''Tony Joe''
/ref> was the third studio album released by

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ma ...

. It was released on

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG), and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left ...

and contained the singles "High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish" and "Save Your Sugar For Me". It was recorded at RCA Victor Studios,

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

and Lyn-Lou Studios,

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

in 1970. It was produced by

Billy Swan William Lance Swan (born May 12, 1942) is an American country singer-songwriter, best known for his 1974 single, "I Can Help". Biography Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States. As a child, he learned drums, piano and guitar ...

. A mixture of original recordings and covers, it featured White's versions of "Hard To Handle" made popular by

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and "Boom Boom" by

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

. The album was re-released on by Movieplay/Intermusic from Portugal in 1993 with a different cover and another title (''Groupy Girl''). In 1997 it was rereleased by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

containing two additional songs - "I Protest" (by

Wayne Carson Wayne Carson (born Wayne Carson Head; May 31, 1943 – July 20, 2015), sometimes credited as Wayne Carson Thompson, was an American country musician, songwriter, and record producer. He played percussion, piano, guitar, and bass. His most fam ...

) and "A Man Can Only Stand So Much Pain" (

Mickey Newbury Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. (May 19, 1940 – September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter, recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early life and career Newbury was born in Houston, Texas, on May 19, ...

Critical reception

Reviewing in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote: "Because he sticks to his roots, White has those who don't trust rock-as-art all hot and bothered. Well, I don't trust rock-as-art myself, but I don't trust these

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

set pieces either. White's tales of spiders, widders, conjure wimmin, and wayward rich girls all sound like I've seen them on television, only there they had endings. Nor do the

and

Junior Walker Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. (June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995), known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist (primarily saxophonist and vocalist) who recorded for Motown during the 1960s. He also performed as a ses ...

covers teach me anything new. The

is better. As are 'Save Your Sugar for Me,' about teenage sex, and 'Stockholm Blues,' about a songwriter from the bayous who goes somewhere in an airplane."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Tony Joe White, except where indicated ;Side one # "Stud-Spider" # "High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish" # "Widow Wimberly" # "Conjure Woman" # "Save Your Sugar For Me" ;Side two # "Groupie Girl" # " Hard to Handle" (

Alvertis Isbell Al Bell (born Alvertis Isbell; March 15, 1940) is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the ...

Allen Jones Allen Jones may refer to: *Allen Jones (Continental Congress) (1739–1798), Continental Congress delegate *Allen Jones (artist) (born 1937), British pop artist *Allen Jones (record producer) (1940–1987), American record producer * A.J. Styles (A ...

) # "What Does It Take" (Vernon Bullock,

Johnny Bristol John William Bristol (February 3, 1939 – March 21, 2004) was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina, about which ...

Harvey Fuqua Harvey Fuqua (July 27, 1929 – July 6, 2010) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive. Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s. He is notable as one of th ...

) # "My Friend" (

Donnie Fritts Donald Ray Fritts (November 8, 1942 – August 27, 2019) was an American session musician and songwriter. A recording artist in his own right, he was Kris Kristofferson's keyboardist for over forty years. In 2008, he was inducted into the Alaba ...

Spooner Oldham Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...

) # "Stockholm Blues" # " Boom Boom" (

)

Personnel

*Tony Joe White – guitar, harmonica *

Norbert Putnam Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam."'' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acce ...

– bass *

Mike Utley Michael Gerard Utley (born December 20, 1965) is a former American football player. He played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1989 through 1991, when he was paralyzed during a game. Early life and college career A gr ...

– organ *

Jerry Carrigan Jerry Kirby Carrigan (September 13, 1943 – June 22, 2019) was an American drummer and record producer. Early in his career he was a member of the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later worked as a session musician in Nashville for over ...

– drums *Tommy McClure – bass * David Briggs – organ *

Sammy Creason Sammy Lee Creason (27 November 1944 – 21 December 1995) was an American session drummer who played with Tony Joe White, Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan amongst others. Life and career Growing up in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States, he ...

– drums *The Nashville Horns & Strings – horns and strings

References

{{Authority control 1970 albums Tony Joe White albums Albums produced by Billy Swan Monument Records albums