territories). The tail end three covers versions are the album's undoing though
– saccharine takes on "Little Green Apples" with Glen Campbell
and Jimmy Webb's "Wichita
Lineman" abutting the Bacharach/David smoocher "Look Of Love" (you can feel
his TJW Soul wincing as you listen and he sings). Far better is his "...right there!" cover of Slim Harpo's "Scratch My
Back" and amongst
the previously unreleased are great discoveries like "Prison Song" ("...breaking up rocks in the hot, hot
sun…").
This
box set will also allows fans to access the rare US stand-alone 45s outside of
the debut – a very nice touch indeed. The debut album is a cracking start with
some flaws for sure, but it most definitely points to the magic to come in the
next few years.
I’ve
long been of the reasoning that J.J. Cale nicked it from Tony Joe, Clapton
nicked it from Cale and Mark Knopfler nicked it from all three for his Dire
Straits debut. Tina Turner would take his "Steamy Windows" and make another
worldwide hit too.
Whatever
way you look at it – this is a fabulous (if not illusive) box set. Real Gone
Music would do the same for his fabulous Warners Brothers albums that quickly
followed his termination with Monument Records (see separate review).
In
the meantime "Swamp Music" is the very best of starting points and a cool way
to sample why so many followed/half-inched Tony Joe White's Crocodile shoes…
