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 made popular by Brook Benton in 1970. He also wrote "Steamy Windows" and "Undercover Agent for the Blues", both hits for Tina Turner in 1989; those two songs came by way of Turner's producer at the time, Mark Knopfler, who was a friend of White. "Polk Salad Annie" was also recorded by Joe Dassin, Elvis Presley, Joe Bonamassa and Tom Jones.
Biography
White was born and raised on a cotton farm in Goodwill, Louisiana, an unincorporated community of West Carroll Parish, approximately ten miles southwest of Oak Grove. As a youth, he was enthralled by the music of Lightnin' Hopkins, and began his career as a member of Tony & the Mojos before moving to Texas to start Tony & the Twilights. He was inspired to begin writing songs after hearing Bobbie Gentry's 1967 hit "Ode to Billie Joe."
1960s–1970s
In 1967, White signed with Monument Records, which operated from a recording studio in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee, and produced a variety of sounds, including rock and roll, country and western, and rhythm and blues.
