Tony Joe....Bad Cat!

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 8 Oct 2009 8:59 pm

I learned a lot of "underarm" guitar groove from Tony Joe back in high school. Went to see him one night in Birmingham in 69' with the Animals, Peter and Gordon and Jan and Dean. Just a guitar and a drummer. Here is a live Youtube clip on the Andy Williams show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2DlMA-a3tc

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 9 Oct 2009 5:06 am

Wow! Very cool. That's a lot of good music for two guys...Jerry

ray qualls · Post by **ray qualls** » 9 Oct 2009 5:23 am

Did you ever notice, at certain angles, how much he looked like Elvis? I think he wrote "Rainy night in Georgia" too! Is he still performing?

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 9 Oct 2009 5:58 am

Yes he is still playing. No wonder Elvis covered Poke Salad.

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 9 Oct 2009 8:02 am

The White Stripes got nothing on these guys! There's a house a couple of blocks from where I live,(London Ont Canada) and there's some Polk Weed growing in their garden. Quite a striking plant, it seeded itself, been there about five years. I wonder if it's the same Polk Weed?..Jerry

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 9 Oct 2009 9:08 am

Yeah, it's the same plant. But if you want to eat it, you have to cook it properly and eat only the very young plants. Once it grows over 6" high (and especially when it has berries), it becomes quite toxic - very bad stuff.

(Actually, it's POKE weed. "POLK" was a president.))

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 9 Oct 2009 9:53 am

poke salad festivals held annually in Blanchard, LA, Gainesboro, TN; Harlan, KY, and Arab, Alabama.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 9 Oct 2009 10:27 am

That's a great stripped-down version of Polk Salad Annie. He tours a lot outside the US - I'm shocked - and often plays solo or with just a drummer.

Tony is an American institution - hearing Polk Salad Annie in 1969 transported me from Boston to the deep South in a way that I was somehow able to relate to, and was a big part of opening my eyes to country music. Yes, he wrote Rainy Night in Georgia, and a whole bunch of other great stuff like Willie and Laura Mae Jones and Steamy Windows. Tons of artists have covered his tunes. He's very comfortable with anything from soul, R&B, and blues to country music, in fact there are some clips of him with Waylon and Jessi Colter.

My new project - country/soul/R&B/blues - is doing at least a half dozen TJW tunes. His guitar playing is deceptive - it sounds straightforward till you really try to cop his feel - it's rhythmically very interesting and non-trivial. I'm doing some of these on steel, some on guitar, and singing most of them.

He was on Austin City Limits in 1980, and there is a DVD of that show - there are a couple of clips on youtube, for example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2MBN-RYN4c - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiKUY261Cuo - I highly recommend the whole DVD, and frankly, anything in his catalog. Truth in advertising, no steel guitar, but I still think it's great stuff.

I agree - he always looked a lot like Elvis to me, but much to his credit always had his own thing going on. I also agree, it's pokeweed, but Tony spelled it Polk Sald Annie - author's privilege.

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 9 Oct 2009 11:06 am

Didn't he play guitar on a big Aretha Franklin tune?
His guitar playing is so great! Sounds like the South...Jerry

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 9 Oct 2009 2:29 pm

Cool, is he blowin on that harp upside down or is the image flipped around?

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 9 Oct 2009 4:00 pm

No big deal,some spell it Poke,In the south we spell it Polk,So did Tony,As a country boy I ate it MANY times,Some say it tastes like turnips.[WRONG] Tastes almost like spinach. Was a cheap meal,did'nt have to raise it,it grew every where. You DID have to know how to cook it[could be deadly] but those country grandma's KNEW how to do it. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Jody Sanders · Post by **Jody Sanders** » 9 Oct 2009 6:11 pm

Tony Joe is one of the best. Ralph Emory featured him a lot on his Nashville TV show. One of my all time favorite picker, writer, and performer. Yes, you had to know how many times to boil PS before you cooked it. Jody.

Tony Farr · Post by **Tony Farr** » 10 Oct 2009 5:55 am

M wife has tohave a couple meals every spring of Poke Salad, I'm not to crazy about it. She picks justthe leaves when it's very young, washes it, boils it till it's tender, drains it, then fries it till it's darn brown then scrambles eggs in it, puts some in her plate pour a little vinger on it nd t's ready to eat. She has tought this city boy to eat a lot of country cooking, but she can cook anyhing. I refuse to at fried squirrel!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeff Evans · Post by **Jeff Evans** » 10 Oct 2009 12:50 pm

Poke salat