Tony Joe White
b. 23 July 1943, Oak Grove, Louisiana, USA. A country singer and songwriter, White was also tagged with the label ‘swamp rock’, a musical genre he helped to create. Originally he was a member of Tony And The Mojos before defecting to Texas to start Tony And The Twilights. He started recording in 1968 and many people presumed he was black after hearing his layered vocals. He scored his first hit on Monument with Polk Salad Annie in 1969, later covered by Elvis Presley. Also contained on his debut BLACK AND WHITE was Willie And Laura Mae Jones, which was covered by Dusty Springfield. After hitting once more with Groupie Girl he wrote Rainy Night In Georgia which would became a standard. His first three albums were produced by Billy Swan, and Cozy Powell drummed for him at the 1970 Isle Of Wight festival. He moved to Warner Brothers Records in 1971 and had a hit in 1979 with Mamas Don't Let Your Cowboys Grow Up To Be Babies, an answer record to Ed Bruce's country chart-topper of the previous year, Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys. White co-wrote Steamy Windows with Tina Turner, which gave her a Top 20 UK hit in 1990.