Magazine: VPRO gids.
	Lazy chap TJ White whistles all the way to his banking institution. Swampfox, swamprocker, lazy hit-songwriter: all names used to designate Tony Joe White, the singer-songwriter who made an impressive comeback. Last year he suddenly appeared at the North Sea Jazz festival, for a performance in the Paul Acket Pavilion, the name given by the city of The Hague to a concrete bunker with a killing acoustic environment. In the coldest and stiffest imaginable atmosphere a cross between a cowboy and an Indian appeared, a guitar under the arm, accompanied by a percussionist with very few instruments. The crowd that is hanging around starts to chuckle noticeably: bluesrock in this formation, are going to be swinging on this? Tony Joe White tunes his guitar, slides his hat a centimeter back and commences without looking up. Four thousand people, men, women and children of all backgrounds were instantly quiet. What a wonderful, deep, dark voice, what a spell, what a large repertoire! Thirty years of silence and then this.
Tony Joe White is back. He earned money with songs for Elvis and Tina Turner, but Tony Joe White himself can also play.	Lots of singer-songwriters have passed the proverbial revue in the past years. None of these made such! impression, nor created as much intimate turmoil as, correct, TJ White. He only performs when insistently requested to do so by musicians and fans for who his past successes are not enough. He could easily retire on the basis of these successes, but he is not permitted to do so. Lucky composer-lyricist White is almost continuously chased down. Yet his life started so peacefully. He was born in 1943, in Louisiana, swamp country. His parents were cotton-pickers and raised with gospel. But Christian Music was not challenging enough for the young, musically talented TJ. On his website White mentions: "on a beautiful day my mother brought a record by Lightnin' Hopkins home. I was instantly hooked, the smashing guitar and the bite of the blues lyrics. I took my father's guitar and I practiced for years, before I could play the blues more or less appropriately. I heard Elvis Presley sing on the radio, and I started to copy him. Personally I was not impressed but my parents and friends challenged me to perform for a larger audience." After playing in different bars in the Southern states White moved in with his sister in Georgia. During the daytime he worked as a truckdriver for roadworkers and at night he performed or wrote songs. These songs caught the attention of record producers from Nashville, who invited him to their studio in 1969. His first records were not very successful, but White did build up a reputation as inspiring songwriter. Famous vocalists namely did know what do to with his material. Brook Benton and Randy Crawford transformed 'Rainy Night In Georgia' into a famous evergreen. Elvis Presley scored high on the world top hit lists with 'Polk Salad Annie' and Tina Turner did a similar thing with 'Steamy Windows'. White could drive whistling to his bank, where the royalties kept streaming in as Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Hank Williams and many more continued to record covers of his work. He did record an array of records himself as well , but he could rarely leave for an international concert tour as the artists were continuously begging for new songs and started to call him names such as lazy chap. The fact that he has recently been discovered as an entertaining performer could be qualified as remarkable.
Frits Lagerwerff VPRO gids (NL), Oct 29 2006
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