(Aloha, The Musicmagazine).
What do Emmylou Harris, Jessi Colter, Shelby Lynn, Lucinda Williams and Michelle White have in common? Recently they all shared the studio with the legendary swamp-rock artist Tony Joe White.
For a long time singer/guitar-player Tony Joe White had the idea of recording an album composed of duets with his preferred heroines. The album would be entitled The Heroines. He personally invited the ladies to come and sing in his home-studio in Franklin, Tennessee. And they came: Emmylou Harris, Jessi Colter, Shelby Lynn and Michelle White. Only Lucinda Williams was unable to attend, but that was no problem for White. "Lucinda is scared to fly and so I went to Los Angeles to record the duet with her there" White explains. "As I absolutely wanted her to be present. She has her own style and sings marvellously. Actually I also would have liked to do something with Tina Turner, but she has withdrawn herself completely from the musical scene so I thought it better not to bother her."
By the way Michelle White is obviously the daughter of the legendary swamp-rock artist, and for her dad she is, of course, a very special heroine. "She is a successful singer and tours through France at the moment. Within a few weeks we will meet each other and then share the stage together. It is something I really look forward to", says White with a twinkle in the eye. "Someone once said that her style is a cross between Sade and John Lee Hooker. Great compliment, haha. Yes, I am very proud of her. At least she continues a family tradition. As I originate from a family in which all members play an instrument. My son Jody also participates in the scene, as he is responsible for all my financial affairs. With The Heroines Tony Joe has not played all his cards, as another record will soon follow where he sings songs together with male performers. That album will receive, don't jump, the fitting title of The Heroes. At this moment he is already busy with the preparations for this album. And it already led to one plan being inexecutable. "Ray Charles definitely is one of my big heroes," says White. "Due to his sudden death it is unfortunately impossible to record a song with him. This is one of the reasons that I am very glad that I did get a chance to meet him last year in Australia. Backstage we talked for a while and some pictures were taken. Nobody at that moment knew that he was ill and the pictures now are very important to me. Ray and I hadn't seen each other for a very long time. Not since he recorded my Rainy Nights in Georgia and Three Four Time.
'I get my best ideas at night
when I'm sitting all alone by a campfire.
By staring in the flames the words
just emerge spontaneously'
'In some of your songs you've described the story of my life' is what he said to me '
and I will always be grateful to you for that' It made me feel incredibly proud. The
people that will definitely not be absent on the record with heroes of Tony Joe White
are Joe Cocker, Solomon Burke, country-singers John Anderson and Hank Williams Jr.,
Mark Knopfler and the French star Johnny Halliday. The last one is not someone you
would expect in a list with favourite artists of White. "And yet I have always
followed this man throughout the years". He explains. "He has recorded several of my
songs in French, and honestly they sound great. I already have something ready that I
would like to record with him. When I will be visiting Paris soon we will go over this
song together."White never has to wait for inspiration, at the moment of this interview he already has five songs ready that are waiting to be recorded. "There is always something playing through my head. As in the first place I am a songwriter. I believe a song can last an eternity. Whether the song is good or bad, once you have written her she is there to stay forever. In the past the people that surrounded me in Louisiana inspired me. I grew up in a small community and you had to walk at least three kilometres to visit your neighbour. Some remarkable people lived there. Nowadays I own a house in Franklin, Tennessee that is also a very inspiring environment for me. I only tour a couple of months per year, as I am not the type of musician who always needs to be on the road. After having spend a few nights in a hotel I always long to be back in the forests and by the rivers that surround my house. Franklin lies sixty kilometres outside Nashville and it has exactly two grocery shops, a café and a few houses.
"You can imagine that there are quite a few characteristic people living in this remote place and maybe one day I will write a song about them." White continues thoughtfully. The best ideas come to me when I sit close to a campfire all by myself. In the middle of nature, far away from people. I often leave alone, with my guitar and a couple of cans of beer and start a campfire somewhere near the river. By staring into the flames the words for a song emerge spontaneously inside my head. It has been like this for years."
The duet with Shelby Lynne Can't Go Back Home was written by White and Shelby next to a campfire. "She called me one night and asked whether I also wrote songs with other people. 'Sometimes I do', I replied and then she proposed to write something together. I said "Okay, come and see me at nine o'clock. You will find me near the river at a campfire and we will see what happens.' Shelby was very nervous when she approached me, I immediately noticed. Well of course it wasn't really a daily situation for her. Fortunately I had brought sufficient cans of beer and after a while she relaxed completely. We got started and we ended by producing a great song. Together we did write several other songs, but they are still waiting to be recorded and lie on a shelf. Maybe one day we will record them."
"I have written more than ninety percent of my songs near the campfire" White reveals. 'Maybe that has to do with the fact that I have Indian blood flowing through my veins. Since my mother was a Cherokee. I sometimes see myself as the caretaker of the fire - symbolically, of course. I am also very sensitive to the position of the moon. Songs that are half written are best finished during a full moon. Nature and my songs are very close to each other. My entire life I have followed this route to write my songs. I should not attempt to produce a commercial song because it will only lead to rubbish.
"Yes, due to my origin the Indian culture appeals to me more than average. I own a second house in New Mexico that borders the land of the Indians. It is a vast country where wild horses still roam - sometimes I see them halt before my window at night. The Indians still live in traditional pueblos and I get along well with them. We often come together and sometimes I catch their horses that broke lose. I leave them in the coral at my place until the owner comes to collect his horse. We toast to that with a beer. After having spent a few weeks there, I am fully equipped to face the hectic live 'on the road' again.
Harry de Jong
September 2004
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